Modern garage doors have evolved to become more convenient and easy to use; however, problems within the system can be quite problematic.
If you’ve experienced your garage door not opening or reversing as it is closing, then you might have a problem with your sensors.
Rest easy, you don’t have to call and spend for professional help to get this problem fixed if it’s only minor; you can do it yourself!
For more on how to align garage door sensors in Chamberlain, read further:
Garage Door Sensors
As a safety measure required by the law since the 1990s, garage door sensors are used to reduce accidents involving garage doors.
Modern garage door openers are now equipped with these sensors to halt or reverse the door’s travel if something is blocking its path.
This way, children or pets are not at risk of getting hurt or killed from the crushing weight of the large garage door.
How Garage Door Sensors Work
Garage door sensors come in paired units that are placed on either side of the garage doorway typically placed 6 inches above the ground.
As a pair, one unit (emitter) continuously sends a signal and the other unit (receiver) receives it, and the way to trigger sensors’ task is to disrupt the signal.
Hence, if an object is obstructing the emitter from sending a beam to the receiver, then the door reverses from its downward travel.
Moreover, a flashing light will appear to indicate that the sensors detect something resulting in the motor not closing the door until the obstruction is cleared.
What Are Signs of Faulty Sensors?
Aligning Garage Door Sensors
Misaligned garage door sensors can be irritating as it disrupts normal garage door operations.
Unless the sensors are back in alignment, your garage door might not cease from reversing every time you try to close it.
Don’t worry, as mentioned, you can do the realignment of your sensors without relying on hiring a professional garage door technician.
For the exact details on how to align garage door sensors in Chamberlain, below are the things you will need and the procedure to follow:
Things You Will Need
Before beginning the procedure of realigning your garage door sensors, be sure to prepare the following items:
- Gloves (electricity-resistant)
- String
- Screwdriver
- Level
Once you’ve gathered these, you can begin the process by following the steps below:
Step 0: Try Lightly Jiggling the Sensor into Alignment
Before doing any major adjustments, lightly jiggle the sensor in place to see if it works.
To know if it gets fixed with this method, both sensors should have a green light on.
If it doesn’t work, proceed to step 1.
Step 1: Disconnect Your Garage Door System from the Power Supply
Wearing your electricity-resistant gloves, turn off the power supply to your garage from the breaker box or unplug the sensors from its outlet.
Doing this ensures that you are not risking getting electrocuted while you’re realigning your garage door sensors.
Step 2: Unscrew the Bracket Mounting the Sensors
Using a screwdriver, unscrew the bracket holding the sensors so that they’re loose enough to move up and down.
Note that you don’t have to fully unscrew the screws; simply loosen them.
Step 3: Tie a String to Run Across Both Sensors
After you’ve loosened the mounting bracket, get a long string that’s easy to tie and remove.
Using the long string, tie each end on the center of each sensor.
The string should run along in a straight line from the emitter to the receiver.
Step 4: Level the String
Using the string as a guide, align the sensors by moving them up or down.
To ensure that the string runs parallel to the ground, use a level and press it against the string.
Once the level shows that the string is properly aligned, move on to the next step.
Step 5: Tighten the Screws
Before tightening the screws, make sure that you don’t move the sensors from their aligned positions.
Tightening the screws can move the sensors a bit off from where you intended it to be, so be sure to be extra careful when doing this.
To ensure that the sensors are still aligned, both the emitter and the receiver should have green lights on.
Step 6: Turn on the Power Supply and Test the Sensors
After tinkering with the sensors’ positions, turn on the power supply and check if they are functional.
Run the opener in a full opening and closing cycle and see if the closing door has stopped reversing on its own.
Also, check if the safety reversal feature gets activated with an actual obstruction.
If you observe these, then you’re good to go!
