Troubleshooting Garage Door Sensors

April 22, 2022 Posted in: Garage Door Repair

If you’ve ever pulled out of your garage and discovered your door won’t close, you’ve likely encountered problems with your garage door sensors. Although this isn’t the only reason your garage door may not be operating correctly, it’s one of the most common.

Luckily, there are some easy ways to troubleshoot your garage door sensors without immediately having to call a service.

How Do Garage Door Sensors Work?

When your opener receives a signal to close the garage door, it checks for a clear infrared signal from the sensors. If it receives a clear signal, the door closes normally. If it doesn’t receive that signal, then you’ll see flashing lights and the door will not close.

When the connection is free from obstruction, then your door should operate normally. If there is something in the way, — a person, a basketball or another object — those sensors won’t be able to interact.

Here are some signs that something may be wrong with your sensors:

The Door Will Open But Won’t Close

If your door is opening fine but isn’t closing, this is a clear sign something is wrong with your garage door sensors. Make sure there isn’t anything getting in the way of the two sensors. If there isn’t, it’s time to start troubleshooting.

Blinking Lights

Sometimes when you attempt to close your garage, the opener will start blinking. For some garages, the garage door sensor will have a red or green light that blinks several times, alerting you to an issue. If your garage door sensor has no light, this is another indicator of an issue.

4 Ways to Troubleshoot Your Garage Door Sensors

Once you identify there’s an issue, it’s time to figure out how to fix your garage door sensors. Although it might seem complicated at first, there are a lot of simple strategies you can utilize to troubleshoot your sensors and, hopefully, get them to work again.

Follow these four simple ways to troubleshoot your garage door sensors:

1. Fix Alignment

One of the most common reasons your garage isn’t closing is because of poor alignment. It’s easy for those little sensors on either side of your door to get out of line. They reside in small frames that can easily shift over time. For an easy fix, examine these sensors. You should see a small green or yellow light on your Liftmaster garage door sensor.

If it’s on, this will tell you it’s working properly. If it’s off, that likely means it’s been knocked out of place. You can loosen the wing nut on the sensor frame to adjust it. Gently align the sensor so it’s sitting squarely in the frame — that light should pop back on.

2. Examine Wiring

Another area of your garage you’ll want to examine is the wiring. You don’t have to be an electrician to figure out if something is wrong — simply follow the wires from your sensors up to your opener, checking to see if there are any snags or imperfections in the path. If you see any breaks in the wire, this could be the source of your issue.

Be careful trying to fix any of these wires yourself — although wiggling these and testing them out could alert you to an issue, they may also pose a potential safety issue. It’s best to contact a professional service so you can be confident in your safety.

3. Check the Sensors Themselves

The sensors themselves may also be the problem. To figure out if this is the issue, remove the sensors from the bottom brackets and attach them to the opener. This will allow you to troubleshoot your sensors without involving the wiring, so you’ll know if the sensors themselves are causing the problem.

4. Monitor Sunlight

This is one factor many people don’t think about when it comes to garage door sensors — sunlight. In some areas, sunlight may hit your garage door sensor, interfering with the infrared and causing your garage door to stay open.

If you notice you’re only having issues at certain times of the day, it could be because of sunshine. One easy way to fix this is to place a piece of cardboard between your sensor and the garage door — just make sure it’s not blocking the receiver.

Benefits of Troubleshooting Your Garage Door Sensors

It’s easy to forget how important garage doors are in our daily lives. When they stop working, we realize just how essential they are. Sometimes calling a service for help might take up valuable time — that’s why troubleshooting on your own can be such an appealing option. There are many ways you can benefit from these simple troubleshooting steps:

Save money: Troubleshooting on your own will let you keep money in your pocket and save for more significant repairs in the future. It’s an easy way to save on costs.
Find a quick fix: The process of calling a service professional may take longer than finding the issue yourself and solving it. Most of these troubleshooting steps revolve around relatively simple solutions, offering a quick and easy way to solve your issues.
Find an effective solution: From simply sticking a piece of cardboard in between your sensor and garage door to fixing your sensor’s alignment, troubleshooting allows you to effectively fix issues with your garage door. You’ll be able to quickly get your door to function properly and learn a little bit more about its inner workings along the way.

While there are many benefits to troubleshooting on your own, some issues will go beyond your expertise. If you try those troubleshooting strategies and your sensors still aren’t working, it may be time to contact a professional service. An experienced garage door technician will examine your sensors and help you determine whether you need a garage door sensor replacement.

If you ever encounter a situation where you feel you’d be safer or better suited with a professional service, don’t hesitate to call.

Keep Your Garage Door Running Smoothly With A-All StyleGarage Door’s Troubleshooting Guides.

Contact A-All Style Garage Door

When you need that extra help with garage door repairs and inspections, it’s important you find a trusted, reliable company that can offer you quality customer service at a fair price.

A-All Style Garage Door is the company you need. As a family-owned and operated business since 1981, we can offer that personal service while also providing high-quality garage doors. We service all brands of garage doors and our experienced technicians can help get your garage back operating effectively. For those times when troubleshooting doesn’t work, A-All Style Garage Door is here to help you find out what exactly is causing the issue. Contact us today!