How Garage Door Safety Sensors Work

Garage door sensors work by shooting a beam of infrared light across the entrance of your garage to the sensor on the other side.

How garage door safety sensors work.

If your sensors or garage door motor is blinking or your door doesn t close it s a sign you could have faulty sensors. Two sensors are installed at the bottom of your garage door preferably 6 above the floor. Sometimes the sensor may be beyond repair due to wear and tear and in such a case your best bet is to replace the garage door sensor with a new one. Garage door sensors prevent the garage door from closing if there s something in the way.

Garage door sensors utilize a photo eye sensor and a beam of infrared light that goes between the two units. The latest garage door sensors are technologically advanced and even allow you to control the opening and closing through an app on your smartphone. In turn the electric motor engages a track and pulley system which then opens or closes your garage door. The sensors are normally about 4 inches above the ground.

Sensors are a critical safety feature but can prevent an automatic garage door from working properly. One of the sensors known as the sending sensor emits an infrared signal and the other sensor which is the receiving sensor must receive that signal. Safety sensors are designed to prevent accidents caused by automatic garage doors which have led to serious damage to cars and injuries and deaths to people and animals. The garage door sensors are the safety add on to your garage doors.

What do garage door safety sensors do. The units are placed near the ground on either side of the garage door. Do both garage sensors need to be green. When the device detects any person or object in the path of a closing garage door it signals the motor to stop the downward action and switch the motion into reverse to stop the obstacle being crushed.

The working of these sensors is quite simple. If the beam of light is interrupted while the garage door is closing the door will stop and rise back up. Press the button that closes the garage door on the garage wall or on your remote. This system allows them to detect obstructions like your car or a kid on a bike.

The infrared beam from the garage door opener sensors isn t able to be seen by human eyes. As long as the beam isn t interrupted the door will open or close normally. In fact these safety sensors have been required by law since 1993. They are part of the automatic garage door system.

It prevents the doors from automatically closing when anyone is in the doorway. Place the box in the garage doorway making sure the box is in front of the garage door sensors. Safety sensors were invented as a result of accidents happening with automatic doors coming down on top of people cars and animals. The traditional form of sensor is mechanical in which a moving garage door reverses due to physical contact with an object but photoelectric sensors have become mainstream.