Modern garage doors with automatic garage door openers are equipped with photoelectric safety eyes that stop the door from closing when an obstruction is detected in the path of the door. These safety devices were designed to prevent injuries due mostly to garage doors closing on children, but adults and pets have also been injured by entrapment under a closing garage door.
One of the most common problems encountered with garage doors is a door that will not close because of a problem with these safety sensors. The photoelectric safety eyes are mounted on either side of the garage door near the floor. The sending eye sends an infrared beam across the bottom of the door opening to the receiving eye.
If anything blocks the infrared beam or if the photo eyes are misaligned, the garage door will stop closing, reverse direction, and move to the fully open position. If the garage door is open, it will not close until the obstruction is removed or the sensor eyes are re-aligned.
If you have problems with your garage door safety sensors, first check the LED lights on the sensors. Most sensors have a green and a red LED light. If the green light is illuminated, that means that the sensors are getting power. Next, see if the red lights are illuminated. If not, it indicates that the sensors are out of alignment or that there is a blockage between the sensors.
Remove anything that might be blocking the sensors and clean the lenses to remove spider webs, dirt and debris. If the red LED lights still do not illuminate adjust the sensors to align them so that they point directly at each other. If the garage door still does not operate properly, call your garage door repair service.
