Surge Protection for Garage Door Opener?

LESLIE: Bob in Delaware, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today?

BOB: Yes, I have a faulty garage-door opener, diagnosed by the manufacturer as having a bad circuit board. And the question I have to have is with regard to surge protection of garage-door openers. And there are two types that I can identify: one like you might use for your electronic equipment and a special garage-door opener made by a company (audio gap) Chamberlain, that has not only protection for the basic motor and the circuit board but also for the control panels.

TOM: OK. So, first of all, are you going to repair the garage-door opener and put the new circuit board in it, Bob?

BOB: Yes. Because it’s under warranty and they will replace the part for free but the labor I have to pay.

TOM: Yeah, that’s kind of an unusual thing to happen. I actually have never heard of a board like that failing but OK. It can happen.

So now what you want to do is – you’re thinking that that could have been caused by an electrical surge and you want to protect from that?

BOB: Most people I talk to do not have surge protectors on their garage-door opener.

TOM: No, most people don’t. And I would be hesitant to probably add one, because I think this is probably an anomaly. But I will say this: if you are going to put this on and Chamberlain makes one, I would definitely trust that brand. I know a lot about that brand and the people behind it and it’s a good brand. They make good products. And so, if they’re offering something that does this, I wouldn’t be hesitant to invest in it.

BOB: Yeah, that sounds good, yeah. All these little devices we have around the house – you have garage-door openers and microwaves and stuff like that – they’re all susceptible to surges of sorts.

TOM: But generally, you put surge protection on your main panel, not on – not necessarily on every appliance. And sometimes you put them on computers and that sort of thing but this is a very unusual circumstance. But if you’re going to put something on and Chamberlain makes a product for that, I would trust it.

OK, Bob?

BOB: OK. Very good. Thank you.

TOM: Good luck. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.