Understanding Garage Door Photo Eyes and How to Adjust them

Photo eyes are sometimes referred to as safety or electronic eyes. They are those small, somewhat finicky boxes which are mounted on either side of the garage door track. Each of those boxes has an infrared and invisible beam which need to meet each other in order to allow the door to come down. They are intended to be only 4-6 inches from the garage slab for a reason: if someone falls or if something is in the way, the beam will be interrupted and the door will reverse back up rather than coming down upon the subject or object. While they are small, they play an important role.

They can also be annoying! But we can help. More about that later.

Because garage doors are heavy, they can be dangerous if they don’t reverse. People often race under the door to leave the garage, children playing may not be aware of the door coming down, or pets can unknowingly be in the way. In all of these cases, it’s important that the door go back up rather than continuing to come down. Your photo eyes have you covered!

Now about the annoying part: your photo eyes need to be perfectly aligned to connect with each other. If they aren’t, the invisible beam will be obstructed and they will trigger a door reversal.

Perhaps you have had this happen to you when you are trying to leave your home. You push the close button and the door goes down an inch or two and goes right back up. Whether you try the inside wall station, your handheld remote or the exterior coded pad, nothing works.

INDUSTRY TRICK: if you hold the wall pad button down and the door comes down, you are now over-riding the photo eyes, effectively telling them that nothing is in the way. *Be 100% sure that there is nothing in the way before attempting this.

What happens for the beams to stop connecting? They get bumped or they are very dirty. Many of our garages are jammed with brooms, shovels, car jacks and garbage bins. If this is the case in your garage, and particularly, if those corners draw ‘stuff’, there’s a good chance they’ll get bumped or pushed out of alignment. Sweeping is a common cause as are hockey sticks and pucks (proudly Canadian 🙂). So are spider webs and general garage dirt.

When these issues occur, the photo eyes can’t communicate effectively with each other, and then the door won’t close. A clear indication of a photo eye issue is if one of the sensors’ lights is blinking. And YES, one of those lights should be green (receiver) and the other should be amber (transmitter).

If you’re a DIY person, aligning the sensors and cleaning them can be done with some patience and gentle care. Cleaning them with a soft cloth. While you do this, be sure to hold them firmly to avoid them moving. If they do move, follow the next step.

If nothing is in the way of the sensors, it’s time to realign them. Ensure they are both exactly the same height. If your slab has settled and is uneven, you will need to use a level. Ensure both sensors have a light, one green, the other amber. If one is not lit, you have either a wiring issue or the photo eye requires replacing. We can help with that! If they are lit, move the sensor with the green light until the light changes from flickering to solid colour. Then, if no obstructions exist, push the remote or wall pad to test. If the door goes down, you’ve achieved a successful DIY! If you can’t quite get it, don’t worry. That is the finicky part which our technicians are happy to help with. Call 250.862.1422 or send us an email.