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Where To Buy/ServiceHow to Align Garage Door Sensors
Photo-eye sensors play an important role in garage door operation and safety. They ensure that the garage door stops and reverses direction if anything comes into its path while it’s closing. They’re able to sense people, pets, and objects because of an invisible infrared beam that extends across the garage door opening. When the beam is interrupted, the garage door reverses. If your garage door won’t close all the way, there may be an issue with the garage door sensors.
If the garage door photo eyes are misaligned or blocked, your garage door will stop closing before it reaches the floor and reverse open. The light in your garage door opener will blink on and off rapidly when this happens.
Ensuring that the garage door sensors function, stay parallel to one another, and have nothing blocking them is an easy fix that takes less than five minutes and avoids an unnecessary service call.
Garage door photo-eye sensors are small, rectangular devices installed on either side of your garage door, about 6 inches above the floor. They work together as a pair: one sensor emits an invisible beam of infrared light, while the other receives it. This beam creates a “safety zone” across the width of the garage door opening.
The primary function of these sensors is to detect any obstructions in the path of the garage door as it closes. When the garage door is operational, the emitting sensor continuously sends out an infrared beam to the receiving sensor. If the beam is interrupted—by an object, a person, or even debris—the receiving sensor sends a signal to the garage door opener to stop closing and reverse the door’s direction.
There are a few common causes for sensor alignment issues:
- Accidental bumps or knocks can dislodge the sensors from their position. This is often the issue if you store items near the sensors like trash cans or equipment.
- The mounting brackets loosen or shift over time, so the sensors no longer face each other directly.
- Dirt, spider webs, or moisture can block the infrared beam, causing the sensors to malfunction or seem out of alignment.
Adjusting garage door sensors is a straightforward process.
Locate the receiving sensor, which has a green LED light. It will be off, dim, or flickering, indicating that the sensor is out of alignment.
To align the garage door sensors, loosen the wing nut on the receiving sensor and move it around until the green LED light glows steadily and isn’t flickering. Then tighten the wing nut.
Verify that sensors are correctly aligned and functioning after adjustment.
After you adjust the sensors, test the safety reversal feature by opening the garage door and placing a 1-1/2”’ tall object or 2’ x 4’ laid flat on the floor and centered beneath the garage door.
Press the remote control to close the door. If the sensors are properly aligned, the door should stop and reverse on contact with the object and return to the fully open position. If the door stops and doesn’t reverse, check to make sure your opener is installed properly.
To maintain garage door sensor alignment, make sure nothing stored near the garage door is blocking the sensor’s infrared beam such as toys, tools, or bikes.
Periodically use a cloth to wipe cob webs, dirt, or moisture off the photo eye lenses.
Double check the sensor alignment after you clean out the garage to make sure they didn’t get bumped in the process.
Photo-eye sensors play an important role in garage door operation and safety. They ensure that the garage door stops and reverses direction if anything comes into its path while it’s closing.
Photo-eye sensors can easily become misaligned, leading to operational issues with your garage door. Misalignment means this safety feature isn’t working and causing your door not to close all the way. Adjusting photo eye sensors is usually an easy fix that takes a few minutes.
Checking sensors periodically can help you avoid an unnecessary garage door service call. If you follow the steps to adjust the garage door sensors and your garage door still isn’t opening and closing properly, contact a garage door professional to see if there is a bigger problem with the opener.
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