Today, we’re going to be talking all about garage door safety sensors. You’ll learn what these sensors are, what it is that they do, why they are important, and how to troubleshoot your garage door safety sensors if they are causing problems.
Most people don’t think too much about these sensors. That’s understandable, they aren’t particularly notable, on the surface. But, you have to understand that these safety sensors form the backbone of your garage door.
Garage door safety sensors enable your garage door to open up and to close. And, they enable the garage door to do so without hurting anyone or causing any damage. Because of this, it’s very important that you understand how they work, and how to deal with them if you ever need to.
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What Are Garage Door Safety Sensors?
Most of the time, these sensors are located all around the space that houses the garage door. They are small sensors – most of the time – and due to where they are placed, it can be hard to find them.
Fortunately, most of the time you really don’t need to know where they are.
Now, these sensors have one main purpose. And that purpose is to detect what is in the door before the garage actually closes.
So, if there is a garbage can in the door, a working garage door safety sensor detects that and tells the garage door not to close. Same goes for if a person is there, or a cat. Or even a car.
When these sensors aren’t working as well as they should be, they can’t detect if anything is in the door. This has lead to many injuries, a significant amount of property damage, and, sadly, quite a few deaths. Since some garages close automatically, based on the usage of other sensors, more and more laws are being created to ensure that everyone has a garage door with adequate sensors.
For any garage door, they are extremely important. Without the adequate sensors, the risk of property damage, injury, and even death is significantly higher.
How Can I Troubleshoot My Garage Door Safety Sensors?
As you have already learned, it’s incredibly important that your garage door has the right safety sensors. Without these safety sensors, using your garage is a lot riskier.
Sometimes, though, problems arise. And with problems, comes troubleshooting. In this section, you’re going to learn how to do some basic troubleshooting. More specifically, what to focus on while troubleshooting.
However, before we get into this, there is a disclaimer that must be made.
This is dangerous. For the most part, you’re going to want to call a professional to aid in the troubleshooting. Sure, it might cost a lot, but as mentioned before, it’s better to pay a hefty sum of money than it is to pay with your life or an even more expensive medical bill.
Now, as for troubleshooting, the first thing you want to consider is if there are any positioning problems. See, each safety sensor must be positioned to point directly at where the garage door will close and open.
If it isn’t pointed at this space, then it can’t adequately detect the objects and people/animals that might be right where the garage door needs to open/close.
To figure this out, you can use a device known as a “laser level.” This enables you to see the path of the safety sensor itself, in order to find out if it’s where it needs to be.
You can purchase these devices, but it’s probably best to have a professional do it unless you have experience using laser levels.
Another thing you might want to focus on is issues with the photo-eye. The photo-eye is the device that is able to see and trace objects and living things that are in the door. But, as time goes on, the photo-eye tends to weaken in quality. Sometimes, the photo-eye can be fixed, other times, it just needs to be replaced.
Once again, a professional can help with this.
Final Words
Finally, the last thing that you should look at if your garage door safety sensors are having problems, is the electrical wiring. Electrical wiring is sensitive, and in order to work well, it must be connected in a very precise way.
Without hiring a professional, you can look at the safety sensor and see whether the light is on or off. If it’s off, that usually means it isn’t properly wired.
If it isn’t wired, then hire a professional. You can do it yourself, but garage doors are dangerous, and it’s best to hire someone who knows more about what they are doing.
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