Liftmaster

The recent flooding in the Chicago area (especially near our Park Ridge, IL office) has damaged many garage door safety eyes (aka ir sensors). These sensors are mounted on both sides of the garage door opening and within 6 inches of the floor. All openers manufactured after 01/2003 are required to have these sensors per UL325. They are designed to reduce entrapment risks by sending an infrared light beam from one side of the garage opening to the other. If the sensors are not working properly then the garage door opener will NOT close from a remote control.

The new Liftmaster myQ opener models 8550 & 8360 and the Chamberlain and Craftsman DIY models maybe controlled by a smartphone. This feature is part of the internet gateway option (requires an annual subscription of $14.95/year). The first year of the subscription is included with the purchase. Today an update was available for Android devices. This update cannot be installed since it has an invalid code signing signature per Google.

We have received notice dated 03/01/2012 that Chamberlain the manufacturer of Liftmaster garage door openers and and private labeled openers sold by Sears under the Craftsman name as well as Chamberlain DIY systems has announced they are raising replacement parts pricing approx 5% effective 04/01/2012. Garage Door Co Repair Pros is still making pricing adjustments but expects to pass along most of this price increase.

We have been waiting for Liftmaster 855lm Homelink repeater modules since our post last fall.  Has anyone actually received stock on this product - and how well does it work?

Every time we try to order these they are on backorder (new date is 01/28/12) but there is no confirmation for Chamberlain that they will have enough stock on this date to fill the back orders.

Would appreciate feedback from any dealers which have tried the module.

The new Liftmaster models 8550 & 8360 require Homelink version 4 in your car in order to accept the signal from your built in car remote. Many cars 2009 and newer meet this requirement. However many of our customers have cars prior to 2009 which will require an adapter module from Liftmaster to work with these new systems - this adapter is NOT yet available. We are currently advising customers with older Homelink cars to wait on the purchase of the new systems until we can provide the adapter to work with your car.

Liftmaster has announced the release of several new models 8550 battery backup belt drive and the 8360 battery backup chain drive garage door opener 08/2011. These garage door openers support MyQ technology and can be controlled from an internet connection (ie smartphone, computer, etc) to check open/close status, turn on lights (separate module) in our house/yard, check cycle count for preventative service, close automatically after a time delay, and Security+ 2.0 enhancements for tri-band radio controls.

With the excessive heat in the Chicago area it is important to not run your garage door opener excessively. Residential garage door openers are not designed to be used multiple times consecutively without overheating. In order to meet UL safety requirements your garage door opener (mfg after 1980) should contain an automatic thermal overload in the motor. If the motor is run too many times in a short period of time the thermal overload cuts in and turns off the power to the motor.

A massive power outage has hit the Chicago and suburban areas due to the storms last night. We are already getting the panic calls from those who cannot figure out how to get out of their garage. All garage door openers sold in the U.S. since the 1970's MUST have a manual release by UL requirement. This is usually a red string (a chain on some old units) located near the connection of the garage door opener arm to the garage door. In openers made after 1982 you simply pull down on the release sting and lift the door manually.

Chamberlain (Lift-Master) has announced a price increase on all parts of 8% effective June 2011. Although we purchase some Liftmaster product factory direct we purchase others through wholesale distributors for better pricing or availability. These distributors are increasing their prices by 8% on or before July 01, 2011. This price increase will apply to all parts and accessories including gear kits, remote transmitters, keyless entry systems, receivers, etc.  We will honor proposals written prior to 06/15/2011 for the time indicated at the bottom of the proposal (usually 45 days).

Many homes have been broken into and burglarized by thieves using universal controls that open the garage door by reading the access code in the opener. Rolling access code technology is one way to protect your home, family and belongings against thieves and intruders. Rolling access code technology changes the code of your automatic opener after every use, so the thieves' universal controls are rendered useless. All new residential garage door systems which we have installed in the Chicago, IL area have been rolling code since 1997.