My Craftsmen 1/2 HP bit the dust today. I was looking at a Wayne Dalton iDrive for my door. I have a 16' wide door with torsion spring. However I was reading some reviews on line and most very very bad. Anybody have experience with these things?
http://64.34.166.240/wayne_dalton/idrive/flash_content/video.html

Never seen one. Looks like a clean set up but if I read a lot of bad reviews, I think I'd opt for the old school stuff thats proven. My Father's Craftsman chaindrive has been in his garage for over 20 years. Now they have belt drives or screw drives for quite operation.

I installed the 3800 Liftmasters on all three of my 12x12 shop doors and they work everyday like a champ. Heard nothing but trouble with the Wayne Daltons, but you might get lucky. Run a search on GarageJournal.com and there is plenty of research done for you. :thumbsup:

I was told there ok for small doors under 8 foot not large doors. I got a lifetime guarantee GENIE SCREW DRIVE from Home Depot. All you do is call them and register it. I was told that by Wayne Doors that put up the door. Chamberlain is also a very good unit.

I want to get away from the chain drive, screw drive and whatever else overhead drive that there is. The gear on the Craftsmen broke off and landed on the roof of the Chevelle today. :angry:
Liftmaster 3800 seems like a recommended unit. Mounts on the wall and has the torsion bar drive also but mentions that needs battery backup because it can not be used with an external release mechanism?? What the heck does that mean?

I have a WD door for my 2 bay garage door, (new in 2007) and had to have someone come out and look at it before it was a year old. It kept coming out of the track right on the 90 where it angles toward the floor. The guy replaced a wheel and it sounded good for awhile, but it sounds clunky again already and I'm waiting for it to start coming off the track.

Also, the light in the box has never worked.

It's not real quiet either, I think it is 16' wide. The little 8 footer next to it is much better, never any problems with it.

My craftsman 1/2hp stripped a plastic gear out about 6 yrs ago,. Found another dead craftsman and pirated the gears from it , has been ok ever since.

Is the helper springs on the garage giving enough assist, so that the motor isnt working hard? That's what stripped out my first set of gears.

I want to get away from the chain drive, screw drive and whatever else overhead drive that there is. The gear on the Craftsmen broke off and landed on the roof of the Chevelle today. :angry:
Liftmaster 3800 seems like a recommended unit. Mounts on the wall and has the torsion bar drive also but mentions that needs battery backup because it can not be used with an external release mechanism?? What the heck does that mean?
I have the battery backup on the main door. If you have a walk in door you won't need it neccesarily, it just that there is a automatic dead bolt included in the kit that you can't open from the outside without electricity of some type. You need to use this deadbolt as the door opens rather easily by hand if you don't. I only went with the battery backup(simple enough install) because I am in a wheelchair and didn't want to get trapped if we lost electricity. Nice to have the open ceiling for a lift someday!:yes:

Vince,
I replaced the plastic gear drive thingy 2 years ago. This time it was the metal gear/sprocket on the top that the chain wraps around. Torsion springs were replaced about 4 years ago and the door feels like it has good balance. Since the chain is off now, I can easily raise and lower the door with one hand and it practically stays in any position, so I think the balance is good.

I used to have a Craftsman opener, but it was so noisy I replaced it with a Genie screw drive unit. It works great and is quiet. :hurray:

I have two of the Wayne Dalton idrive openers on my garage door. I installed them about three years ago. I like the fact that they require very little overhead space, but I'd never buy them again.
One opener gave me nothing but problems from day one. It has never worked right, blows the little fuses that are on the circuit boards and you can't find them in the stores. WD sent me a replacement board, which I've just recently replaced. The other door is better, but still it has issues as well. Had to call for repair just this week. Programming the units is a real PITA and if the door stops half way down, which is often, it has to be programmed through a cycle again. My advice, don't buy them! If you've got the space stick with the chain drive old style, you'll have lots less trouble.

I've got two 8ft wide x 7ft high WD idrive doors and openers that I installed myself about 3-4 years ago and have had absolutely no problems whatsoever. I went with them mostly because I have a structural beam in the garage that makes overhead space tight. They're much quieter than the previous overhead units, are virtually vibration free, and best of all there's no moving parts hanging over my Chevelle. Could indeed be that 8ft units perform better than 16 ft but I'm not sure why because the doors are counterbalanced. I'm certain that proper installation is critical.

I also have the WD torsion drive, it works great. I have a big old wood 2-door garage door, too.

They do warn that the springs have to be adjusted properly and recommend a garage door guy adjust them if needed. I thought mine were fine, and I've had the unit 2 years so far.

I got it for 2 key features - first, there's no unit hanging between the 2 old cars in the garage - when our chain drive went, the chain fell down between the cars, I didn't like that. Then, the WD unit also has the motor that rotates down and physically blocks the door closed. It's also faster and quieter than a regular garage door opener.

But the part about not stopping the door half-way is true - you need to fully open again and then close, there's no partial stopping. Kind of a PITA but not that often I do it.

I had a new 18' insulated garage door installed a couple years ago by Overhead Door. The installer told me that in his opinion, Chamberlin is one of the best brands out there. Plus, he said they manufacture Overhead Door's private label brand for them. He recommended sticking to the proven chain drive (I currently have a screw drive on my attached house and hate it...)

I used to have a Craftsman opener, but it was so noisy I replaced it with a Genie screw drive unit. It works great and is quiet. :hurray:

I installed a Genie in my garage around four years ago. No problems so far.

Went with the LiftMaster LM3800. Really liked some of it's features, it's size and the fact that nothing will be overhead anymore to fall on my Chevelle. I'll let you all know how the install goes. As suggested , I went over the the "Garage Journal" forums and posted over there. Actually ended up buying one from a member on that site for a decent price shipped to my house. I added in 3 remotes and an outside keypad also.

Your craftsman bit the dust? What broke? Go to sears parts on line you can search on the part number found on the unit. Bet you can find any part needed to repair it. A couple years back I repaired my neighbors, craftsman, door opener, about $20 for the broken gear. Uses it every day.

I have fixed this Craftsmen door opener in the past. Plastic gear dive inside stripped once, bearing on the wall mount went bad once, control board inside unit went bad....I have a Sears parts depot near the house. It is 12 years old and I didn't feel like putting any more money into it. Plus, seeing stuff falling on the car made me want to move the GDO to a safer location anyway.

I got a lifetime guarantee GENIE SCREW DRIVE from Home Depot. All you do is call them and register it.

X2, It has been operating without any problems for almost 4 years. It is quiet and fast. The open speed is twice as fast as any other unit I have seen, the close speed is the same as the others. It came with 3 remotes and a wireless keypad. My door is a 16' insulated metal type.