Sensor Height Correction

Six Inches, and Why It Is Not Arbitrary

Garage door photo eyes are meant to sit no higher than six inches above the floor.

That number exists because of what the beam is for. It is not there to stop the door closing on a car, which is large enough to be obvious. It is there to catch a small child sitting or crawling in the door path, or an animal lying in the opening.

Both of those are low to the ground. A beam at knee height passes cleanly over them.

Why They End Up Too High

Almost never carelessness. Usually a practical problem being solved.

The sensors sit exactly where bins, bicycles, recycling boxes and stored items live. They get knocked out of alignment repeatedly, the door starts refusing to close, and eventually somebody moves them up the wall where nothing hits them.

The door then works reliably, which feels like the problem being solved. It is not. The protection has been removed.

The Better Fix

Raising the sensors is treating the symptom. Two proper solutions:

Reset them low and protect them. Simple guards or brackets keep bins and wheels away without moving the beam out of position.

Move what keeps hitting them. Sometimes the honest answer is that the recycling bins need to live somewhere else.

We do the first and suggest the second, and it takes very little time.

Alignment

While we are there, the sensors get aimed squarely at each other. The brackets are thin steel and bend easily, and a sensor knocked a few degrees out reads as blocked.

Most systems indicate this: one sensor shows a steady light, the other goes out or blinks when the beam breaks. We show you which is which on your own unit so you can check it yourself in future.

Wiring

Sensor wires run along the floor line where they get pinched, stapled through during other work, or corroded. Near the water a green crusted splice is a routine find and a quick repair.

If Your Opener Predates 1993

There will be no photo eyes at all, because they were not required. The door relies entirely on a contact reversal that may never have been adjusted.

We will tell you that plainly. With children or animals in the house, that is a case for replacing the opener rather than adjusting around it.

Call Ananimalfriendlylife at (562) 550-9329.