Garage Door opener

[TheGoose]

I have a pole barn that has two garage style doors 14' wide x 14' tall. These are light-duty doors. Is there any way I can put an opener on them so that I can open them automatically? I checked around and most want me to buy a "commercial grade" door opener for $1K+. I'm thinking I can buy any homeowner style unit and just buy extensions for it so that it will fully operate the door. FWIW these doors require very little force to open and close. Not much more than my 8' door at home.

 

[monster318]

We had the same situation! we purchased a Genie direct drive homeowners door opener for it, and ripped down a long 2x4 to act as an "extension" piece to go from the end of the opener, down to the door, since there wasn't enough clearance between the door when it was open and the ceiling of the garage, the opener had to be set back further then normal. This does work for us, but it makes the door bounce when it first opens because regularly when the door opener begins to open a garage door in its usual mounting arrangement, the bracket that attaches the opener to the door is generally directly above the top of the garage door, so it first pulls upward on the door slightly, then once the door begins to open it pulls back on the door to pull it down the track. The problem we ran into with this set up was that after years of the opener pulling straight back on the door to try and open it, it weakened the metal of the door where the opener was attached to it and allowed the door to crack and sag in the middle. We corrected this problem by adding a door stiffing bracket at the top, which most garage door company's sell and most likely have in stock.

We actually have this set up on a 16' door.
I will be heading up to this garage later tonight, I will try and snap some pictures of it for you.



This is what a garage door stiffener looks like, it runs the length of the door at the top and screws directly to the door, really helped our situation a lot, should have been on it from day one

 

[TheGoose]

Thanks for the info. Luckily my ceiling is plenty high so I should be able to direct mount it.

 

[s219]

I have a pole barn that has two garage style doors 14' wide x 14' tall. These are light-duty doors. Is there any way I can put an opener on them so that I can open them automatically? I checked around and most want me to buy a "commercial grade" door opener for $1K+. I'm thinking I can buy any homeowner style unit and just buy extensions for it so that it will fully operate the door. FWIW these doors require very little force to open and close. Not much more than my 8' door at home.

Do you have torsion springs? If so, look into a jackshaft opener -- they don't care how long or wide the door is as long as it's balanced. I paid $550 for two of them (Liftmaster 8500) not too long ago.

 

[TheGoose]

Yes, I do have torsion springs and I have had all my doors installed with these in the last few years. I just finished looking at the one you listed and I think that's my horse. Thanks for the replies. Here is the best deal I found on the units: 8500 LiftMaster Elite Series® Wall Mount Garage Door Opener New, direct from LiftMaster, OEM product Quantity ?Powerful 24V DC motor provides ultra-quiet operation, along with variable speed smooth start and smooth stop.

Do you have torsion springs? If so, look into a jackshaft opener -- they don't care how long or wide the door is as long as it's balanced. I paid $550 for two of them (Liftmaster 8500) not too long ago.

 

[C4Ranch]

Do you have torsion springs? If so, look into a jackshaft opener -- they don't care how long or wide the door is as long as it's balanced. I paid $550 for two of them (Liftmaster 8500) not too long ago.

Never seen those. They look nice and will probably do that for my 2 10' doors.

Did you install yourself?

 

[truckdiagnostics]

Do you have torsion springs? If so, look into a jackshaft opener -- they don't care how long or wide the door is as long as it's balanced. I paid $550 for two of them (Liftmaster 8500) not too long ago.

x2 like them leaves space open above door, easy install. run them on 2 12 x 10 heavy insulated doors.

 

[s219]

Never seen those. They look nice and will probably do that for my 2 10' doors.

Did you install yourself?

Yes -- super easy to install. I will never install or own another type of opener again. Really like how it leaves the ceiling open as stated above. Quiet, fast, and smooth.

Sometimes the only issue is that you don't have an electrical outlet near the door header on the side of the door. At my last house, I just ran some BX wire to that location from the outlet on the ceiling. You will still want an outlet on the ceiling if you want to use the light that comes with the opener (though it could probably be mounted on a wall instead.

At our new house, I had the electrician put in an outlet on the ceiling for the light, and an outlet next to the garage door header for the opener.

 

[s219]

Yes, I do have torsion springs and I have had all my doors installed with these in the last few years. I just finished looking at the one you listed and I think that's my horse. Thanks for the replies. Here is the best deal I found on the units: 8500 LiftMaster Elite Series® Wall Mount Garage Door Opener New, direct from LiftMaster, OEM product Quantity ?Powerful 24V DC motor provides ultra-quiet operation, along with variable speed smooth start and smooth stop.

Also check e-bay -- some of the garage door companies sell on there and have discount prices on two-packs.

 

[kenmac]

my door is only 7' tall. it is a 20' wide metal door..
I use a genie 1/2 hp screw drive to open my door for several yrs now..

 

[JLwoodworks]

I have the liftmaster (rebranded as Raynor)
Love it. Super easy install. Smooth and quiet. I recently installed a standard chain drive opener in my barn and was cursing all the parts and pieces.

[/url]door operator installed. wires run through the walls for a clean installation by Jason, on Flickr[/IMG]

Jason

 

[wmonroe]

Is it powerful enough to work for a heavy insulated 12' wide x 14' high door?

 

[truckdiagnostics]

Is it powerful enough to work for a heavy insulated 12' wide x 14' high door?

If the torsion springs are balanced correctly I don't know why it wouldn't the 12 x 10 I have it on is pretty heavy and it doesn't seem to mind.

 

[s219]

The opener doesn't really see the load/weight of the door if it's properly balanced -- it just inputs the same amount of work you'd use to lift the door by hand.

 

[kenmac]

Best I remember .. On tension springs.. It's 1 full turn of the spring for every ft height of the door.. Don't know if I described that right or not.. But a 10 foot high door would require 10 full revolutions of the springs

 

[dstig1]

The opener doesn't really see the load/weight of the door if it's properly balanced -- it just inputs the same amount of work you'd use to lift the door by hand.

+1 What he said. The spring does the work. The opener just adds a little push in the right direction...

 

[aeblank]

Best I remember .. On tension springs.. It's 1 full turn of the spring for every ft height of the door.. Don't know if I described that right or not.. But a 10 foot high door would require 10 full revolutions of the springs

I don't think that's the case. My 9' doors have 12 or 13 turns, IIRC.
I set them so that the door stays (mostly) in any position I leave it in. Doesn't fall, doesn't raise. Neutrally buoyant, if you're a diver.....

 

[aeblank]

Best I remember .. On tension springs.. It's 1 full turn of the spring for every ft height of the door.. Don't know if I described that right or not.. But a 10 foot high door would require 10 full revolutions of the springs

I don't think that's the case. My 9' doors have 12 or 13 turns, IIRC.
I set them so that the door stays (mostly) in any position I leave it in. Doesn't fall, doesn't raise. Neutrally buoyant, if you're a diver.....

 

[Industrial Toys]

That liftmaster pictured is a Chamberlain unit. I use them on all my doors with good results. Some doors require helper springs to get the door started downwards and this works good, but I found it problematic in the absense of power, as you won't be able to keep your door open against the springs. You can get a battery back-up module.

 

[Xfaxman]

That liftmaster pictured is a Chamberlain unit. I use them on all my doors with good results. Some doors require helper springs to get the door started downwards and this works good, -----------------

I had to raise the end of the track so the door was slanted downhill when all the way open. That allowed gravity to get the door moving when the jackshaft turned to lower the door.