SOMMER Direct Drive Garage Door Opener

Lifetime warranty

I know Lowe's doesn't sell this anymore, but in case someone is thinking about the reliability of this - here it is. I installed this Sommer 550 in Sept 2015. It's now Dec 2024. The unit has operated flawlessly for 9 years - so far. Still as quiet as ever. Replaced the garage DOOR 3 years ago with a massive hurricane proof 7 x 16 - and the opener continues to work just fine.

Sommer .75 HP Direct Drive Garage Door Opener

Bought this opener at Lowes, Hurst, TX. Lowes installed it on 6/6/2017. It locked up on 4/10/2019 with my car in garage--release would not work. Sommer rec. Open Up Garage Door in Hurst for repair. After discussion with Sommer Tech. Support, they mailed a new motor & pressure plate kit. Second trip he installed it. Still broken. Tech support then mailed a new Control housing (part with the light bulbs). Still not working. Third trip out Tech support said to check the chain. It had been...

Great product but I like the Genie just a bit more

Due to some very frustrating stocking issues at my local Lowes, I wound up installing a Genie Screw-drive and Sommer Direct-drive unit together in the same weekend. I had a lot of trouble deciding between the two units, and wound up with one of each which wasn't my initial plan, but such is life. I've been using both units for about a month now, and here are my experiences: Installation - The Genie unit was slightly easier to assemble. The limits were easier to set on the Sommer unit since they...

The one to buy

When my 20 year old genie screw drive with mechanical stops went haywire I went out and bought another. Same brand but with electronic programing. Within one week it lost it brains and couldn't remember the coding from the hand held remotes. So as required the limit switches were programed first then the hand held remotes. With one press of the up limit program button, the screw drive kept going until it tore the coupling to the motor. What joy! If only there was a company that made an opener ba...

Good concept with electrical contact problem

The equipment and concept are solid with one exception, the motor loses electrical contact with the rail on a regular basis. The design has the motor move along the rail instead of being stationary and moving a chain/belt. What I believe the problem is the rail is powered and acts like an electrical magnet or builds up a static charge that attracts dirt particles. Over time, the build up is enough to break contact with the motor (even though the rail looks clean) which results in the door being ...

Quality of this opener is poor

I bought this opener to replace a 10 yr. old Genie screw drive. It attracted me because of the advertised quietness of operation and made in Germany quality. I have three previous experience under my belt of garage door installation so it should not be a big deal for me. Afterall, I wanted to know how this direct drive technology works. This is my comment: 1) The instruction in the accompanied manual is not very good. As suggested, you have to watch the brief installation video. However, there a...

Ahh, the instructions!

After a pretty harsh winter this last year, I vowed that I wasn't going to once again come home from work and have to get out of the car into a foot of snow to open the garage door. We had/have one that died out several years ago, I figure because of a newer heavier door we had installed, and living in clay soil, we have a little shifting every year. So, I was all set to call the garage door guy and start getting prices for putting in a new opener for me. Before making those calls though I decid...

Excellent Garage Door Opener

This appears to be a high quality product. It is very quiet and mechanically simple, both good things. Installation is perhaps a little easier than with other garage door openers, because the rail and drive motor gets hung first, before the controller unit, so there's less to heft up at any one time. Assembly is simple. Several reviewers remarked that the instructions could be more clear, and that is a valid observation. The instructions are OK, but Sommers should hire a native English speaker w...

Really great garage door opener with one hitch

I am using the Sommer 3/4 hp direct drive opener to operate our solid wooden two-car garage door with the old-fashioned door springs on the two sides. We have used it for several months and it handles the load just fine. Smoother and less jerking than with our old conventional chain drive opener. The door opens and closes in just under 10 seconds. Keep in mind that our drive track is shorter than those used for a modern segmented metal door, so your opening/closing time may be a few seconds long...

smooth and quiet

I bought this opener within the last two weeks and so far so good. It runs very smooth and very quiet. There are a couple of design issues that I do not care for. The open/close button on the remote control is crazy small,probably the size of a pencil eraser or smaller and the button is not raised up from the surface of the remote. Half of the time I cant even open the door because I cant find the button and find myself stopping my car just to locate it and press the button. One other design I d...