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Seven Foot Rail product guide

LiftMaster 8500 Wall Mount Garage Door Opener

Torsion-bar sectional doors under 650 pounds, fitted by a technician

A wall mount jackshaft opener with a 24 volt DC motor that drives the torsion bar and keeps the ceiling clear. LiftMaster rates it to 650 pounds on doors up to 14 feet high and 180 square feet, with the battery backup and the myQ gateway both sold separately.

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Published specifications

  • Product guide: heavy-duty 24 V DC motor, 63 to 1 gear reduction
  • Product guide: 7.6 in/sec both ways; 120 V AC, 60 Hz, 2.7 A, 6 ft cord
  • Product guide: max door 650 lb, 14 ft high, 18 ft wide, 180 sq ft
  • Manual: 1 in torsion bar, 4 to 6 in drums; 8 in bar end to side wall
  • Manual: do not exceed 10 complete door cycles per hour
  • Warranty: lifetime motor, 5 yr parts, 1 yr battery backup system

Fit and limits

Strengths

  • Carton holds the control panel, remote, power door lock and remote light
  • Rated for residential and light duty commercial use by LiftMaster
  • Holds up to 40 remotes, 4 keyless entries and 16 myQ devices

Caveats

  • The listing's own bullet says a different model number will be shipped
  • Battery backup and the myQ Internet Gateway are both sold separately
  • LiftMaster says the myQ radio is disabled while running on backup power

Read the bullet before anything else

This listing is titled as a LiftMaster 8500, but its only bullet says the buyer will receive the all new 98022, which the seller describes as replacing the 8500. That is a different model number with a different specification, so what arrives may not be what the title describes.

The fields do not settle it either. The item model number and part number fields both read 8500RJO rather than 8500, while the long description describes the 8500 in detail, right down to its 24 volt DC motor and its remote light. The attached PDF is LiftMaster's manual for Model 8500.

Everything below is what LiftMaster publishes about the 8500 itself, because that is the model the title and the attached manual name. Before ordering, ask the seller in writing which model number is in the carton, and match the answer to the documents for that model.

What LiftMaster puts in the 8500 carton

LiftMaster's product guide lists one carton measuring 24 by 10 by 12 inches at a shipping weight of 31 pounds, which is the same weight the listing gives. Inside are the opener head, the 888LM myQ Control Panel, a 893MAX three-button remote control, the Protector System safety reversing sensors, the power door lock part 041A6102, the cable tension monitor and the 380LM remote light.

Two things people expect are not in that list. The battery backup is an optional accessory, model 475LM, and LiftMaster's own warranty line says the backup battery is sold separately. The myQ Internet Gateway, model 828LM, is also a separate purchase.

The manual's carton inventory matches, and adds a warning worth repeating: accessories included with the opener vary depending on the model purchased. Check the box against the manual's inventory page rather than assuming.

Doors, drums and the clearances that decide the fit

The manual's planning page sets the compatibility. The opener works with doors that use a torsion bar and springs, the torsion bar must be 1 inch in diameter, drums must be 4 to 6 inches and must not be used on tapered drums over 6 inches. High lift is allowed up to 54 inches, standard lift sectional doors up to 14 feet high, doors up to 18 feet wide and up to 180 square feet.

The clearances are specific. A minimum of 2.5 inches between the garage wall and the centre of the torsion bar, a minimum of 3 inches between the ceiling and the centre of the torsion bar, a minimum of 8 inches between the side wall or obstruction and the end of the torsion bar, and the torsion bar extending at least 1.5 inches past the bearing plate.

An electric outlet is required within 6 feet of the installation area, and the manual says to contact a qualified electrician or use the 580LM low voltage power supply if there is not one. The gap between the floor and the bottom of the door must not exceed a quarter of an inch, and the cover says the product is not intended for low headroom tracks or doors using extension springs.

The specification block, and one limit that is easy to miss

The motor is a heavy-duty 24 volt DC unit with automatic thermal protection and permanent lubrication, driving an internal chain and sprocket mechanism with 63 to 1 gear reduction in a steel chassis under a plastic cover. Power is 120 volts AC at 60 hertz with a 2.7 amp current rating, UL listed, on a 6 foot three-prong cord.

Travel speed is 7.6 inches per second in both directions. Maximum door weight is 650 pounds, and maximum door size is 14 feet high by 18 feet wide up to 180 square feet. Headroom clearance required is 3 inches from the centre of the torsion bar.

The limit that catches people out is on the manual's cover: do not exceed 10 complete cycles of door operation per hour. Count your own comings and goings against that figure before buying for a busy multi-vehicle household or a light commercial door. LiftMaster does allow this model for residential and light duty commercial use.

myQ needs a gateway, and the battery changes the radio

Smartphone control is not built in on this model. LiftMaster says myQ technology lets you monitor and control the opener and house lights from a phone, tablet or computer, and that it requires the purchase of the 828LM Internet Gateway. The 888LM control panel carries the radios for myQ and Security plus 2.0.

Because the radios live in that panel, LiftMaster states plainly that alternate wired control panels should not be used with this operator. The panel also handles Timer-to-Close, motion detecting hands-free lights, a light control and a lock mode that locks out remote controls.

One footnote matters for anyone planning around power cuts: LiftMaster says the myQ radio is disabled in battery backup mode, and also when using the 580LM alternate power system, so the app stops working in exactly the situation the backup exists for. The 380LM remote light is a separate fixture that can go anywhere in the garage, takes two bulbs at a maximum of 100 watts each which are not included, and has an adjustable solid-state delay of 1.5 to 4.5 minutes.

Warranty, monthly checks and who installs it

The warranty is a five year limited warranty with a lifetime motor term and a one year term on the battery backup system, and both the manual and the product guide agree. It runs to the first retail purchaser for the residence where the product is originally installed, and the manual says that failing to comply strictly with the installation, operation, maintenance and testing instructions voids it in its entirety.

The exclusions are broad: non-defect damage, improper installation or care, labour charges for reinstalling a repaired unit, consumables such as remote batteries and light bulbs, non-residential installations, and any problem with the garage door or its hardware including springs, rollers, alignment or hinges.

Maintenance is short. Once a month, manually operate the door and call a trained door systems technician if it is unbalanced or binding, check the door opens and closes fully, and repeat the safety reverse test. Once a year, oil the door rollers, bearings and hinges, and note that the opener itself needs no extra lubrication and the tracks must not be greased. The manual's cover says installation is for trained garage door technicians only.

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Primary sources

  1. LiftMaster 8500 Product Guide, document LMGDCA8500 4/18 (PDF)
  2. LiftMaster Wall Mount Garage Door Opener Model 8500 manual, document 114A4565 (PDF supplied with the listing)

Primary sources checked .

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