When I first was invited to attend Genie’s Blogger Summit in the heart of Amish country in Ohio, I was a little confused. It’s a garage door opener. How much to it can there be? It lifts the door up and then lowers it back down. Well, it turns out there’s a whole lot more to garage openers than meets the eye. Once I started to get past the severe culture shock of the San Diego to Amish country transition (we passed a lot of horse-drawn carriages and women with bonnets riding bicycles), I started to absorb a lot of useful information about garage door openers in general, and Genie garage door openers in specific.
In the interests of disclosure, in addition to hosting the blogger event, Genie will also be providing HomeFixated with two openers, one for our use and one that we’ll put into the rotation in one of our future monthly giveaways. As the only company to assemble garage door openers in United States, a visit to their HQ in Mt Hope and their plant in Baltic was a great way to get enough info to make me feel like a garage door opener geek. However, it’s not a visit I’d recommend if you’re planning on going bar-hopping, clubbing, or anywhere after 8pm.
Traffic jam on the way to the Genie Blogger Summit
Chain, Belt or Screw
Nope, that’s not from the list of forbidden technology for the Amish, it’s your three options for the drive mechanism of your garage door. Genie openers (and most openers in general) come in chain, belt and screw drive configurations. 
Chain tends to be at the budget-conscious end, belt drive is known for its quiet operation, and screw drive is noted for it’s power. In fact, Genie holds a patent on the direct screw drive mechanism where the motor ties in directly to the screw rod, resulting in the most efficient application of power. The screw drive also provides the most consistent speed (up to 13″ per second). Genie’s new screw drives require no lubrication or maintenance which should be music to just about any homeowners’ ears.
Silence is Golden
AC/DC
No, we’re not talking Back in Black rock ‘ n roll here. Little did I know that garage door openers come in both AC and DC versions here (referring to the type of motor the opener uses). For those of you less electrically inclined, AC stands for alternating current (what you get out of your wall sockets) and DC stands for direct current (what you get out of your batteries). Naturally, both AC and DC openers plug into your typical electrical outlet, but the motors they use vary. DC motors are extremely light relative to AC motors, making the DC openers much easier to install by the way. While AC has either a full power on or completely off power profile, DC can be stepped up or down according to the power needed for each phase of the garage door lift. The result is a much smoother and even lift of the door. DC motors in Genie openers also have a soft start and stop function. This helps you avoid a heart attack if you’re standing in the garage when the door gets triggered to open or close. It also makes for less wear and tear on your door and track hardware. Genie’s higher-end openers us a 140 v DC motor with plenty of juice for newer three panel doors, doors with windows and heavier doors in general. 140 v is also more than 10 times the juice of many competing DC opener motors.
Never Wonder if You Closed the Garage Again – Genie Closed Confirm Technology
Shed Some Light Where It Belongs
Most garage door openers feature a light on the front of the opener, where the light conveniently illuminates the top of your garage door when open. This leaves you to rummage in the relative darkness of your garage. Genie puts their lights on the back, where the light does the most good. We also really liked their motion sensor feature on select models. The motion sensor helps prevent the light from shutting off at inopportune times, like when you’re carefully snaking your hand into a box of sharp tools, or planning your next footstep among a minefield of kids toys and storage boxes. Some of the Genie models allow for two 100 watt bulbs, the dimly-lit garage equivalent of a Supernova.
Troubleshooting Your Garage Door Opener – The First Thing to Check
One fascinating fact I learned at the Genie Summit was that the vast majority of garage door opener service calls are due to a photo beam obstruction or alignment issue. So, if your door is refusing to close, check to make sure the photo beam wasn’t knocked out of alignment the last time you rolled the lawnmower into the garage. Most of the photo beam sensors have a small LED light on each side that illuminate when you’re on target. If that just fixed your issue, boom!, we just saved you a $100 service call.
How To Save the Life of Your Child, Dog, or Your Neighbor’s Annoying Cat
While we’re speaking of the perils and wonders of photo beams, we should discuss safety. It turns out that prior to 1993, garage door openers didn’t need to have a photo beam to shut off the door when someone or something is under the door. That means if you own a pre 1993 guillotine of death garage door opener, you should definitely consider upgrading to a new model. 
Now that you’ve read this crash course and realized your current opener is a noisy, jerky, photo-beam-lacking death trap, you’re probably wondering what’s involved in replacing yours. Genie told us if you’re replacing an existing opener, installation can often be wrapped up in around an hour, making it a great DIY project if you’re sporty that way. A new installation is often in the three+ hour range, but might not be an ideal DIY project if you need to contemplate installing finger-severing tension springs. Genie has this handy Dealer Locator to help you pin down a local dealer and installer. They also have this handy Can I Install It page with a list of necessary tools and a link to some general animated instructions. If you have any experience DIY’ing your garage door opener, let us know your experience in the comments below. For more garage door opener related videos than you can shake a remote at, check out the Genie YouTube Channel.
So, what brand should you buy? If you like to buy products made in the US, Genie is your only option (although a couple of their budget models are made in China). It was also refreshing to hear Genie has a support line that’s actually staffed by real humans residing right here in the USA. That means you won’t be talking to an operator in New Dehli who has never even used a garage door opener. Genie also tests 100% of their units before they leave the plant (that’s in addition to some recurring punishment they regularly put their openers through). Genie’s new models also offer a limited lifetime motor and gearbox warranty. Optional features like the network adaptor for Closed Confirm and, later, a battery backup called Ener-Genie might also sway you.
Genie’s newer remotes feature Intellicode® 2, Genie’s latest encryption system, and auto seek technology that can automatically switch between both 315 and 390 MHz frequencies to reduce interference. Plus, Genie is working on an intelligent wall console that should be available around the end of the year. That wall console features a touch screen and far more options than your current up/down buttons. Genie’s more modular approach also enables you to easily add accessories now or later, all with the same opener.
. It’s official: If you made it this far through the post, now you’re a garage door opener geek too!
can the screw drive be replaced without replacing the entire garage door opener
I have two garage door openers only one is a genie the other is a craftsman. When i use the remote to open the genie, both doors open, when i use the universal remote for the craftsman only the craftsman opens as it should. How do i get the genie remote to only open the genie opener?
I have a Powermax 1500, installed Feb 2012. It has worked perfectly until about six weeks ago, when it stopped responding to remote or wall controls. Both red lights were on indicating a setup issue. I went through the setup reoutine and could get it to start working again, but it would repeat the problem regularly. I finally had the counter sorings replaced by a repair outfit. Again, it worked ok for a week, then started having the same problem. Pretty well fed up with Genie at this point, any ideas?
Jerry: I have the same problem — garage door opener (Genie SilentMax 1000, Revolution series) won’t open or close door using the wall control, but I can turn on/off the light using the wall control, and both the large and small lights on the opener are constantly red. Did you find a solution to your red light problem?
Jon
I have an intelli G1000 – the light doesn’t come on with the motion sensor. Is that a setting I can change or is that a feature that is not available with this model?
I just installed a SilentMax 1000. Everything went smoothly. But I can not close the door with the wall switch by normal operation of pressing and releasing. I closes if I press and hold the wall operating unit switch. It opens all right. Any suggestions to address this issue? Thanks.
I have a chainmax 1000. Has worked fine for 3 years. Now the lights wont go off! I have tried disconnecting from mains and reconnecting – they just stay on.
Safety beams are impossible to lineup
We have a Genie Silent Max 1000 (it’s a couple of years old) & works like a charm but the overhead lights stopped working & when we replaced the bulbs, it still isn’t working. Any ideas as to what come be wrong or how to troubleshoot it? Everything else seems to be working fine. Any ideas would be appreciated.
One thing that’s worth noting is that you should be using heavy-duty rated bulbs. Conventional bulbs die a quick death from the vibration produced by most openers. Assuming it’s not the bulb, you may need to have an opener pro check it out.
Today in 2016, I’d suggest LED bulbs which aren’t affected by shaking, last nearly forever, and won’t require a future trip up a ladder to change.
Definitely agree with you on that suggestion Kevin!
Tina I have the same issue. We have two silent max 1000 installed and both work great but, one has an issue with the light not working, if you figured it out please let me know. Jaredshipman@yahoo.com
Thank you
Jared S.
Have a Genie 1000 and it wont do anything. both red lights stay on. Tried unplugging and push buttons. Nothing seems to work. The unit is almost 3 years old.
Both red lights solid means the limits need to be set. My problem is after setting the limits and saving the changes the door will not go up. The safe-lock over ride on the manual switch (wall) is not on (red). Any suggestions would be a great help!
Is there any way to keep the light on longer? The light turns off after about 5 minutes(?), but can it be changed to stay on longer such as 30 min?
Let me clarify, I thought this would show up under the post i was replying to. I mounted my sensors on the ceiling in my garage. I put them about a foot apart and this way, i don’t have to worry about hitting them with the mower or my jump rope.
Hey Ken, thanks for commenting. We’ve seen this done before and definitely DO NOT recommend it. You’re basically bypassing a vitally important safety feature of the door opener. I’d strongly encourage you to re-install the sensors per the manufacturer’s recommendations. Even if you don’t have kids or pets, there’s always a possibility you or a visitor could be in the path of the door during operation. I’ve even had the sensors alert me to the fact that a tool had fallen in the path of the door and would have possibly damaged the door. Safety features are there for good reasons and we’re not fans of bypassing them. Anyway, that’s our 2 cents. . .
I know this is old, but this is what I did and it works like a champ. Also very easy to allign the sensors when they are about a foot apart.
Just installed a Genie powermax 1500…went to plug it in and nothing.
Hi Chris. Sorry to hear that. Assuming you’ve ruled out power supply/circuit breaker issues and you have your safety sensors installed and properly lined-up, I’d recommend you give Genie tech support a call. Their number should be in your owner’s manual. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Support says call installer still waiting on him 2 weeks now. Opener worked @ 10 times. No lites anywhere, nothing…
Help! We have installed 2 belt drive SilentMax 1000 and both of them have an issue with the safe-t-beam. On each unit, the left sensor will not stop flashing red. We’ve moved them, adjusted and readjusted. The sensors were mounted in the same holes as our last sensors which worked (ie. these are replacement openers). I’ve checked online and every bit of the manual but don’t see how to fix this. Both left sensors flash, flash, pause, flash, flash, pause, non-stop. Of course, when it’s flashing, I can’t make the wall console work unless I hold it down until the door completely closes. Thanks for any suggestions!
Hi Brian, I’m assuming you’ve ruled out a poorly aligned beam, dirt/debris, and anything else that might actually be obstructing the beam? Beyond that, we’re not pro’s on garage door sensors, so I’d encourage you to contact the manufacturer’s tech support directly. There should be an 800 number in your paperwork. Good luck and let us know if you sort it out!
Nice cop out
Check 1st that you have the sensor wires plugged in correctly on the terminal strip (refer Manual for wiring). 2nd if your 100 percent sure of the wiring. Remove both sensor and brackets. Tape the brackets to the floor with a 1 foot rule or straight edge. This will be a check for the sensors working. Like I said this is a check of the sensors. 1 red and one green,(both solid)
i need instructions !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Erika, have you tried the Genie website ? I’m guessing that they can be found there.
I just installed the Silent Max 1200. Installation was pretty easy, expecially considering it was a very low headroom situation with an angled ceiling and a support beam in the way. I am impressed with how quiet it is, but I HATE the motion sensor on the lights. I don’t want the 2 100 watt bulbs burning all day while I’m working in my garage on a light, bright Florida day! Is it possible to deactivate this feature so the light only comes on when the door is opened or closed? Thanks!
I’d like to thank Marc here at HomeFixated, and Genie for last months Genie door opener giveaway. Last week I recieved a Genie SilentMax 1000 with two accessories, the Closed Confirm™ Remote with Network Adapter, and a Wireless Keyless Entry System. After removeing my old door opener I was able to install this new unit by myself, and after completion I’ve got to say that I’m very happy with how quiet the opener is, actually it’s pretty darn impressive.
Our pleasure Charlie! Congrats again (both on the win and the successful install)!
Tom I have the same hatred for my sensors although if I step over the beam when running out I can trick it into closing. I think my long-term solution is to wire up another switch next to the door in a three-way setup so I can close it by reaching inside. Someday…
While I haven’t had the opportunity to use or install one yet, I am very exited about the Wayne Dalton iDrive garage door opener. Instead of hanging in the middle of the garage (and being a pain to mount) like most garage door openers, the iDrive mounts on the wall next to the door; directly attaching to the door cable pulley.
This is the way most commercial doors operate and really just makes better sense to me…. unless someone can think of a better reason to mount an opener in the middle of the garage.
Marc,
Sorry I misssed this event sounded fun!
Abrepuertaphobia – nice! I landed one of those “things” we were discussing! Yahoo
Thanks Rob, and congrats on landing the “thing” we talked about. . . very happy to hear it!
I grew up in a house without a sensor, it would go back up if it sensed resistance when lowering. I could push the button on the wall to close it and walk out the door. If I was fast I wouldn’t have to even duck. I liked that safety feature way more. Cats and Kids would still be fine.
Stupid sensor on my house won’t let me do that.
I saw a pic of someone’s sensors mounted on the ceiling OVER the door and wondered what the heck they were thinking. Could this be the solution to your problem?