New Toys!

"Snuze: Needs another Swede" (markg) 11/04/2020 at 19:50 • Filed to: None

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Well, sort of. They are really just garage door openers. But they are pretty fancy! They even have WiFi and an app so I can remotely open and close my doors from anywhere in the world!

The openers are LiftMaster 8500 jackshaft openers. They are very quiet and pretty fast. They also have a built in battery backup, so they will open even if the power goes out. The doors are also new, Clopay 4050 insulated doors. My old ones were bowed on the bottom and I figured since I insulated the rest of the garage  I might as well get new insulated doors.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Snuze: Needs another Swede 11/04/2020 at 19:59

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Wait— is the mechanism attached to the edge of the door? Wow.

Those are nice!

PowderHound > Snuze: Needs another Swede 11/04/2020 at 20:00

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Very cool it looks much better without the center rail that most of them have . C an you still manually open and close them if you need to?

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > PowderHound 11/04/2020 at 20:03

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I believe yes, those red chords on the motors are the emergency releases

HammerheadFistpunch > Snuze: Needs another Swede 11/04/2020 at 20:06

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I wish i didn’t know exactly what the clopay doors are.  I bought a new door recently.  Doors are speny.

VincentMalamute-Kim > Snuze: Needs another Swede 11/04/2020 at 20:20

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I like those.  Had them in my old shop when I wanted to clear up the ceiling space.  Essential for a lift.  Only issue is one had a circuit board blown out by a surge.

The Snowman > Snuze: Needs another Swede 11/04/2020 at 20:22

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Doesn't internet connectivity creep you out a bit for an entry door? Smart locks do the same for me.

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > Snuze: Needs another Swede 11/04/2020 at 20:28

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Were you able to reuse the old tracks and springs?

SiennaMan > The Snowman 11/04/2020 at 20:31

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Most conventional garage door openers are pretty easy to get through with the right tech I've been told.  This is probably more secure if you have to use wifi, bluetooth or an app to open it..

MM54 > Snuze: Needs another Swede 11/04/2020 at 20:41

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V ery nice! Making headroom for a lift?

dumpsterfire! > Snuze: Needs another Swede 11/04/2020 at 20:48

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That means more room for a lift!

The Snowman > SiennaMan 11/04/2020 at 20:55

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Yeah garage door remotes aren’t the hardest thing to spoof but it requires equipment and to pick a victim. A smart junior high hacker can get a list of locations and login info when you trust a door company to do database security.

SiennaMan > The Snowman 11/04/2020 at 21:33

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Hmm, that’s an interesting point about trusting a garage door company to do database security. On the other hand, if the hypothetical criminal isn’t scoping out victims in person how do they know that what they’re getting is worth the risk? On my street if you pick 4 garages: one has kids hockey equipment, one has a motorcycle, one has some nice lawn equipment and a 4th one has low end lawn/garden too ls from the 80s and 90s. You’re going to powerfully disappointed if you break into my garage through a database only to find a lot of landfill salvage..

shop-teacher > Snuze: Needs another Swede 11/04/2020 at 21:36

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Fawn-say!

TheRealBicycleBuck > Snuze: Needs another Swede 11/04/2020 at 21:59

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Nifty. I thought about upgrading after installing a belt-driven opener at my mom’s house. Our chain-driven opener is quite loud. Now I have another option to consider!

Chariotoflove > Snuze: Needs another Swede 11/04/2020 at 22:14

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Sew fauncy. I replaced one of our screw shaft ones recently with a belt drive. It’s slower but works okay most of the time. I saw all those internet enabled ones. But I’m too cheap. 

Snuze: Needs another Swede > The Snowman 11/04/2020 at 22:35

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A little. I haven’t set it up yet. Not 100% sure I’m going to. 

Snuze: Needs another Swede > PowderHound 11/04/2020 at 22:36

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Yes, there are remote locks (the black boxes down low). You need to manually pop those and then pull the red cord on the openers, and then you can manually open the doors.  

Snuze: Needs another Swede > HammerheadFistpunch 11/04/2020 at 22:37

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I think I remember you posting about that.  They were not cheap, but when I looked at what I was paying for the openers and install, I figured eh, what the hell?  I’ve put so much work into the rest of the garage, might as well put nice doors in too. 

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Chariotoflove 11/04/2020 at 22:38

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If it were up to me I wouldn’t have gotten internet enabled, or the battery back up, but as far as I know they only sell this version of these openers, there’s no stripped down base model.  

Snuze: Needs another Swede > VincentMalamute-Kim 11/04/2020 at 22:39

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Cool. Sadly my ceiling isn’t high enough for a lift, but what I have seen people do is build storage racks above the door tracks. So I wanted to leave myself that option. 

HammerheadFistpunch > Snuze: Needs another Swede 11/04/2020 at 22:40

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I really like have insulated doors, especially in the winter where my warm cars heat the garage and the door keeps it and and keeps my house warmer for free.

Chariotoflove > Snuze: Needs another Swede 11/04/2020 at 22:45

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Yeah, as long as I can use my Homelink, I’m happy. 

Snuze: Needs another Swede > TheRealBicycleBuck 11/04/2020 at 22:50

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I’ve installed belt openers before, they are quite nice. I had a rickety old chain one before I finished off the garage, but only on the right door. I wanted both to have openers. One word of caution, the spring on these is at least as dangerous as the one on a normal door. I had professionals install them and would recommend everyone go that route. 

My ceil ing isn’t tall enough for a lift, but I wanted these because I’ve seen people build storage racks above their doors, and I like that idea.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 11/04/2020 at 22:51

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Thanks, yeah, they are pretty fancy.  I like that they clear up overhead space.  I don’t have room for a lift, but I’ve seem people build storage racks above the tracks, which I may want to do one day. 

VincentMalamute-Kim > TheRealBicycleBuck 11/04/2020 at 22:54

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These are going to cost quite a bit more.

VincentMalamute-Kim > Snuze: Needs another Swede 11/04/2020 at 22:55

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Good idea.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind 11/04/2020 at 22:56

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No, this opener requires the torsion spring over the door, the old doors had the regular linear coil springs. Basically everything is brand new there, they even replaced the tracks. I asked about it, the tracks were pretty cheap, they said pretty much as wash in terms of cost vs. the extra labor for them to screw around with the old tracks.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > MM54 11/04/2020 at 22:57

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I wish, ceiling isn’t tall enough for it.  But it would allow me to build storage racks over the door tracks.  

Snuze: Needs another Swede > dumpsterfire! 11/04/2020 at 22:57

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I wish.  Not tall enough.  But I can build storage over the door tracks.  

Snuze: Needs another Swede > shop-teacher 11/04/2020 at 22:57

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Thanks!

Snuze: Needs another Swede > HammerheadFistpunch 11/04/2020 at 23:06

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Yeah, that will be a nice little bonus. Mrs Snuze gets the left bay (right as you’re facing the house).  My trailer, old motorcycles, etc. will go on my side, so probably not a car. Unless I unload enough junk to make room.  Which is now very tempting. 

TheRealBicycleBuck > Snuze: Needs another Swede 11/05/2020 at 05:43

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My current door uses torsional springs . They are definitely scary, but not as dangerous as the older style. They’re captured by the pipe, so even if they cut loose, they can’t go flying across the garage like the old springs could.

I have a pulley system to store our Thule roof box above the garage door. It’s a close fit, but it works. Good luck with your storage!

BJ > Snuze: Needs another Swede 11/05/2020 at 07:07

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Question: are they quieter than regular door openers? I hate the noise that a garage door opener makes; they seem so noisy for n o good reason.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > TheRealBicycleBuck 11/05/2020 at 09:02

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Thanks!  And a lot of the spring systems now have cables running inside them, anchored on either end to catch any flying debris. I’ve replaced those no problem, but I didn’t know anything about these so I let a pro do it. 

Snuze: Needs another Swede > BJ 11/05/2020 at 09:11

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Yes, they are pretty quiet. I had an old chain drive opener and it was very loud . They make belt drive openers that are significantly quieter than chains. That’s probably the biggest decrease in noise, going from chain to belt. This style opener is bit more quiet than a belt.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Snuze: Needs another Swede 11/05/2020 at 09:24

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Adjusting the tension on torsional springs is dangerous, but the risk can be mitigated with the proper application of tools. There are four holes on the bracket at the end of the spring, each 90° apart. They are large enough for a small metal bar like a nut driver or a piece of rebar. As long as the bars you use are long enough to get leverage on the header, it’s easy to use two bars to adjust the tension. Just use one to apply pressure and rotate the spring, the other gets moved into the next hole when it has rotated around far enough. As long as at least one bar is in a hole, the spring will always have something to stop it from rotating.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > TheRealBicycleBuck 11/05/2020 at 09:57

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Awesome!  Thanks for sharing that. Maybe next time (if there is one) I’ll try it myself.  

TheNeonDriver - Now with More BMW! > Snuze: Needs another Swede 11/05/2020 at 10:24

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The answer is always Miata. Two of those suckers will stack in under 2.75m (~ 9')!

Less if you lower them...

Snuze: Needs another Swede > TheNeonDriver - Now with More BMW! 11/05/2020 at 10:46

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Good point!

I can hear Mrs. Snuze already having an aneurysm as I suggest buying yet another car...

sn4cktimes > TheRealBicycleBuck 11/05/2020 at 11:48

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I still have the old style side springs in mine. It’s possible and safer to set the tension with the door up. But that requires the springs to lift the heavy door... or you use an engine hoist to get them most of the way up... not saying how I know this... they’re not too scary in the “up” position. They don’t have much tension built up at that point. Some, but nothing a person can’t hold. When the door is down however; scary amounts of sproing energy for maiming.

sn4cktimes > Snuze: Needs another Swede 11/05/2020 at 11:55

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Happen to know the R-value of your new doors? I’m probably going to swap out my old doors in the spring and  I’m considering the same style of openers. I don’t really have the overhead space for a proper lift but might do a MaxJax lift with a semi-permanent custom install at some point and that little extra headroom would be nice. Inches will make a difference with my 8’- 2” ceiling. So a jack shaft opener might be a better choice for me when I swap the doors out. 

TheRealBicycleBuck > sn4cktimes 11/05/2020 at 13:49

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I had to install a new door a few years ago after a run- in with a tornado. Those panels are a lot heavier than they look. A whole unsprung door is way beyond my abilities to lift and I don’t have a hoist. I set the spring tension on mine with the door down.

Dose your door springs have safety cables running through them?