Garage Door Photo Eye Not Working

An infrared light runs between two photo eyes.

Garage door photo eye not working.

The photo eye sensors on garage doors are located about six inches above the ground one on either side of the garage door. These photo eyes transmit an invisible beam between each other that detects if anything is in the garage door s path when it closes. In the majority of cases a photo eye sensor will be installed on the garage door sensor. These sensors send out an invisible beam that connects them.

Get your garage door closed on sunny days by making an electric eye hood. The purpose of a photo eye sensor is to detect if anything is blocking the path of the garage door. 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. Fortunately this isn t a difficult problem to fix.

The way they function is quite simple. How to tell if garage door sensor is bad. If the photo eye senses an obstruction it stops the door from closing and potentially prevents damage or injury to a vehicle. 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.

Let s start with the most obvious sign your garage door doesn t close properly. How do garage door photo eyes work. How to shut a garage door when the sun is shining on the electronic eyes. 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.

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. 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. Photo eye sensors detect objects as well as people. You may also find that the door auto reverses and opens every time you try and shut it.

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.