scrubbedexpat097

I have to push my doors up and down, my elbows need greasing

Yorkieabroad

That's very English

If I was moving back to the UK, and could only take one thing with me, it would be a garage door opener. Awesome inventions. You can keep the other stuff... The big houses, trucks, air conditioning, cheerleaders...err, hold on, if I could only take two things back, one would be a door opener....

Michael

I've had both and think the screw drive is slightly better and quieter than the chain drive. However for either to work correctly, the door has to be balanced correctly and the screw, chain, rollers and/or springs have to be lubricated regularly. If you have to increase the tension on the clutch, then it is likely that either the garage door is out of balance or the parts haven't been lubricated or are worn.

Swinging doors get out of balance much easier than roller doors.

Pulaski

That's nice.

He asked about belt drive.

I have recently, during the past 2-3 weeks, taken to doing the same thing. The doors are well balanced with the spring helping, and very easy to open by disengaging the drive "shoe" then just lifting the door. It's quick, quiet, and virtually effortless. I just need to make sure the shoe is reengaged when I pull the door back down again.

Guindalf

Let me teach you about reading comprehension...


It's a reference to the previous poster's home location. Really quite simple.

Hotscot

Still none the wiser

Guindalf

As he was the previous poster to my comment, look at Mikelincs' location and all may make sense.


I guess it's a good thing there are other people to talk to - and even a few that understand English!

Uncle_Bob

I cycle quite a bit and given the problems i get with my bike chain from time to time there is no way i'm getting a chain drive garage door opener.

Chains can break, they can expand, the cogs wear down, the chain can come off the cogs easily and they need lubricant. I'm not seeing how that can be better than a screw drive, quieter maybe but "better"?

Uncle_Bob

Bournemouth has changed since i left, its not all old people now. The university has grown dramatically. The nightlife scene has exploded, the town center is a violent place at night. Its also the hen night capital of the UK. Most of my local pubs have closed, the post office and bookmakers near my house both got robbed at gunpoint last year. Drugs are a growing problem, especially in Boscombe. The IMAX was a disaster, the ice rink on westover road got closed down, the BIC swimming pool with wave machine closed and they spent millions on the surf reef that doesn't work.

On the positive side the football club are doing better.

S Folinsky

We have a Genie Screw Drive with one of those crap one-piece garage doors common in here in L.A.. Curiously, the radio control unit is NOT genie.

Our front gate has a LiftMaster opener.

Guindalf

I saw Little & Large (waste of time!), Bottom - the stage show, A Christmas Carol with Anthony Newley (parental treat) and Deep Purple at the BIC among others.

I know it's not an 'oldie' area and hasn't been for a long time, but the joke wouldn't work otherwise!

I bowled twice a week, obviously at the bowling alley on Westover, I think it was, and I was quite good at one time. My flat was at the bottom end of Dean Park Road, so it was a short walk through the park to the office.

There were some good Indian restaurants there I seem to remember, and some that delivered, which got used a LOT!

Welshgator

I've got a Genie screw drive. I used a high temperature lithium grease and that seems to work ok without dripping all over the car. I can't comment on the belt drive as I've never owned one.
The opener started acting up badly last year, it would start and stop intermittently and then finally gave up the ghost. I took the covers off and found there was a big electrolytic capacitor in there that was leaking electrolyte badly. Replaced that for about $10 and it's worked fine ever since, thought it worth mentioning in case someone has a similar problem and doesn't want to pay the repair guy $100+.

Uncle_Bob

At age 13 i had a cleaning job at the Pavilion theater. I got to meet the entire cast of the Hi-De-Hi show, they guy who played the jockey, not nice. Also i met Buster Merryfield (Uncle Albert). School swimming was at the BIC pool, I remember Ken Bailey coming in the changing rooms to hand out free tickets for the ice rink.
Bowling and the cinema was too expensive for me as a kid. The ice rink was 50p for a morning session and 50p for the afternoon session. 25p bus fare each way. A whole day out for £1.50

Charminster road has many more Indian and other restaurants now, due to the growth of the university and the number of students needing a fix at closing time.

Uncle_Bob

That seems to be the brand that all the companies are pushing on the flyers that i get in the mail.

My next door neighbor has a belt drive and showed it to me last night. Almost silent. My only worry is that with the dryness and heat in Arizona is how well the rubber belt would hold up. I'm hoping the belt would be steel re-enforced, that would be a question for the garage door company.

i think i'll go with belt drive, so the only thing i have to lube is the main spring. I only started to do that when mine broke 2 years ago. You do not open your garage door on your own manually when the spring breaks.

lansbury

Very true I can vouch for that, and they only break when car is in the garage and you need to go somewhere urgently.