It’s a wonder how two small devices can make a difference to your safety but also as easily bring disaster in your garage. The sensors make your garage door opener safe. They are actually the main entrapment protection device required by law. All openers manufactured after 1991 must meet the safety standards of the Underwriters Laboratories (UL 325). The additional rule involves having a wall button in the garage. Why is this mandatory? For security reasons.
When garage doors don’t close and the light is usually flashing, there is a problem with the sensors. By pressing the wall button, the door would come down. This is the only way to close the door should problems with the reversing sensors occur.
Opener safety sensors are extremely important
It’s vital to be sure that your electric garage door opener integrates safety
sensors. They are actually photoelectric eyes, which must see each other in order to let the door come down. When their infrared beam is interrupted by a child, object, hand, etc. the door would reverse so that toys won’t be crashed and people won’t get hurt. So, it’s vital to be sure they are installed correctly and fixed quickly.
During garage door opener installation or sensors replacement, you must focus on these devices. They must be placed six inches over the floor and be properly aligned. If they don’t ‘see’ each other, they won’t reverse the door. So when there is a problem with them, the first thing to check is their alignment.
What can go wrong with the safety garage door opener sensors?
- Sensors are installed at the bottom part of the door. And so it’s easy for a kid, cat, or basketball to kick them out of alignment.
- Another problem can be with their wiring. There might be a short or damage caused by a small animal. If the sensors are not properly connected to the motor, they won’t work. Sometimes, this is easy to notice since they have a red and green light. Both LEDs must be on.
- Sensors won’t work right when they are dirty. So make sure they are properly cleaned.
What you experience when the sensors are dirty or misaligned, broken or with worn wiring is the garage door not closing. It’s important to find what’s wrong with them and fix the problem even if you temporarily close the door by holding the wall button down. If someone uses the door without the sensors working, the door might crash on them.
Start garage door troubleshooting by using the process of elimination. If you clean the sensors, but the problem is still there, check the wiring. White wires must connect to the white terminal and the white/black ones to the gray terminal.
If you want to align the sensors, loosen up the fasteners, align them and then tighten the fasteners. In order to test the alignment of the sensors, place an object on the floor. Then press the door to come down. It must reverse.
If you try everything and nothing works, one of the LEDs will still flash or won’t come on. In this case, you might need to replace the sensors because they might be broken. Make sure you do that as fast as possible and nobody uses the door till then – for safety reasons.
