Liftmaster 8500 Vs. 3800

Liftmaster 8500 Vs. 3800

Today, we are going to look at the Liftmaster 8500 Vs. 3800 garage door openers. This is a comparison of two incredibly popular and virtually similar products from the same manufacture. If you’ve ever been late for a prior engagement, or maybe got pissed by having to get out of your car just to open your garage door, then you probably know how important it is to have a reliable garage door opener. And if so, these models are meant for you.

Garage door openers are generally built in a way that they take minimal space when installed. Likewise, these models are built to help make easy the opening of your garage door. Getting the best garage door opener can be a real issue, a with numerous garage door openers out there, there are high chances of getting a crummy garage door opener.

To make sure you get the right piece, this post will guide you as we get closer to the Liftmaster 8500 and Liftmaster 3800. In the end, you’ll be able to know which between these two products is more superior.

Liftmaster 8500 VS 3800

Before we get into details of this review, let’s have a table of comparison for both products. As we highlight the significant aspects of the Liftmaster 8500 and 3800 models, you will be able to grasp an idea of what to expect from either of these two garage door openers.

From the above comparison table, it’s quite clear what you should expect from both products. Both the Liftmaster 8500 and Liftmaster 3800 are ideal in keeping your garage door closed and open as you want with just a press of a button.

To start the comparison, we shall highlight the features as mentioned in the table above, and discuss how these features affect your decision when it comes to buying one of them.

After going through the comparison, anyone can expect to determine which among the two Liftmasters is the better buy. We shall also include the pros and cons of each so you can make a more informed purchase. So without getting any further, let’s get right into the details.

Drive Type

The drive type employed in a garage door opener is certainly essential. It’s the drive type that determines the extent of space it requires, as well as the noise level the unit can make. How the drive operates is also influenced by the drive type featured in the garage door opener.

For the Liftmaster 8500, it features an internal chain drive and a sprocket. That implies that the garage door opener comes with a wheel with teeth plus an internal chain connected to the wheels and the motor.

The motor then moves/rolls the chain connected to the wheels, thereby opening the door. Although it’s often associated with high-level noise, the drive type of the 8500 model is fairly active.

The Liftmaster 3800, on the other hand, employs a jackshaft drive. This jackshaft drive seems to be more sophisticated as compared to sprocket and chain drive form. It’s basically a short stub that includes supporting bearings fixed at both ends, two cracks, and pulleys/gears attached to it. This drive type is associated with minimal noise and is more powerful at the opening and closing of the garage door. So, the Liftmaster wins in this aspect.

Home Automation

While garage doors are designed for homes, it comes to point for them to incorporate home automation. This is the system that grants you the capabilities to control things while at home, right from your comfort zone. This function allows you to manage your household appliances, climate, entertainment, and even the lighting.

The Liftmaster 8500 boasts the MyQ panel, which you can control comfortably using your smartphone. After acquiring the MyQ control panel app, you can easily access the status of the garage door remotely.

On the other hand, the Liftmaster 3800 comes with home link control panel. The control panel incorporates three buttons that you can smartly integrate into the interior of your car.

Power Source

Another critical aspect to any garage door is the power source. The power source dictates the functionality of the garage door. Some garage doors will support just a DC and AC, whereas a garage door powered by just AC will typically fall short in that in case of a power outage, the garage door would definitely stop functioning.

In comparison, the Liftmaster 8500 is powered by a DC power source, which requires a minimum of 24 V of DC for it to function at its optimum. The current lower than this will make the motor of the garage door to multifunction. Besides, it could make the door not open correctly. For the Liftmaster 3800, it’s also powered by a DC power source, which also requires at least 24 V DC to function properly.

Power and Protection

Another important feature to focus on is the power of these two models. If the power of your garage door opener is not much enough to withstand the weight of the door, there’re likely to be complications. As such, most garage doors are designed with the ability to lift virtually any garage door.

The Liftmaster 8500 utilizes a powerful motor of up to 200 watts. This power is much enough to withstand most garage doors. On the other hand, the Liftmaster 3800 also features a high power motor of up to 200 watts, and it can comfortably lift doors with as much weight as the Liftmaster 8500 can lift.

Coming down to protection, both Liftmaster models come with safety sensors. The sensors accurately inspect the door status by projecting invisible infrared beams during the opening.

In case a body or an object moves across the path when the door is closing, the beam becomes interrupted, and the opener light automatically turns off, thereby causing the sensor to halt immediately, which reversing the door’s motion.

With the Liftmaster 8500, you’ll receive a visual and audible warning whenever the door is about to close. In case a movement is detected in the garage, the motion sensor automatically turns on the garage light. Where the door is opened and not closed for a certain period of time, the opener is aimed to close the garage door and turn off the light by design.

Both the Liftmaster 8500 and 3800 comes with a power lock deadbolt that prevents your garage door from being enforced to open. They also feature a rolling security code to ensure that only authorized persons can access the door.

Whenever the remote is applied, the control panel generates a new security code for the remote to be used in accessing the door next time. However, Liftmaster strongly warns users to avoid using the opener for a time exceeding ten complete garage door cycles in one hour.

Liftmaster 8500 Vs. 3800- Pros and Cons

Pros of the Liftmaster 8500

• It includes DC batteries to power it
• It can provide up to 200 watts
• It comes equipped with safety +2.0
• It incorporates the MyQ home automation
• Convenient features that enable you to control the garage door using your mobile phone.

Cons

• The Liftmaster 8500 is associated with a higher noise level while opening

Pros of the Liftmaster 3800

• A DC battery to power the unit
• It features a jackshaft dire type
• They include a HomeLink control panel which comes with three buttons that help in opening and closing your garage door
• They include an automatic light system that makes it easier to access your garage door even at night.

Cons

• The Liftmaster 8500 comes a bit more expensive compared to the Liftmaster 8500
• The safety monitoring of the door is embedded at the bottom of the door. This makes the security to be somewhat vulnerable.

Conclusion

When the Liftmaster 3800 was first released, it proved to be considered reliable and quite popular among garage owners, and the 8500 is of no different, boasting excellent internet connectivity and the capability to access it using your smartphone.

Considering all the major aspects and functionality, the Liftmaster 3800 and the Liftmaster 8500 are both dependable garage door openers. Overall, the Liftmaster 8500 Vs. 3800 comparison ended up being a dead heat- although the Liftmaster 8500 appears to be a more upgraded version of the 3800 model.

Due to these added features, we would recommend the Liftmaster 8500 model for anyone looking for a reliable garage opener for residential purposes. Additionally, the Liftmaster 8500 is relatively cheaper in comparison to the 3800 model. So our verdict is that the Liftmaster 8500 is a better buy between the two since it’s an upgraded version of the cheaper model.