Comments on: A Bit of a Rant: My Craftsman Garage Door Opener Has Plastic Gears!

By: Atticus

Atticus — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 00:03:40 +0000

All this talk that people would rather sacrafice the gear over the more expensive motor…no. How about they just design an opener that works; not having to sacrafice neither. If we can put a man on the moon 50yrs ago or invent escalators for that matter, it is certainly possible.

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 19:10:00 +0000

OK, you convinced me. I replaced the gear 3 months ago and it failed again. Was thinking of buying a stronger motor (x 2 doors since the opener standard has changed in recent years). Will give it one more try and check the springs and lube everything that moves.

By: George

George — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 17:03:11 +0000

I have know idea why you are all complaining about these gears being inferior. If the door springs were adjusted correctly and the opener was correct for the size/weight door then your gears would have lasted the 25 years mine have.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 13:18:04 +0000

Anyone have the manual for the Sears Model 139.53600 garage door opener?

By: Clicker Garage Door Opener

Clicker Garage Door Opener — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:28:50 +0000

I ran into the same problem and yes greasing the gears does help, even though the instructions say nothing about it.

By: Arnie

Arnie — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:22:59 +0000

I’m not buying the argument that maintenance is the issue. I keep my system (Sears) well lubed. The door can easily be raised or lowered with one hand, but the drive gear still ground up to a powdery mess. There is nothing in the owners manual specifying that the drive gear needs lubrication in any way.The only thing I did notice was that the chain was stretched, but that didn’t seem to create a direct problem to the drive gear.

By: Lawrence D. Lopez

Lawrence D. Lopez — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 15:50:22 +0000

“The WORM is a different kind of plastic”

By: Lawrence D. Lopez

Lawrence D. Lopez — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 15:44:52 +0000

All done.
The second time everything is easy.
It seems you really only need to replace the large gear.
The work is a different kind of plastic and didnt’ seem to wear much.

Larry

By: Lawrence D. Lopez

Lawrence D. Lopez — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 14:14:06 +0000

I looked up the model numbers on ebay and found gears that were pretty cheap.

Replaced the gears and they went after 3 months.

Didn’t really find anything that needed maintenance.

Didn’t lubricate the gears.

I bought 3 sets at the time so now I get to repair it again.

I’ll lube eveything in sight this time.

larry

By: Bob M.

Bob M. — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:29:47 +0000

Boy, did I luck out. I put up such a fuss with Sears that they sent out a repairman and fixed it for free. Total labor was $159.00 and the gear was $29.95 for the kit. Gratis. Background. My first 1/2 HP Craftsman lasted 9 years before the gear striped. The second one lasted only 5 months. This is why I jumped in Sears DoDo. There were no excuses like the door was too heavy or jamming, hitting the stop bolt or anything. The door was no more than two years old and you could lift it with one finger. The serviceman was trying to give me all kinds of reason for failure but I countered each one. The gear just failed. Period. He did give me one good piece of advice. Grease the gear every two years. Maybe if I had done that to the first one it might have lasted, but not the second one! Was that info in the manual? Anyway, I’m happy for now. Thanks.