Boatboy24
No longer a newbie, but still clueless.
We came home Christmas night, hit the button and the garage door opened halfway, then stopped. I got out of the car and walked into the garage to hear the motor running, but nothing happening. Using the keypad, I stopped the motor, disconnected the door from the opener and locked it. Finally got around to looking at it yesterday. Chain was on the gear, so no issue there. As suspected, when I opened it up, the gears inside were completely stripped. I can get a 'kit' containing their replacements and a few other small parts for about $30. But this house is nearing 20 years old and I suspect these openers were installed when the house was new or nearly new. They are old Liftmaster models. I was tempted to just attempt the repair, but my thinking is at this age, something else will probably break and/or there is another issue that caused the gears to strip in the first place. So I'm leaning toward a replacement.
Thoughts? Brands/models to look at? The Genie models seem to get fairly mixed reviews. Chamberlain looks OK, and if I'm not mistaken that is the same company that made Liftmaster. I had two Craftsman openers in my old place that worked flawlessly for 10 years. Hesitant to go that route again, considering the shape Sears is in.
Thoughts? Brands/models to look at? The Genie models seem to get fairly mixed reviews. Chamberlain looks OK, and if I'm not mistaken that is the same company that made Liftmaster. I had two Craftsman openers in my old place that worked flawlessly for 10 years. Hesitant to go that route again, considering the shape Sears is in.