Garage door opener replacement questions

I think some electronics in the motor have gone kaput. The wall mounted button works, but I have 2 remotes and neither works. (I did change the battery on one as well as try to re-pair it with the motor, to no avail.)

My options are to replace the circuit board ($125) or buy a new motor unit ($199). The original motor is a Liftmaster and the lift is a belt; it’s probably about 20 years old. The cost of a new motor unit is not hugely more than the circuit board and I would get additional features like a battery backup.

If I go for a new unit will it work with the existing belt? I’m looking at a basic 1/2hp Chamberlain. Thanks!

regex1883,

I’ve got a chamberlain I installed 20 years ago. Came with a lifetime warranty on the belt and motor. I’ve replaced the belt 3 times and they send it to me completely free I don’t even pay postage.

SheeEttin,

If you’re going to work on your garage door yourself, remember that those springs have a hell of a lot of tension. You accidentally let one of them loose, and they’ll have enough force to gravely injure you.

dirthawker0,

Thanks. Not going near the springs. I’ve seen many posts where people want to replace them themselves and everyone advises against it. I’ve worked on the motor unit before - the gears (nylon I think) had gotten chewed up somehow and I replaced them.

dack,

There’s no need to touch the springs at all when replacing the opener. But this is still an excellent PSA. Garage door springs will seriously mess you up before you even know what happened. I’ve replaced them before, but you definitely need the right tools and procedures to do it safely. I would definitely advise against it unless you have experience.

e_t_,

I recently replaced my opener in a similar situation. Mine's chain drive and I did reuse the existing chain. I'd be less confident reusing a belt; rubber degrades faster than metal. But, based on my experience, replacing just the belt or chain isn't much harder than replacing the motor unit. I had to loosen my chain considerably in order to get it around the new motors sprocket. At that point, it would have been just a few more turns of the tension screw to fully remove it.

dirthawker0, (edited )

I guess my question was whether the stats, e.g. number of teeth per inch, width, thickness on garage door belts are standardized/universal. It’s good information that you were able to reuse the chain and replacing it isn’t that hard to do, thanks!

e_t_,

Liftmaster and Chamberlain are the same company, so it's highly likely (though not guaranteed) that the parts are compatible.

dirthawker0,

I was thinking there would be a chance of that. In researching the replacement circuit board they seem big into backwards compatibility.

Numlock,

if the wall mounted button makes the motor turn then its not the motor. you might want to just buy a meross smart garage door opener which replaces the buttons with your phone and voice.

dirthawker0,

Yes, clearly the motor itself works fine. When I said motor unit I meant the entire box which includes the circuit board electronics that’s failed. If the radio in the motor unit isn’t working I’m not sure the Meross is going to solve that problem.

Numlock,

the meross can connect to the button wiring on many units.

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