Garage door sensors can stop working and if not checked you will never know. Here are some simple steps you can take in order to check the garage door safety sensors.
The safety sensors height
The sensors stop the door from opening or closing if they detect something in their path, measure the height where the garage door sensors are installed in order to understand how tall an object needs to be to block the beam running between them.
Now check if your garage door sensors are working by placing few cardboard boxes with that are taller than the sensor’s beam directly in front of them. Start with the garage door open then press the close button. it doesn’t matter if you use the wall button or the remote.
If the door closes without stopping it means the sensors aren’t working and may need alignment but if the door begins to close and then reverses to stay open the sensors are working perfectly and they detect the boxes as an obstacle as they should have.
The sensors’ LEDs
Each safety sensor has an LED indicator light on its outside. Check the LED light on both sensors and see if it blinks light on either of the sensors, if it does it means they need to be aligned in order to work correctly.
You can align them by tightening the screws holding them in place until the light stop blinking, try gently to bend the bracket i order to adjust the sensor position. If the LED keeps blinking after all your efforts call a certified technician for extended help.
Clean the lenses
The safety sensors lenses can get dirty which also block their beam and stops them from working correctly. Clean the lenses gently with a soft cleaning cloth.
Check for wire damages
The safety sensors connect to the garage door opener by 2 wires and if they goy damaged or disconnected they stop working. Check if the wires all the way from the opener to the sensors on each side are broken or perhaps chewed.
Water from rain can also lead to a short circuit in the sensor if they are not properly shielded causing it to stop working.
If you’re dealing with any of this issues you need to replace the wires and because we’re talking about handling electricity wires the best way to handle it is by calling a certified garage door technician to fix it.