Having trouble with the garage door sensor?
A faulty garage door sensor can cause serious harm. As a matter of fact, faulty garage doors cause 10,580 home injuries each year.
If you have an automatic garage door, the sensor will make or break your experience and sense of convenience. You need to make sure the sensor is always in good condition.
Hiring a garage door expert is the proper solution but you might want to check what is causing your troubles first. If you don’t know where to start looking, consider the following steps to deal with a faulty door sensor:
Is the Garage Door Sensor On or Connected?
This might sound like common sense but a simple disconnection could be the problem. Make sure to check if the sensors are on and if you’ve plugged in the power supply.
This should always be the first thing to do before looking for bigger faults in the system. You don’t want to open up your garage door sensor and start meddling with the wires when all you had to do was turn the system on.
If your garage door is battery powered, make sure the batteries are functional. You might have to replace or recharge the batteries. Some sensors have a different power supply than the motor unit so make sure both get power too.
Does your system plugs into the wall? Ensure that the garage door stays plugged in and gets enough power to turn on. Make sure the electrical wiring in your garage is not faulty to ensure the doors get the right amount of power.
If you’ve connected the sensor and turned the unit on but it still won’t open when your vehicle is in range, you can be sure that there’s a more serious problem at hand. This is when you can move forward to the next step which is to make sure nothing is blocking the sensors.
Make Sure Nothing Blocks the Sensors
Look at the lights and see if they blink. If they keep on blinking then it’s possible something is in the way. Even the smallest item can block the sensors’ capability to detect your car.
Sensors use infra-red technology which means your remote and the sensors have to align in order to work. If something is in the way, their connection gets lost. Always make it a point to clear the sensor of anything blocking the way.
If the pathway is clear but the lights are still blinking as a sign of obstruction, you might need to clean them. Dust, spider webs, and frost can obstruct the lens. These might seem like small issues but they can be the reason why you’re sensors don’t work.
The lens is the most important and they’re easy to clean. A simple wipe-down with wet and dry cloths can remove dirt and mud from the lens.
Fix Sensor Alignment
Another thing to check is the garage door sensor alignment.
Your garage door sensor could get misaligned from a number of causes. You could have bumped them while parking or a stray animal could have moved them. If you have kids, they could have moved the sensors by accident.
One good DIY technique to keep your sensors aligned is to use a zip tie to keep it in place. Road vibrations from passing cars and trains can knock an unstable sensor off alignment and you won’t even realize it.
While fixing the alignment of your sensors, take the opportunity to see if anything dented or if the wires pulled or snapped. This brings you to the next step, which is to look for broken wiring.
Tend to Broken Wiring
If everything seems fine but the doors still don’t function right then you might be dealing with faulty wiring. The sensor could be working as intended but if the wires to the motor unit break then the doors won’t function.
This is one of the most important factors to look into. Faulty wires can lead to serious repercussions. Electrical fires contribute to over 51,000 fire incidents each year.
Broken wires can be as simple as a few snapped pieces you can fix with an electrical tape to circuitry messes that can burn the garage down.
Don’t try to fix the faulty wiring on your own. This is one of the situations where you should consider hiring professional repair services. They can replace and repair the wires in a safe manner and can guarantee that your door and sensors will work as intended.
Look for Motor Unit Error Code
When in doubt, go back to the manual. The sensor lights will signal what kind of condition they are in. It’s not always accurate but it can give you an idea of what’s broken.
If both lights are on and steady then everything should be in fully functional condition. The first sign that there’s something wrong is when they don’t turn on or if they blink.
Each door sensor is different, depending on the manufacturer, but the most common signals indicate the following:
- No power supply
- Wiring is defective
- Misalignment issues
- Interference with signal
- Blockage
When speaking to a professional repairman, try to note down and tell them how the lights blink. This can give them a good idea what to do and let them prepare the necessary equipment to get your garage sensors back in order.
Seek Garage Door Sensor Repair Services
If cleaning or realigning your sensors don’t do the trick, it’s time to hire professional repair services.
With expert training and experience, we can attend to your garage door and sensor problems with ease. We guarantee you the highest quality repair work and we can give you a consultation to keep your garage doors in tip-top shape.
Not sure if you need expert repairs or if you can do it yourself? Whether you have faulty door sensors or the garage doors are breaking and sliding out of place, we can tend to your repair needs.
Feel free to get in touch with us. We’re glad to always help you out.
