How Do Garage Door Safety Sensors Work
Garage door safety sensors work by sensing an object or the striking of an object. This tells the system that something has been detected and needs to be investigated. A sensor will cause a system to activate and stop the movement of the garage door when objects are too close. Sensors also activate lights to let you know if you are getting too close to the edge. Today I am going to discuss how do garage door safety sensors work.
Benefits of Garage Door Safety Sensors
The safety sensors on a garage door can be beneficial when it comes to preventing serious accidents. The sensors will automatically stop the door from moving down when they sense something is in its path. This means that if you are walking up to your garage as the door is closing, you will not run into it and cause injury. They may also prevent the door from closing on your vehicle, causing damage to the car as well as any passengers inside of it.
Most people never think about how these types of devices function or why they even exist. However, understanding them could help ensure your safety more than you may realize.
Step-wise Guide on How Do Garage Door Safety Sensors Work
- Every garage door safety sensor is installed with an infrared emitter and a photoelectric receiver.
- The emitter sends out infrared light beams triggered by the garage door opening and closing to ensure that it stays closed when not in use.
- As soon as the beam is interrupted or broken, which may be caused by an object crossing between the emitter and receiver, then there will be some intervention such as sounding a warning bell, flashing lights up and down, or even reversing the motion of the garage door opener if used together with one.
- All these actions taken by detectors on your garage door are meant to warn you about dangerous situations so that they do not occur at all.
- Thus, it is essential to ensure that your safety sensors are properly working not to put your life at risk if you forget about closing the door or accidentally leaving something in the way of the beam’s path.
How to Install Garage Door Safety Sensors
First of all, ensure that the door is shut and open.
Next, get a sensor out from its packaging and place it onto the garage door’s track.
Then, you will need to attach the guide brackets to both sides of the garage door. The guide brackets should be placed about eight inches from each motor housing end. As an alternative, you can also mount the guide brackets over the top of your sidetracks on either side. This will save you some time when mounting them, as they will be quicker to install in this case.
This will aid in supporting safety sensors when they are mounted onto track hangers or other intermediate supports between shafts where hanger spacing is less than ten inches apart with little space for support screws bolting into wood beams underneath the floor or concrete slab floors or any other obstacle that is in the way when opening and closing the garage door.
To tune it with your remote, locate the sensor’s ‘learn’ button first, then press and hold it until you hear a ‘beep.’ This will allow for quick programming of your garage door safety sensors without jumping through many hoops to get the job done.
Synchronize the receiver with your opener by pressing and holding down the “Learn” or “Enter” button on your transmitter. At the same time, your remote is pointed at the sensor’s receiver unit located on its mounting bracket near one end of the opener motor housing, whichever it may be.
When the LED light on the receiver flashes once, it’s time to release the learn/enter button on the transmitter and finish synchronizing the opener to one safety sensor. Repeat this process for each sensor, and when you’re finished, test them all again by pressing down on buttons 1-3.
In order to operate your safety sensors, you need to screw on the cover over the receiver unit with four self-drilling screws. Additionally, you need to make sure that the forward/reverse lever on the transmitter door control arm is closed; if it isn’t, the safety sensor’s range of motion will be blocked and the door might open unexpectedly.
After that, install a support bracket from the mounting hardware kit onto wall studs in your garage and attach three self-drilling screws with nuts to mount the sensor onto the bracket.
FAQ
Can I Operate Garage Door Safety Sensors Via Smartphone ?
This is a popular question about garage door sensors, and we receive similar inquiries almost every day. The answer to the question is, unfortunately, no. Garage door safety sensors are not responsive to your smartphone. This means you cannot turn them on or off remotely (or at least there’s no such option yet).
Is it Possible to Automated Bypass Garage Door Locks ?
Garage door safety sensors are a pretty standard piece of hardware on most garage doors. They’re designed to detect if anything is blocking the door, such as cars or people. If they do, an alarm will sound, and your garage won’t open. These can be helpful if you have small kids, pets, or both because they’ll alert you when something is in the way. However, in certain situations, these types of things can get annoying really quickly (like if you’re trying to move dirt into your house).
But what if security is more important than anything else? What do you do then? The easiest solution is going with a bypass, but there are two main problems: the cost and a new opener. For most, that’s not an option. However, there is a great alternative.
Conclusion
Always remember that only a professional can ensure that everything is installed properly without damaging anything. Furthermore, there’s no such thing as a second chance when it comes to installing these systems at home! It only takes one slip, and things will go from bad to worse really fast! I hope you have obtained all the necessary information about how do garage door safety sensors work. Thank you, and have a good day!
You may read also: How to Turn Your Garage Door into a Wall
