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+-- Thread: Garage door opener with better safety sensors? (/showthread.php?tid=7327568)
RE: Garage door opener with better safety sensors? - Robert Adams - 02-03-2017
(02-03-2017, 08:59 AM)atgcpaul Wrote: What happens if the torsion spring breaks on a jackshaft lifter? Does it unwind quickly and trash the lifter?
It just spins on the shaft. Replace the spring and go on. Course if it's the spring on the side of the opener it's a little more involved to replace.
Here its around $100 to have torsion springs replaced. Garage door guys seem cheap bbut their materials cost is very low which leads to high profit margins and it's quick work.
RE: Garage door opener with better safety sensors? - Mr_Mike - 02-03-2017
Well, I had that happen. Nothing bad happens. If up, it slowly lowers. Even though a worm drive, it can be backfed.
It takes 5 minutes to remove the drive, so fairly trivial on a spring replacement. At least, my repair guy said so and didn't charge extra.
RE: Garage door opener with better safety sensors? - Cdshakes - 02-03-2017
how much side clearance do you need? I have a somewhat narrow single car garage... the door is pretty beat up. So if i were to replace the door at any time, i would want to do a torsion spring anyways, but to do this type of opener does it need a lot of room on the side?
Colin
RE: Garage door opener with better safety sensors? - Mr_Mike - 02-03-2017
I linked the manual above. Go read it. It tells you. Its pretty narrow though. Under a foot, I tihnk.
RE: Garage door opener with better safety sensors? - EdL - 02-06-2017
Mine is 13" from the edge of the door to the far side of the opener, looks like one could bring it in to 10 1/2" at a minimum.
Ed
RE: Garage door opener with better safety sensors? - EricU - 02-07-2017
back to the OP's original question, I wish someone would make a better sensor. Wouldn't take much. I guess it would be a good woodworking project just to build a box around the sensors. The manufacturers probably like the wimpy mounting system because it's pretty easy to bend the brackets to aim the sensors, and, more importantly to them, it's really cheap. But my garage is packed with stuff, and the stuff bangs into the sensors occasionally. Usually when it's maximally inconvenient.
RE: Garage door opener with better safety sensors? - Mr_Mike - 02-07-2017
My garage is packed and I don't generally have problems.
Bigger problem is stray sunlight blinding the sensors. I find a toilet paper tube fixes that pretty quick.
RE: Garage door opener with better safety sensors? - Cooler - 02-07-2017
A neighbor has a garage door opener that is DC operated off a rechargeable battery. When the power goes out he still has an automatic garage door. Every few years I get jealous.
RE: Garage door opener with better safety sensors? - Mr_Mike - 02-07-2017
The liftmaster opener being discussed has an optional battery.
RE: Garage door opener with better safety sensors? - Robert Adams - 02-07-2017
I'm not a big ryobi fan but they have an interesting opener they came out with last year. Lots of attachments like fans and cord reels and a spot for a tool battery used as a battery backup.