“The Odyssey 1200 is more than adequate to quietly lift most garage doors,
even if you have a solid wooden carriage house door.”
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Odyssey 1200 3/4 HP Screw Drive
DC Garage Door Opener |
The Overhead Door Odyssey 1200 is a very stout little brother to the Destiny 1500. Both are professionally installed screw drive DC garage door openers. And both are at the top of the Overhead Door line, so to speak.
What’s the difference? There are really only two significant differences, and “significant” may be a stretch.
Before or after you read through this review, visit the Overhead Door Destiny 1500 page for the particulars on that model. Here are the differences:
- The Odyssey 1200 has a 3/4 HPc* DC motor compared with the Destiny 1500’s 1 HPc*.
- The Odyssey 1200 opens at a maximum speed of 10 inches per second compared with the Destiny 1500’s 12 inches per second (standard openers move at 7 to 7.5 inches per second).
That’s about it.
*DC garage door opener power is actually rated in Newtons. For comparison purposes, this model is roughly equal to a 3/4 HP AC model.
Comparable Overhead Door Models
The Odyssey 1200 is more than adequate to quietly lift most garage doors, even if you have a solid wooden carriage house door. If you prefer a belt drive model, consider the Odyssey 1000, a nearly identical model with belt drive instead of screw drive.
For DIY homeowners, check out the SilentMax 1200
Overhead Door Odyssey 1200 Garage Door Opener features
| Horsepower: 3/4 HPc* Lifting Force – 140 Volt DC Power Type of Drive: Screw (Direct Drive) Light Source: 200 watt lighting system (Two 100-Watt bulbs, max.) Security Features:
Safety Features:
Warranty:
Special Features:
Options:
*DC garage door opener power is actually rated in Newtons. For comparison purposes, this model is roughly equal to a 3/4 HP AC model. |
Why buy a DC garage door opener?
There are several very good reasons:
Constant Monitoring – With Overhead Door’s DoorDetect™ constant monitoring system, garage door movement is monitored during the opening and closing cycles. Power automatically adjusts to account for seasonal and weather-dependent expansion and contraction of the door, as well as track movement. This improves safety and reduces wear and tear on the opener and the garage door.
From a safety standpoint, the DoorDetect™ system will stop and reverse the garage door to the open position if a person or object is encounterd while closing. Infrared Safe-T-Beam® garage door sensors continue to do their job along side the monitoring system.
Soft Start and Stop – If you want an extremely quiet garage door opener, this feature helps. Slow take-offs and landings, so to speak, quiet door operation and reduce wear on the door and opener.
More Efficient – Even though garage door openers are not considered energy hogs, DC motors do use less energy. Going green? Every little bit helps.
Overhead Door Odyssey 1200 – Other Improvements
Dual Frequency System – If you don’t think this is important, ask someone who lives next to an air base. Radio frequency interference can cause trouble for some automatic garage door openers, opening them at will.The Odyssey 1200 and other newer Overhead Door models have a number of new technology improvements. Auto seeking dual frequency operation, SmartSet™ push-button programming, deluxe, multi-function wall controls and motion sensing lights (some models) are four good examples.
The “Auto Seek” feature uses two frequencies and chooses the one with the least amount of interference. For the tech savvy (and those who care), transmission frequencies are 315 or 390 MHz.
SmartSet™ – Instead of turning a screw at 1/4 turn increments, you can now just push buttons to make speed, force and travel limit adjustments. It’s not a big deal, but I like it.
Multi-Function Wall Control – Wall controls not only open and close the door, they have buttons to turn the lights on and off and to engage the Sure-Lock feature. Sure-Lock™ (not Sherlock) locks out all radio transmission, effectively disabling the opener when you want to. You might use this at night, when you are away on vacation, etc.
Motion Sensing Light Control – The Odyssey 1200 features a motion sensor that turns on the opener lights when movement is sensed. The Destiny 1500 as well as the top-of-the-line Destiny 1200 belt drive garage door opener also have this feature.
NOTE: If you do more than just park your cars in the garage, you may want more light than what is provided by the 200 watt (max.) system. It’s nice to add specialized garage lighting if you will be doing projects, crafts or other activities in your garage.
Overhead Door Odyssey 1200 Safety and Security
As with all Overhead Door garage door openers, the Odyssey 1200 has standard safety features found on all models, and some that are only available on the higher-end DC models. Safe-T-Beam® infrared garage door sensors and a manual door release are standard. DoorDetect™ constant monitoring, soft start and stop and dual frequency auto seek operation are not.
The other new technology, or upgraded at least, is the use of CodeDodger® 2 garage door remotes. Like Genie’s Intellicode® 2 remotes, this latest generation uses better encryption to keep your opening codes secure and out of the hands of code grabbers, as they are often known.
Overhead Door Odyssey 1200 Garage Door Remotes
The Odyssey 1200 comes with the newest Overhead Door 3-button garage door remotes. When buying from a pro dealer, you can generally expect to pay for only what you need, so you may only get 1 remote with the standard installation.
Yes, the latest generation of remotes are backwards compatible with the first generation of CodeDodger remotes, although you will need a first generation remote to do the programming. One of the many advantages to working with an Overhead Door Red Ribbon dealer is that they can do the programming for you. And teach you how to do it again if necessary.
And, yes, this model is compatible with the HomeLink® and Car2U® in-car remote systems if your car has that option.
Overhead Door Odyssey 1200 Consumer Reviews
The Odyssey 1200 and nearly identical Genie PowerMax 1200 have little customer feedback at this point (Overhead Door owner the Genie Company). Generally, the latest generation of DC garage door openers from Overhead Door have been very well received for their quiet operation and low maintenance operation.
In addition to Overhead Door’s good reputation and long history, everything they sell is supported by a nationwide network of Red Ribbon dealers. Having said that, it would be great to have access to their customer’s comments and feedback. Liftmaster does a nice job of this on their site and I hope Overhead Door will eventually do the same.
Overhead Door Odyssey 1200 Owner’s Manual
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