How Do Garage Door Sensors Work?
Automatic garage doors have been in use for quite some time and, while they’re an established and tried piece of equipment. However, they’re not perfect. Since 1996, all modern garage door openers are required to be equipped with a security system that ensures that the garage door cannot close if anything is within the way of the door closing.
The sensors function through the utilization of a photo-eye system. The sensors are set between two and six inches above the ground. They utilize infrared light to stay connected to one another over the threshold of the garage doors.‘ If you utilize your keypad or remote control to shut your garage door your garage door opener needs to be able to transmit a continuous signal between both sensors. If a person, animal, or other obstruction is present the door will not close and then reopen.
Troubleshooting Your Garage Door Sensors
The interruption in the beam of infrared is where the majority of the problems that arise with the sensors come up. There are a variety of reasons why the beam is disrupted and troubleshooting the garage door sensor is investigating the possible causes to figure out which is the reason.
Step 1
The first step is to determine whether there’s an obstruction blocking an infrared beam. One sensor is equipped with an amber-colored LED that should be on. It also transmits the signal, often referred to by the name of the sender. The sensor to the sender features an LED that is green. It’s only active when the sensor, also called the receiver, is receiving signals sent by the sender. Examine the LEDs and both the receiver and the sender to confirm that they’re working.
If the green LED on the receiver is not lit, make sure that the beam’s path is clear before beginning to clean the lenses of both safety sensors. Use a microfiber cloth or something comparable to clean the area surrounding the lens on each garage sensor. Test the door to see if it closes and if the receiver’s green indicator light is now on.
Still unable to get that green light to come on? We’ll continue to look into other common issues. This is the most frequently cited reason why you don’t see an illuminated green LED or the garage door isn’t closing. The cause is the receiver’s alignment being wrong and not directed toward the sender. It’s not a problem, it’s a simple fix! The bracket that houses the safety sensor comes with wing nuts that can be removed to alter the location of the security sensor. Unlock the wing nut, then position the receiver so that it’s pointing toward the garage door opening towards the transmitter. When you do this you may observe the green LED come on. If that is the case, you are able to check your garage door to determine if you’re functioning.
Step 2
Verify the sensors’ power supply. The majority of garage door sensors have cables coming out of the back that attach to wires going up the wall and across the ceiling to your garage door opener. Whether any of these wires’ ends have come loose from their wire nuts, check to see if they can be twisted together with the wire nut to restore a secure connection.
If the sensors appear to operate in an on/off way, it could be due to an issue with the connection between your security sensors as well as the wire that goes toward the garage door opener. You can test this by visiting the sensor that contains the amber-colored LED and performing the “wiggle test.” A wiggle test is simple and will involve you moving or wiggling wires back and forth on the rear of the safety sensor and at the connection to the sensor as well as the wire going through the opener to your garage. If you notice the amber LED blinking in and out when you wiggle the test, it could indicate that you have a problem with the wiring nuts. You must reattach the wires after shutting off the power.
Step 3
The final troubleshooting tip is to check whether the sensors are defective. For this, you need to remove the receiver and sender from the brackets at the lower end of the track for garage doors and place them on the Garage Door opener Rockwall TX. What this does is remove the wires that run from your ceiling and along the wall off of the equation. Therefore, if the sensors currently operate on the garage door opener, we will know that there is something wrong with the wires and that they have to be replaced.
Sensors for safety that are installed at the opener for garage doors indicate that the sensors are in operation
For step 3, you need to unplug your garage door opener, and then remove the wires that run through the garage door’s quick connections. You will then twist the wire ends to both sensors, so that you are left with the white cable and black stripes connecting through the gray quick connector, and the white wire connecting through the white Quick Connect. Once the wires of the sensors have been installed, you are able to plug your garage door opener again to check whether you can get the amber and green LEDs to light up. If the LEDs aren’t blinking, this could mean you’ll need to purchase a new pair of safety sensors.