The Genie Excelerator: The Fastest Garage Door Opener?
By Chuck Cage
With the release of their Excelerator model, Genie claims to sell the fastest garage door opener on the market.
Is it the fastest? We can’t say. A lot of factors affect the answer to that question, including the weight and structure of the door to which it’s bolted as well as the specifics of the mount and even whether or not the owner has pets or children. We can say however, that we’ve had experience installing screw-type openers and compared to other types they’re incredibly fast and quiet.
Other features (that might be more germane to your garage experience than its speed alone) include:
- a flush mount design that helps in low clearance applications (read: you have a Hummer H2 and a normal garage)
- bright lighting from two 60-watt bulbs
- and a super duty 1/2 HP DC motor to handle heavy doors
Street pricing starts around $250.
The Excelerator Garage Door Opener [Genie]
Street Pricing [Froogle]
October 1st, 2006 at 3:49 pm
I’ve had my Accelerator for a year or two, and it is fast and quiet. Be sure your garage door is properly set up and operates smoothly, because the higher speed will amplify any problems with it.
Note: it opens twice as fast as any other operator, but closes slowly. I am thinking about disabling the photo cell that detects an obstruction. Many times I have backed out and started to drive off and then seen the door reverse and go back up because my cat made a last second dash under the door and triggered the photo cell. I have to wait until the door is completly closed to be sure it is down.
February 10th, 2007 at 8:07 am
Keep your eye open for sales on these as well. I was able to pick up two of them for just a few dollars more than the standard speed ones. I was skeptical when I saw the price and thought it was a discontinued product clearance, but the guy at the `po says they drop the price pretty regularly. They were easy to install and I’ve been very happy with them. As for disabling any safety feature, don’t do it! The normal-speed closing hasn’t really been an issue, but it’s always a good idea to be sure it’s done closing before driving away.
March 30th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
We have had the same problem with the door reversing itself when closing, and just today the door started closing all the way and then immediately opening itself back up, with nothing in the way to trigger the sensors. I called Genie, didn’t get very good service with the first representative (she told me just to call back when I had done what she wanted me to do instead of staying on the phone with me), but when I called back and spoke to the second representative, he stayed on the phone the entire time. It has been determined that I have a bad down limit sensor that is making the door open on its own and they are mailing another one since we have lifetime parts and motor warranty.
July 9th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
Warning, I have had a bad experience with this company. After buying a new Genie opener from Sears and having it proffessionaly installed by a garage door company, it was determnined that a motor drive board needed replacing. When I contacted Genie, they sent a new board but would not pay to get the service man back out to my house. I had the service man come and install the new board. It still did not work. This time it was determined that the whole motor head needed replacing and although Genie would send me a new head, again thay will not pay to have the service man come back out to install the replacement. Am I wrong to think that Genie should pay for these service calls. If they had sold me a quality product in the first place I would not have had these problems. My next garage door opener will not be a Genie and I suggest you think twice before buying one.
August 8th, 2007 at 9:18 am
Warning! Warning! I have had my garage door opener up and running for two hole weeks now. It is a Genie Quietlift 2040 Belt Driven. The belt snapped and the door came crashing down just as my wife pulled out. Thank god it didn’t come down on her car or one of the children or anyone who could have been walking out the door. Again the belt snapped, it is not a solid rubber belt. It is connected to the bullet with wire and the wires broke.
August 13th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
I have three of these on three doors (two 8′x12′ and on 12′ x 12′) and they are great. One has started acting up by not opening unless I tend it by telling it to open several times. I see this is a common problem and it should not be a difficult fix. I have had them for two years now and it is great to have it open so fast. BTW, kelly is confused as to what a garage door opener is. If the garage door comes crashing down, it was not a problem with the opener, but a broken garage door counterbalance spring. DUH!
January 5th, 2008 at 2:25 am
Genie used to be a great company, but in more recent years, has been a real pain about discontinuing parts too quickly for machines that are, in reality, not old enough to have ANY of their parts discontinued. About the only part you can still get for ANY Genie screw is the carriage or the starting capacitor. Boards for openers that are only 6 years old have been dropped. I currently have a Genie QuietLift on my door, and while I like it, this is the second one. The first one I bought at Lo’s, got it home, it had a cracked cover, but I installed it anyway thinking the damage was only cosmetic. After I had installed everything and went to test the opener and set the force, I realised there was more wrong. It had no power to move the door. The board was damaged. I suspect some stocker smacked it with the forklift. I will say they gave me no issue on replacing it, and I’ve had no troubles with this one.
To respond to some of your notes:
Robert: There is no way to disable the photosensors on this or any newer opener. Federal law requires they be installed, and all professionals will install them as required. However, I have been to a few where the pets were an issuse, as you’d mentioned with your cat, the customer had mounted the sensors behind the motorhead. But I’m not saying I recommend that.
Greer: You must have boght the high-end unit. The limits have been problems from the get-go. You should only have to replace it once. My understanding was there was a bad batch. Kinda like the Motorola Razr phones.
D. Eitel: You should have been able to contact Sears if that’s where you bought it, and they should have handled getting the replacement parts AND installing them at no charge to you. Since they are the seller of the machine, they do have some warranty on it. But never the less, the bad part is definitely Genie’s flub-up. Overall I am not pleased with Genie anymore.
Kelly: Did the spring break when the belt broke, or did it just snap? You are correct, the belt is not a solid rubber, it’s got Kevlar embedded in it, altho I’m not sure that is much help with an older wooden door.
Frank: I have actually heard of belt breakage for no apparent reason, but having a spring pop somewhere in the process is the most usual. My call yesterday was for a slipped cable, but it turned out the spring was broken.
Basically, I won’t buy another Genie. If you want a GOOD, RELIABLE opener, go with Lift-Master on the professionally installed end, or Sears if you’re a DIY’er. They have better options, better accessories, and they don’t discontinue parts after 5 years.
August 1st, 2008 at 3:02 am
Niether Sears nor Genie should have to pay to have the parts installed. if you purchased from sears you had the option to have the “in home” warranty, if you chose not to get that then it is your tough luck. (this is the same for pretty much all companies. they will warranty the parts but not labor.) yes there is a lifetime warranty but that is for the parts. liftmaster has the same policy.
I have had my excelerator for s years now and LOVE it. it is very quick and quiet. however you must ensure that your door runs smoothly up and downand that it is balanced correctly. the lubrication on my door got a little dry and so the opener was closing jerky and sometimes not closing at all. some lube to the door fixed that problem. we have a total of 3 excellerators and 2 regulars and all work fine but the excellerators are so much better.
I have liftmasters in my new house and let me tell you I miss the speed of the genie. you get so used to the opening speed of the excelerator that the closing speed and any other opener seems like they just crawl along.