It s easy to know if the photo eyes aren t working as you ll find that your garage door won t close even if there s nothing in the way of the door.
Garage door photo eye not working.
Use the inside tube from an empty roll of toilet paper holiday wrapping paper plastic.
The photo eye of an automatic opening garage door is a safety feature.
Let s start with the most obvious sign your garage door doesn t close properly.
These sensors send out an invisible beam that connects them.
If the photo eye senses an obstruction it stops the door from closing and potentially prevents damage or injury to a vehicle.
It s not always clear if a garage door sensor is bad but there are a few common signs that indicate you have a malfunction.
If anything interrupts the beam so that the two sensors are not in contact the sensor.
Garage door photo eye troubleshooting.
How to tell if garage door sensor is bad.
Fortunately this isn t a difficult problem to fix.
The way they function is quite simple.
How do garage door photo eyes work.
The photo eye sensors on garage doors are located about six inches above the ground one on either side of the garage door.
You may also find that the door auto reverses and opens every time you try and shut it.
These photo eyes transmit an invisible beam between each other that detects if anything is in the garage door s path when it closes.
Well on any garage door installed after 1993 that s no longer possible thanks to two tiny photo eyes on either side of the garage entrance.
Photo eye sensors detect objects as well as people.
The primary behavior of malfunctioning photo eyes is a door that will open successfully but will not close or a door that closes part of the way before reversing.
How garage door sensors work.
In the majority of cases a photo eye sensor will be installed on the garage door sensor.
As mentioned some openers will give you a further indication of what s wrong by flashing the garage s light or making a clicking noise.
How to shut a garage door when the sun is shining on the electronic eyes.