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I was planning to replace an overhead opener with a wall mount.
The old opener is over 10 years old and clearly on its last legs.
I like the idea of an easier installation, basically just slide the wall opener onto one end of the torsion spring shaft (not sure terminology) and bolt the opener to the wall. Plus, wall mounts are much quieter, give more clearance and leaves a blank slate for lighting.
A published downside is limited garage door weights. Since mine are within the "acceptable" range, I didn't give that much thought.
But after more thought I realized it's not a go/nogo situation but rather a progressively bad situation. With an overhead, the door is lifted from the middle. With a wall mount, a motor turns one end of the spring shaft and expects the other end to follow. But over that 16-foot length there has to be some twisting with half of the door weight on pulleys on each end of the bar. So, my conclusion is the max weight is the point where things just aren't going to work because the far end of the bar is just too far behind in lifting its end of the garage door. But less weight doesn't mean all is well, just less likely to jam up and less stress of every moving part (hinges, rollers, shafts).
Am I on the right track or is there some other factor in play that negates the twisting forces on the bar?
Unless I'm missing something, it seems like tempting fate and premature problems with 16 feet wide doors. Look at the spindly shafts in the picture. It seems unlikely their design ever anticipated different loads at each end, at least for shafts designed before wall mount openers.
The old opener is over 10 years old and clearly on its last legs.
I like the idea of an easier installation, basically just slide the wall opener onto one end of the torsion spring shaft (not sure terminology) and bolt the opener to the wall. Plus, wall mounts are much quieter, give more clearance and leaves a blank slate for lighting.
A published downside is limited garage door weights. Since mine are within the "acceptable" range, I didn't give that much thought.
But after more thought I realized it's not a go/nogo situation but rather a progressively bad situation. With an overhead, the door is lifted from the middle. With a wall mount, a motor turns one end of the spring shaft and expects the other end to follow. But over that 16-foot length there has to be some twisting with half of the door weight on pulleys on each end of the bar. So, my conclusion is the max weight is the point where things just aren't going to work because the far end of the bar is just too far behind in lifting its end of the garage door. But less weight doesn't mean all is well, just less likely to jam up and less stress of every moving part (hinges, rollers, shafts).
Am I on the right track or is there some other factor in play that negates the twisting forces on the bar?
Unless I'm missing something, it seems like tempting fate and premature problems with 16 feet wide doors. Look at the spindly shafts in the picture. It seems unlikely their design ever anticipated different loads at each end, at least for shafts designed before wall mount openers.
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