Garage Door Safety Eye Sensors

Do I HAVE to use them?

We get this question ALL THE TIME!

First thing’s first – what are safety sensors? Safety sensors are mounted to the door track on the left and the right side of the door. They should be mounted no higher than 12” off the ground. Each one of those sensors sends an invisible “beam” between one another. If this beam is “broken” – meaning something has passed through the invisible light – the safety reverse mechanism is triggered.

This stops the door from continuing to go down thereby avoiding collision with something. Or someone! Picture a small child, or a beloved pet walking under the door as it’s moving down. If that safety feature was not there, the overhead door would have to make actual physical contact with the object or person.

Why then, if they’re such an efficient safety system, do we get SO many calls and complaints about them?

Because they ARE so effective – is exactly why they can be a nuisance as well as a protection.

Due to the location of their mounting, these items are susceptible to being bumped and jostled. Has this ever happened to you? It’s trash pickup day and you’re in a hurry. You drag the trash can out of the garage, get the can caught on something but eventually get the can down to the curb. Then, still in a hurry you back out of the garage trying to leave. But the garage door WON’T CLOSE!

The garage door just reverses itself, the light in the motor on the ceiling flashes and/or there’s a loud “click click click” noise coming from the motor. What happened?

You accidentally bumped those safety sensors. Now they’re out of alignment. The operator thinks something is in the way of the operator, triggering the safety feature. The opener will not close the door.

This scenario happens all the time! Garbage cans, snow shovels, lawn implements, etc. are all the enemy of the safety sensors.

While we all know the frustration of accidentally triggering those sensors. We also know that safety overrides inconvenience. Don’t worry, a straightforward alignment is typically something a homeowner can do themselves. All you need to do is move / adjust them until they are looking right at one another.

However if you have trouble aligning those sensors, or if the safety sensors have been damaged beyond adjustment, give us a call. We’re experts at readjusting and replacing those sensors!

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