AC Belt vs DC Chain Garage Door Openers

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Apr 28, 2020
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North Dakota
I've never had a DC nor a belt drive garage opener, and I'm aware that as far as noise goes this would generally be the best combo. That being said, what is it really that is most responsible for the noise reduction comapared to a basic chain drive AC motor opener...the motor itself or the switch to a belt? I know opener to opener it will vary, but generally speaking would a DC Chain drive or an AC Belt drive be quieter?
 
I've had several different chain drive and screw drive garage door openers since 1978. Installed a Sears Craftsman (i.e., relabeled Chamberlain unit) belt drive in 2011 and will never go back. There was a 75% noise and vibration reduction with the belt drive unit. It is so quiet, I can no longer hear the garage door open from inside the house unless I press my ear against the wall in the adjacent room.
 
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put in a chamberlain wifi dc unit last winter. thing is so quiet comprared to the old one. my mom has a ac belt drive one and except for the belt drive its the same as a chain. on the new one all i hear is the door opening noise

mine had wifi and it works pretty good. the one thing i had to figure out with the app is that there can be only one master that can see the schedule whne it was opened and closed . the master must invite others and those can open and closed the door , but don't get detailed info.

this is the one we got. its got back up battery also


https://www.chamberlain.com/myq
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Chamber...ybx8melvPxoCxQsQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
 
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I can't speak as to AC vs DC garage door openers. Don't all garage door openers use DC motors? It just makes sense for controlling position and reversing. Wouldn't reversing an AC motor have to involve gearing?

But as far as belt drive is concerned, here is another enthusiastic vote. Like Nukeman7 says, I will never go back to a chain or screw.

Not only are belt drives quieter. They are much simpler to maintain. Unlike screw and chain drives, you never have to clean and lubricate the drive mechanism, except for perhaps the pulley at the end. Belt drives are not temperamental to weather changes like chain and screw drives. They perform equally well in the cold weather as they do in the heat of the summer. Rarely if ever will you have to adjust the limits. I have never had to adjust the tension.

Originally Posted by wwillson
Who currently makes belt drive openers?


Every major garage door opener manufacturer offers belt drive models.
 
Originally Posted by wwillson
Do any openers come with wifi so that they can be opened from an app?

Yes. I have a Chamberlain RJ020 "myQ" wall mounted direct drive opener with WiFi and automatic dead bolt. I've owned both chain drive and torsion bar openers and the myQ opener is by far the quietest. No experience with belt drive but I've read they are really quiet as well.
 
Originally Posted by wwillson
Do any openers come with wifi so that they can be opened from an app?


I had a Chamberlain that had that feature, though I never used it. The battery backup was absolutely wonderful though.
 
Belt drives are so quiet that they help you home in on rollers and tracks that are crying for adjustment and or lubrication. Noisy chain drives tend to mask those imperfections. A belt driven door that is properly serviced is almost silent.
 
I can understand if you need quiet. At my last house, I installed a Genie Excelerator which is noisy but fast. I specified a fast Genie opener for my new home, too. I appreciate it opening fast and not needing to wait on it if I wanna dart out to the mailbox.. .
Again, it's fast but a little noisy.
 
Thanks for replies so far, I knew I was pretty set on belt drive but wondered if I could get away with an AC belt unit and still get a large reduction in noise...sounds like not and DC is the way to go. Openers are about 50/50 AC and DC it seems...almost all lower end units are AC and mid-high are DC. Belt can be had in both, chain it's harder to find in a DC application. Sounds like I need to just pony up a tad more for a couple of DC belt units.

The WiFi will be nice, although not sure how much I'll use it especially since Chamberlain won't integrate with any home security suite apps that I'm aware of. Battery backup isn't an issue for me as we rarely loose power and if we do I'll just use the front door and then disco and manually open the garage if needed.
 
I've had a Chamberlain belt drive since 2016, works perfect, have never needed to readjust it or re-join to the wifi. It just works. Quiet, and the wifi works perfect. I have too many cars so the less driven cars don't have remotes, I just use the app which is easy.

Have used the battery backup 3 or 4 times, works great. Our neighborhood lost power so I went outside and my neighbor was wondering how the heck my garage door was able to open.
 
Originally Posted by Nick1994
... Our neighborhood lost power so I went outside and my neighbor was wondering how the heck my garage door was able to open.
??? You could disengage even the typical door openers of over 30 years ago to manually open the door during a power outage. I did that a few times on my mother's (AC, chain-drive) circa 1988 one. As far as I know, it never required any maintenance.
 
Most of my experience is with Genie screw drive openers. They're noisy, but reliable.

The one time I deviated from that, to try the new-and-improved technology at the time turned out to be a not so good experience.

Anyone who has ever owned the Genie Trac Drive will tell you that it was a dud. The plastic tape would eventually tear at the holes, and jam/ruin the drive gear as well. Alliance must have spent a pretty penny sending out free replacement parts to owners when they failed. I must have replaced at least two tapes, and the last time it happened, I tossed it and switched back to a screw drive model, which is still in use.

I'm curious as to what the expected vs real life of the belt drive models are.

Openers have gotten a lot more fancy. In Kalifornia, they've even outlawed new openers that don't have battery backups. Another expense and hassle to account for every couple years.
 
Originally Posted by wwillson
Do any openers come with wifi so that they can be opened from an app?


I have added that option via a sensor and adapter to my SmartThings hub. No need to buy an opener that supports it.

I find it very handy to let in service people when I am not home.
 
Originally Posted by Carmudgeon
Most of my experience is with Genie screw drive openers. They're noisy, but reliable.

Openers have gotten a lot more fancy. In Kalifornia, they've even outlawed new openers that don't have battery backups. Another expense and hassle to account for every couple years.


I heard screw drives can be temperamental in the cold, so for my climate I will shy away. Not surprised as CA is rediculous with that kind of stuff, but still why on earth would they feel the need to mandate a backup battery?
 
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