[SouthOfTheBorder]

BACKGROUND....

We have been in our new home for little over two years and have not been happy with the noisy, metal garage doors and their jerky chain-driven openers.. I insulated the doors a few months ago and that did reduce some of the operating noise. However the "rough-starting" openers still produced a lot of noise. We can hear garage doors opening 4-5 homes away so so I knew it wasn't unique to us.

A few weeks ago the rough, jerking motion when opening/closing seemed to be getting worse. We were about ready to ditch the MVP openers and replace then with Genie, belt-driven, easy open/close openers that we have been using in previous homes.


THE PROBLEM and SOLUTION....
Yesterday, when my wife returned home the double door opened but would not close. When I got home I found the motor was running but no chain/door movement.

After removing four screws and lifting off the cover I discovered the set screw on the drive pulley (large pulley in the picture) had loosened to point the drive shaft was not turning.

I could see the set screw had worked itself loose over a period of time as the belt from the motor pulley to the drive pulley was not in alignment.

A couple of drops of Loctite and a 5/32 allen wrench quickly fixed the problem and the door is operating a little quieter now. (Belt driven Genie's are still on my wish list).

Attached are pictures after the repair. This is an easy DYI fix for anyone who can use a screwdriver and allen wrench. I checked our golf cart door opener and the set screws were tight.

With thousands of these openers installed in TV maybe this could save you the time and expense of having a serviceman do the repair.

For those that are not very familiar with pulleys and shafts look closely at the bottom of the large pulley. You can see the shaft has a flat side. Be sure the set screw will make centered contact with this flat side of the shaft when you tighten the set screw. That will help insure the set screw does not loosen as operating force is applied to the system.

Any questions feel free to PM me.

Don

[photo1902]

Excellent tip and photos!

[Jima64]

Remember to wipe the coil springs with some oil about once a year to keep the rust down on them.

[MikeV]

Thanks for the tip. I will try it on my noisy garage doors.

[villagetinker]

Thanks for sharing.

[tomwed]

What a nice thing to do.

I had trouble with my door and it turned out to be a wheel came out of the track. I almost tried to fix it myself by unscrewing the bracket.

I thought better and youtubed the problem. I found what I was looking for and fixed it by bending the track, pushing the wheel back in and bending it back using vice grips.

I really appreciate people like you sharing your expertise. When I think of all the things I broke before youtube trying to figure it out myself..........................hmmmmmmmmmm

[kcrazorbackfan]

Thanks for the tip and the pics; will look at mine tomorrow.