Garage Door Opener Chain Versus Belt

Like a chain drive the belt drive operates by moving the rubber belt.

Garage door opener chain versus belt. Belt drive garage openers use a rubber belt to open the garage door. When comparing the chain drive garage door opener and the belt drive system you will notice that the belt drive is much quieter. It uses a chain running assembly unit attached to tension springs that lift the garage door up and down. Not as smooth with a chain opener the door is likely to bounce around when it goes up and down.

Louder chain garage door openers are much louder than belts because the metal chain slides up and down a metal rail. Price belt drive garage door openers will typically set you back more than chain drive openers but as mentioned above they also usually come with a better warranty. The noise from the chain drive which is made from the gearing motor and metal to metal contact leaves this type of opener at a disadvantage. The chain drive opener the chain drive garage door opener was the standard for many decades before belt and screw drive mechanisms were introduced.

The rubber belt is used to slide the trolley when the door is triggered to open or close the door. Other installation features are similar to that of belts the chain is joined with an adjustable clip and driven by a sprocket on top of the motor. Most garage door openers tend to lift a garage door at a rate of 7 to 8 inches per second. The lift is not as smooth.

The chains used on residential garage door openers typically have higher tensile strength and greater lifting capacity than belts. They also may last longer in certain applications.