How To Reattach Your Automatic Garage Door OpenerWe’re lucky where I live.  And my “where I live” I mean my specific neighborhood and my specific house.  Knock on wood, we don’t have the issues with flooding that so many around me (including in my neighborhood) do.  We don’t lose power.  We don’t have major natural disasters.  So of course we lost power for the first time since we moved into our house.If you haven’t noticed, it’s been incredibly hot this summer.  And on one of our hottest days of the year, we lost power.  At first, it was a flicker that went out for just a minute or so before everything turned back on.  Five minutes later, the power went out, but there was no buzz of the house turning itself back on.  As time ticked by, it got awfully warm in our house.  Calling ComEd – our electric company in Chicago – I found out that it would be hours before they expected to repair the blown transformer and restore power.It was a no brainer.  I called our library, confirmed they had power (and air conditioning), and I packed up the wee ones.  

Getting out of the garage wasn’t a huge issue.  I know how to disable the automatic garage door opener.  In my case, you simply pull on the red lever, which removes the motor and gear from the track.  Then I can manually lift it up and exit the garage – just like I did when I was a little kid and we didn’t have an automatic garage door opener.Unlike when I was a little kid, we don’t have a key to lock our garage door to keep anyone from coming in the way we did back then.  Instead, I locked the back door to our house (thank goodness for the battery operated keypad lock on our front door), and manually closed the garage door.  What else can I do, right?Yes, it was definitely a good call to leave my house.  The power outage was fairly widespread.  When there’s no power to stoplights anywhere around, you know it’s a bad sign.  It took us awhile to get to the library, but we were happy to be there (and meet up with some friends who had the same idea) once we finally arrived.

After a few hours at the library, I got a text from a friend letting me know power had been restored.  We all cheered and jumped back in the car to return home.  When we arrived, I manually opened the garage door again and drove inside.  After scooting the wee ones through the front door, I turned my attention to the garage door, knowing I wanted to reconnect it so that it would work with my opener again.It’s only easy if you remember how to do it.  I pressed the garage door opener, pleased with myself for remembering how to do this, since I hadn’t had to reconnect my garage door opener in over 10 years.  I waited for it to engage the gears as it went past, smiling to myself.  The motor worked and pulled the gear along, but the garage door wasn’t engaged and remained firmly planted on the garage floor.I tried pulling and tugging the cord to see if that worked.  Calling friends to see if they (or their husbands if they were around) knew how to reattach the garage door opener.  

I could have sat down to cry.  Or I could have pretended that all was well with the world and that I wanted to manually open and close the garage door for the rest of the time I lived in this house.  Or I could have waited for my husband to get home and make him fix it.  antique door knobs lowesBut that’s not how I roll.  antique door knobs lowesI like figuring things out and fixing them.door stop alarm home depotSo I stood up on the door of my car to peer at the track and gear and garage door.  upvc door seal ukIt isn’t a complicated system, relatively.  internal oak doors suffolk

I should be able to visually see how it goes together and fix it that way.  Once I really looked at it, I figured it out, but I’ll save you the pain of having to sit and stare and puzzle.The first key is that you have to open your garage door.  Trying to reengage your garage door opener with the door closed doesn’t work.  glass shower doors kingstonNext up, is reattaching the gear to the track.  When you disengage it, it’s easy and obvious.  You simply pull back on the emergency cord, and it disengages.  Pulling back a second time does nothing.  Neither does pulling forward.  Instead, you need to pull straight down on that cord, which will reengage the door to the track.Now’s the time to press the garage door opener button to have the garage door fully and truly open.  Once it does that, all the parts hook together, and you’re good to go.I’m hoping I don’t have to use this knowledge again soon, but I was proud of myself for figuring it out on my own.  

I’m all about fixing things myself when I can.  After all, I switched out all the electric outlets, light switches, and door handles in my house when we moved in seven years ago.  And I replaced my doorbell, too.  Of course I can do this.And it feels pretty good, too!The SilentMax 1000 provides intelligent design for the homeowner that wants quiet performance with superior design and maximum convenience. Please tell us about your Genie experience to help us continue to produce the best products for customers just like you! HPc* Power Plus motor Opening speed: Up to 7.5 in/sec Limited Lifetime Motor & Gearbox Warranty 2 light bulbs (100 watts max per bulb) GenieSense Monitoring and Diagnostic Technology Compatible with Aladdin Connect HomeLink & Car2U compatible Safe-T-Beam Non-Contact Reversing System Puts an invisible beam across the door opening. The door stops & reverses to open position if anything passes through the beam. IntelliCode Access Security System

Superior encryption technology (also known as rolling codes) that prevents piracy of the radio signal that opens your garage door by continually seeking a new code from billions of combinations. HomeLink & Car2U Compatibility Works with ALL HomeLink and Car2U systems regardless of when those systems were made. No additional external repeater box or compatibility bridge needed. Here's some of the best reviews & testimonials about the SilentMax 1000 garage door opener: The SilentMax1000 is an excellent product... The SilentMax1000 is an excellent product. This is the 4th garage door opener I've had and the best by far. It's quiet and quickly opens/closes. Home Depot - 5 out of 5 stars / Full review All I can say is wow! My 13 year old Genie opener died earlier this week. Decided to spring for another Genie opener, my door is kind of heavy, decided to give this one a try. My impression: 1) Installation - Genie gets a A+ for their super easy to understand instructions and packaging of small parts.

All I can say is wow! 2) Design - This 3/4 hp model is packaged small and it light. Easy to install by design. 3) Programming - I was worried about having to enter "programming purgatory" to get this thing to work. Actually was quite surprised how easy it was to program and get to work. 4) Compatibility - I was able to use my old Genie remotes and the Genie electric eyes (Safe-T-Beam System) located at the front of the garage! Even my 2005 Chrysler was able to be programmed to open this new door! 5) Speed and quiet - yes this opener is fast enough and quiet. In summary, as of this morning with 1 day of use I am thoroughly impressed with this opener. This unit is so quiet that the neighbors don't know when I'm coming or going... Highly recommend this garage door opener. Easy installation... had it up and working in about a hr. Very quiet!! Operates so quietly I can sneak out for a beer without my honey knowing... Installed and adjusted in under 3 hours. Came with openers pre programed, worked great, no setup.

Operates so quietly I can sneak out for a beer without my honey knowing. I installed the opener in about two hours, programmed four openers, works great Good value, easy to install, and I did it solo. The directions were clear and easy to understand, and the parts were easy to identify. I had to replace the original opener on my garage - and this was a great choice! Canadian Tire - 5 out of 5 stars / Full review Quiet, strong, not a lick of trouble in a years worth of use. Nice job Genie folks... After 23 years my Genie screw drive opener decided it was tired and gave up the ghost. Went to Home Depot and looked over what they had and thought this SilentMax 1000 sounded like it would work fine for my application. I’ve had chain drives, screw drives and tape drives but never a belt drive but thought it should quiet with a belt. Just hope the belt lasts a long time, which it should since it’s steel reinforced. This was definitely the easiest installation of an opener I’ve ever done.

Went together easy, mounted easy and setup was very easy. Some things actually do get better over time. The first time I used it I was very surprised by how quiet it is. So if you worry about not hearing the door open in the middle of the night, this thing is probably gonna make you worry a lot more. A nice feature that should have been implemented years ago is the front facing light bulbs. Most people walk to the front of their vehicle to enter their home and now I can see. Also like that the door slows down as it closes and opens to it full extent. Doesn’t have the abrupt stop action like before. Nice job Genie folks. The soft close/open feature is great... It is also very quiet... If you follow the instructions it is easy to install. The belt is contained inside the rail so it doesn't sag like other current belt drives. The soft close/open feature is great for setting the door to close tightly. I've owned a number of garage door openers for two doors over the last 30 years.