Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This direct drive opener was easy to install and worked perfectly on my door. But my garage door was installed with the option of mounting a direct drive opener in mind, so I had an easy time. This was in fact easier to install than the chain drive ceiling mount opener. I did have a few problems which are outlined below. However, before you buy this, you should check to make sure your current garage door system satisfies the following conditions: First: check whether the torsion bar extends far enough beyond the bearing plate. I attach a picture of the bar and bearing plate on my door. It had plenty of extension as you only need 1.5 inches (see picture). Second: check whether your torsion bar is at least 3” below the ceiling. Mine was a full foot and a half below. Third: check that the drum that holds the wire attached to the bottom of the door (center of first picture) has a diameter between 4 and 6 inches. The one in the picture has a diameter of 4.5”. Fourth: check that the torsion bar is horizontal. As you can see from the second picture, my torsion bar has a slight bend in it being lower at the center than at the two ends. I had to shift the center bearing plate up a half inch to make it horizontal which was rather difficult. But it was worth it. A slight bend will make the opener work much harder because it is not only spending energy lifting the door but also deforming the torsion bar. Fifth: The end of the torsion bar on which you plan to mount the opener must be at least 9 inches from the wall. If any of these conditions are not me, you have an issue that is best resolved by hiring a professional. In fact, the second and fifth conditions are likely too expensive to fix, so don't buy this opener. The manual is excellent, but it tells you to do some things that are quite unnecessary during a test installation. First, you are told to remove the old opener. That is not necessary. To make sure your new opener works, it is best to leave the other opener installed, but disconnect and remove the bar connecting the chain drive and the door completely. Then move the plate that rides along the metal slid and connects to the door to the fully open position by pressing the button to open the door. You can now proceed with installation to check to make sure everything works before you remove the old opener. Likewise, you do not need to install a power outlet within 6 feet of the opener. You can run a heavy duty extension cord to check things before doing that. The only two issues I had with installation were the necessity to shift the center bushing up (as discussed above) and installing the cable tension monitor. That required cutting away some dry wall and using shims to place it properly. But that was more annoying than difficult. The door opener is so much more quiet it was worth the full day it took me to install it. The remote light, the door control and the premium remote work well. I did ignore the manuals suggestion that I not use LED bulbs because this is a common misconception. You can buy LED bulbs on Amazon that do not interfere with operation of garage doors. Do a search for Garage Door Opener A19 LED Light Bulbs, and you will find them.