Installing a new opener on a shop garage door

[rodney mitchell]

This may be a little off topic, but I just bought a new screw drive opener from Sears yesterday on sale. I have been needing to replace my old chain drive opener (my shop is in my garage, so hey I wanted a new opener)! Anyway, has anyone replaced their opener and how hard was it? It will cost me 100 bucks to have it done, and it really doesn't look that hard, BUT I don't want to get into a mess that ends up taking me 8 hours to do either. Anyone replaced one lately? Thanks a lot......

Rodney

[John Schreiber]

I put a new opener in a couple of months ago.

It did take me about 8 hours to do the job, but I did it by myself. An able bodied assistant at a few points would have made it much easier. Getting the motor up and exactly into place balanced on top of some ladders and 2x4s was a challenge.

Of course the benefit of doing it myself is that I did it just right. I ran the wires attractively along seems, reinforced the connections to the ceiling, put the buttons in just the right places and I learned exactly how the adjustments work.

If my time was worth $10.00 per hour, I'm sure it was a waste of time, but hey I had fun and enjoyed the challenge

[Ken Werner]

Well, I put a couple of single door units in my garage about 2 years ago. The doors are 8' high, and the bottom of the joists are about 10' off the ground. It was pretty easy. I don't remember how long it took, but like John said, it was fun. And the esthetics of the finished job are more in your control. I'd say go for it.
Ken

[Scott Loven]

I had a guy(With partner) take down a garage door, put it in another location, install two garage door openers and weather strip 4 garage doors in 3 hours for $300! It would have taken me a week! I was amazed.

Scott

[Art Mulder]

This may be a little off topic, but I just bought a new screw drive opener from Sears yesterday on sale. I have been needing to replace my old chain drive opener (my shop is in my garage, so hey I wanted a new opener)! Anyway, has anyone replaced their opener and how hard was it? It will cost me 100 bucks to have it done, and it really doesn't look that hard, BUT I don't want to get into a mess that ends up taking me 8 hours to do either. Anyone replaced one lately? Thanks a lot......

Rodney

Rodney, I did the exact same thing less than a month ago. My old Stanley opener died, and I replaced it with a new Sears unit.

I just bought the basic base model (chain drive) from Sears, and it works fine.

Installation is easy. Read through the instructions once first, to make sure your familiar with things, and then go to it. I found the sears instructions to be quite clear.

You've got a big advantage, as you are *replacing* an opener, as opposed to doing a new installation. Therefore, you probably already have a perfectly good mounting bracket on the top of the door. I reused mine, no point in replacing it. You also proably already have angle-iron brackets hanging from the ceiling. Again, just re-use them. I did. I used the flimsy brackets that came with the Sears unit to provide additional cross-bracing of the motor mount, and now it is steady as a rock.

The electric eyes are also easier to install these days. I installed a Sears opener for my F-I-Law about 8-10 years ago, and lining up the electric eyes was a big pain. These new ones have a much wider range of "eyesight". Getting them lined up with each other was literally no effort. I snapped them onto the Garage Door track at roughly the same height and then looked and their "alignment" light was already lit. I didn't have to do anything.

In total, it was maybe 2.5 - 3 hours of slow and easy work.

[Steve Roxberg]

My house had one garage door opener that operated two doors. It was in the middle and tied the two doors together. It was a code violation and so when it burned out I had to put in two.

I replaced them both, with new mounting hardware in about four hours. The first one took three hours and then once I knew what I was doing the second one was up in no time.

I would do it yourself, very easy.

I installed Marantec, a German unit that are very quiet and very nice. The only complaint is that they are a little slow, but not bad.

[Hoa Dinh]

I wouldn't replace the garage door myself. But replacing or installing garage door opener is easy. A helper makes the task a bit easier, but I've installed two without any problem.

It takes about 1 to 2 hours.

[Tyler Howell]

Done several mostly alone. assist on heavy lifting.
openner is no problem.
Be very careful around the springs. They are Killers

[Gary Sostrin]

Just did this about 10 months ago. Went from sears chain drive to sears screw drive. Reason I went to screw drive was I thought it could handle sawdust better, and I burned out my original unit due to stuck door (poor maintenance lubing) and adjusting the door strength. I did not know that they can't dissipate the heat quickly so it burned out. I decided to get a bigger unit to so that is not a problem anymore.

The only problem I had besides balancing is that the existing motor brackets holders had to be modified/changed for the new unit. Took about 1/2 hour more to fix this. I am not quick. Also I contacted sears and they said my old unit sensors would work with the new unit so I did not have to install them. All the other stuff, I left as is.

Gary

[Jim O'Dell]

It's easy. What I have done in the past is to take the old one off. Center and mark the mount above the garage door, then mount it temporarily with deck screws and washers. (the final install should be with the lag bolts supplied with the unit) Put the screw drive together, usually 3 pieces and mount to the motor. Hang the end of the screw drive to the mount above the door, and lift the motor up on to a ladder. This way you can position it while on the ladder and check for clearance and for setting up the bracing to hold the motor. Once satisfied, take back down, do final install with the mount above the door with the lag bolts, and bolt everything together. Make sure your connection to the door is solid. I usually mount some of the steel angle with the multiple holes in it in several places to the door, then mount the arm from the screw drive to this. It spreads out the pulling stress to more than one spot. Hope this helps. First one will take you 4 or 5 hours. My last one took about 2 hrs. I've only done 3. Jim.

[rodney mitchell]

Hey everybody, thanks. Since I am replacing a sears with another sears model, maybe it won't be too big of a chore. I'm all about saving money, and as some mentioned, it is nice to know it is done correctly and when you're finished, you know a lot more about how the unit works.

Rodney

[glenn bradley]

If I can do it, anybody can. You'll need a ladder at least 6 foot high. I know this sounds basic but, follow the directions step by step. I've found garage door openers to be one of those things that while inherently obvious in function may have an assembly sequence that isn't obvious.

[Paul Libby]

Rodney, you can do it. I have put in several over the past 20 years. Just follow the instructions and you will be done in no time.

[rodney mitchell]

Thanks guys...........again, I appreciate the response and advice.

Rodney

[Randy Meijer]

......and when you're finished, you know a lot more about how the unit works.

Besides the monetary savings, this is the biggest benefit for me. If you have a problem with the opener down the road, you will be better able to deal with it by having the experience of doing the installation. If you have a decent selection of tools available and don't run into some very unusual problem, you should be able to do the job in well under 4 hours. I always like to read through the instructions a day or two before doing the job. I get really upset if I get halfway through a job and discover I am missing a piece of hardware or a tool and have to make an unplanned trip to the store.