Barn Opener

[johnjk]

Put in an opener for the barn door today. Tried something different with the side mounted direct attached unit. No rail, chain or belt. Exponentially easier to get installed vs the traditional styles. I went with Genie since my other openers are Genies and I can use their mobile app for keeping track of all the garage doors. Got a little cable mgmt to do on the power cord and emergency release cable. I really like the fact that it has a deadbolt that engages when closed and does not disengage when you pull the release cord. Requires one to do that manually.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

Do you have the option of battery backed power on that unit ?

 

[kdparker]

Put in an opener for the barn door today. Tried something different with the side mounted direct attached unit. No rail, chain or belt. Exponentially easier to get installed vs the traditional styles. I went with Genie since my other openers are Genies and View attachment 140527 I can use their mobile app for keeping track of all the garage doors. Got a little cable mgmt to do on the power cord and emergency release cable. I really like the fact that it has a deadbolt that engages when closed and does not disengage when you pull the release cord. Requires one to do that manually.

Good info. I am planning to install this type when I get power to the barn next year

 

[drygulch]

Any less noisy than typical varieties?

 

[Russell King]

I have a liftmaster that mounts similar to that. Had it about 5 years now.

It can have battery power backup or run off 24 volt power. For some reason it is not able to have internet connection unless it is on 120 volt power. Mine is much quieter than the ceiling mounted ones before this one.

Getting power to them is a bit more difficult since the garage was not prepared to mount it on the wall (No outlet).

Mine had to mount to the wall so I am confused by the way that is just hanging in space. There must be some torque arm involved that is not obvious in the picture or it would just try to rotate itself instead of rotating the drive bar.

 

[Mark_BX25D]

There must be some torque arm involved that is not obvious in the picture or it would just try to rotate itself instead of rotating the drive bar.

No, that's' the beauty of that model. You can hang them on a chain and they stay there by sheer willpower!





(It's gotta have a frame of some kind behind or above it that we can't see.)

 

[The Evil Twin]

That is all I have installed at our place. They are quiet (only noise is from the door itself). Headroom is increased since there is no drop arm bracket. Maintenance free.
For those that asked- there is a bracket that mounts to the door frame. They aren't really "wall mount". It's more like frame mount. It is attached to the angle iron piece you can see in the OPs photo.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

I installed a "Lift Master" when I installed the hoist.

It is considerably quieter than the old "chain drive" model that it replaced.

Although I do not have a "back-up power source". We don't lose power very often, so ........

Although the "specifics" of why I had to remove the drywall escape me, I do remember running into a problem with that little "arm thingy" fitting properly, but removing the dry wall solved the problem.

I like it way more than the "chain drive" it replaced.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

My only 'beef' with them is the price. Less material/parts yet 2-3 times the cost of the 'normal' openers.

 

[johnjk]

Do you have the option of battery backed power on that unit ?

This one came with a battery backup as did the ones on my other doors

 

[johnjk]

Any less noisy than typical varieties?

Super quiet. The only sound is the motor spinning up and down as it starts and stops the door. I would put it at half the noise as with the belt drive unit.

 

[johnjk]

My only 'beef' with them is the price. Less material/parts yet 2-3 times the cost of the 'normal' openers.

Yeah. I held off until I got a good sale on Amazon for this one. My BIL pushes Liftmaster Elite. They are around 850. I was at 425 for this one. I could have lowered the price more if I didn’t get the built in Geni WiFi but I like the ability to get notified when a door is opened/closed and set rules to auto close them in the evening. For comparison the units in the house were $255. Belt drive, 3/4hp with WiFi. The extension kit to make that work with a 10’ door is $100 more. For me it is worth the extra $70 to not have to deal with all the normal opener stuff. No extra kit needed for oversized doors with this one.

 

[johnjk]

I installed a "Lift Master" when I installed the hoist.

It is considerably quieter than the old "chain drive" model that it replaced.

Although I do not have a "back-up power source". We don't lose power very often, so ........

View attachment 140557 View attachment 140558


Although the "specifics" of why I had to remove the drywall escape me, I do remember running into a problem with that little "arm thingy" fitting properly, but removing the dry wall solved the problem.

I like it way more than the "chain drive" it replaced.

I was concerned with the mounting but this unit came with adjustable tabs that allow you to get the proper standoff and fit to the tube. Get everything level and lock it down.

 

[johnjk]

No, that's' the beauty of that model. You can hang them on a chain and they stay there by sheer willpower!





(It's gotta have a frame of some kind behind or above it that we can't see.)

Duck tape. The 100mph variety. Here’s a shot of the mounting. Bottom is bracket bolted to unit and attached to door frame opening. Top is coupling that attaches to door shaft. In my case that chart extends in to the unit at least 4”.

 

[Mark_BX25D]

There it is. See? I knew it! Sheer willpower (with a bit of steel!)

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

The one thing that I didn't see anyone mention is that it's impossible for this opener to bend the door like a standard opener.
I have 9 foot x 16 foot R21 insulated garage doors that are very heavy and a standard opener would have bent them very easily.

 

[BAP]

So they are just smaller versions of the ones used on large commercial overhead doors. They work good, until the cables break or springs break.