Droopy garage door chain

[michaelpolan]

Wife called and said that garage door wouldn't open. By the time I had come home she had disengaged the door. The sleeve that is connected to the arm that goes to the door does not seem to be able to get locked back in place, I don't think I should have to exert a large force to get in locked back on the piece that connects the chain parts.

The chain is drooping, I would say about 3-4 inches down at the lowest point.

I tried the motor and it just makes a humming sound for a few seconds.

Thoughts?

[HayZee518]

the carriage that locks with the door arm travels along the T bar track. the chain then connects to one side of the carriage goes the length of the bar, around a sprocket, then back along the track to the motor sprocket and back into the other end of the carriage. the motor sprocket has an aditional construction which allows rotary limit switches to make and break when the door goes up or down. look to where the door arm mates with the carriage assembly. maybe she broke a spring and latch when she disengaged the door arm.

[michaelpolan]

Problem

I had a garage door person over today. The chain was very tight. They took the chain off, and then reset the T bar. What started happening was that the position that it was stopping at in both the up and down positions kept changing. When they took a closer look at the motor and gears, it seems that a couple of the pieces are no longer aligned right inside the mechanism. So the decision is to replace some of the innards or put in a whole new opener. My wife is leaning towards a new one. The question is if there is any big difference between belt or chain driven, this one was chain driven.

[HayZee518]

my dad had a chain drive for umpteen years with no problem. all the genie's I installed were chain. your choice and call