Garage Door Opener Safety Reverse

Follow these simple steps to test your garage door s automatic safety reverse sensors.

Garage door opener safety reverse.

Test door opener monthly. We hope it s obvious that the garage door auto reverse mechanism is a very important safety system. Activate the garage door opener to close the door on the object. Failure to adjust the opener properly may cause severe injury or death.

Garage door openers are designed to reverse direction when a descending garage door meets an obstruction. Refer to the owner s manual to determine which is. The door should automatically reverse when it makes contact with or senses the object in its path. A professional garage door service should be contacted if the homeowner is not comfortable with performing these tests repairs and adjustments.

If you ve tested your garage door opener s auto reverse and found it requires too much force for the door to reverse or it doesn t reverse at all you can adjust the settings on the garage door opener controls. All garage door openers should have a safety reverse feature. This can create a dangerous situation. If the door hits an obstruction when closing a sensor in the motor head unit should feel the resistance stop trying to close the door and reverse the direction of travel and open the door completely.

See your owner s manual for how to adjust your opener s sensitivity. If your door does not reverse readily after contacting an obstruction the opener s sensitivity adjustment may be set improperly. The weight and pressure involved in closing a garage door can cause serious injury to someone in the path of the door especially children. Never go under a stopped partially open door.

Adjust the garage door opener mechanism. If the door does not properly reverse on striking the 2 4 then the garage door opener should be disengaged until the unit is either adjusted according to the instructions in the owners manual repaired or replaced with a new garage door opener. Place an object such as a brick on the ground directly in the path of the door. The garage door must reverse on contact with a 11 2 inch object or a 2 by 4 board laid flat on the floor.

To access the controls use a stepladder to reach the main part of the opener s motor.