Chamberlain WD822KD Whisper Drive 1/2-HP Belt Drive Garage Door Opener
by Chamberlain
|
List Price: Our Price: $198.00 You Save: $51.99 (21%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $178.20 (click here) Category: Tools See more product details |
|---|
Tools and Hardware Reviews of Chamberlain WD822KD Whisper Drive 1/2-HP Belt Drive Garage Door Opener
Customer Review: Upgrade from Sears Opener
Summary: 5 Stars
We recently purchased and installed a WD822K Whisper Drive with the Amazon value pack. We are delighted with the opener. It truly is MUCH quieter than the aging Sears unit we replaced, or the LiftMaster it sits alongside. Of course, Chamberlain units are sold both as Sears and also as LiftMasters.
--The instructions for installation are good. We followed them carefully. The length of the installation guide can be frightening, but realize that it's long because it's clear and complete. Performing a reinstallation is very straightforward, but don't believe that it's an hour. Allow 2.5 to 3.5 hours, and read the instruction through completely the night before. With that, it's just a matter of doing as you're told.
--We were able to reuse the low voltage wiring for the switch, and the eye sensors. We also kept our old eye sensors in operation rather than install the ones that came with the Whisper drive (at least fot the time being). We needed to add a 2X4 as a header in the garage wall. With that, the Whisper drive mounted exactly into the old support frame.
--The opener runs smoothly, and has a good range. It's better than either of our prior units in our garage.
Customer Review: Installed in 90 minutes
Summary: 5 Stars
If you have an old Sears, Chamberlain or Liftmaster chain drive, you might be in luck!
When my old Sears chain-drive garage door opener died, I decided to spring for this quieter Chamberlain belt drive. Since Chamberlain and Sears are essentially the same brand, I was betting on being able to re-use a lot of the stuff from the old Sears opener and boy, did it pay off!
This Chamberlain comes with spacers that allow me use my existing header bracket. No drilling or lag bolts for me today! The opener is also the same length and has identical mounting holes as the Sears, to I had the whole opener assembled and bolted up in 30 minutes!
I got to reuse all the wiring and the safety sensors, saving time there too. I did decide to install the new wall console button, so that took a bit of time. I was spoiled and hoped the holes on the new remote keypad would line up with the old one, but alas, my luck had run out. I had to drill one hole. Set up of the wall console and the remote keypad took another 30 minutes.
Clean up, programming the remote keypad, and adjusting the door limits took the remaining 30 minutes! Gotta love it!
Customer Review: nice
Summary: 5 Stars
I am no handing man and I expected this to be tough because I had an 11 foot high ceiling and this would be the first garage door opener in my new house but it went in relatively easily. I needed to buy longer metal bars and a couple extra bolts and nuts because of my higher ceiling. I also had to buy longer cable to connect the opener to to the door control because I have a longer 3 car tandem garage. Total extra cost about $25. It would also be smart to measure the height of your door. I thought all doors were the same. This is designed for a 7 foot high door. It will work best on an 8 foot door if you order an extension from Chamberlain. I didn't get the extension for my 8 foot door but it still has plenty of room for my wife's SUV to get in. The Whisper Drive is very quiet. I can not hear the door opening if I am in the house. The wireless remote was very easy to install on the outside and is very handy for when you want to walk in through the garage and not tramp dirt through the front door. I am very pleased with the whole kit and would buy this again.Customer Review: Fantastic Garage Door Opener
Summary: 5 Stars
I never realized how loud my old garage door opener was until it broke and I replaced it with this one. This thing is ridiculously quiet. I love it. It was a bit hairy to install in my garage as it BARELY made clearance with my door (I apparently have a very lower ceiling) but it still worked out quite well. I'm very happy with the opener thus far and I've had it for close to a year now.
The only thing that annoys me about this was the remote. Make sure you point it the right way or you'll end up sitting 10 feet from the door fiddling with it to get the door open. If you are finding that having the opener pointing one way does not seem to be working, make an effort to turn it around and try it that way. You wouldn't think it would make that much of a difference but it REALLY does. I've seen a few people complain about it and it was actually driving me insane until I realize that I was always pointing the back towards my garage door (since it was easier to tell which button I needed to press that way).
Customer Review: Difficult customer support
Summary: 1 Stars
Update to paragraphs below: I DID get an excellent response to my email, and they gave me an 800 number for future use. Their number should be more available, but because their email support was excellent, I'd now rate the product a 4.
(Their 800 number: Technical Support Hotline at (800) 528-5880, M-F, 5:00 A.M. - 6:00 P.M. and Saturday, 7:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. Mountain Time.)
After reading all the positive reviews I bought and installed one of these. The manual is good, installation was easy, and operation is quiet.
But I was unable to reprogram a supposedly compatible remote control and I tried to contact customer support. There is no way to reach a human being - so if the on-line hints and the manual don't help, you are out of luck. (There is an email support option which I didn't try; but has anybody EVER seen email support work?)
I'm not sorry I bought the product; but when it fails, I'm going to be really angry since there won't be any way to get support.