If you have problems closing your garage door and there doesn’t seem to be anything tripping the sensor, you need to know how to tell if there’s something wrong with your garage door sensor. Learning how to test garage door sensors can help you to identify the problem and determine whether you can fix it on your own or hire a garage door expert to help you out.
How to Test Garage Door Sensors
In this post, we’ll identify some of the most common issues that can cause your garage door sensor to malfunction. Watch out for these signs and you can get an idea of how to handle the problem when it comes to this sort of residential garage door technology.
How to Tell If Your Garage Door Sensor Is Bad
Telling if your garage door sensor is bad can be a bit tricky. However, there are common signs that indicate you have a malfunction. For instance, the most obvious sign is when your garage door doesn’t close properly. Once you discover the problem, the first thing you need to check is the sensor path, as the door will not close if any objects are blocking the path. This is a common safety feature designed to prevent injuries or damage to property. Other signs to watch out for include flashing garage door opener lights, flashing sensor lights, or a missing sensor light.
Here Are Five Things to Check:
Sensor Path
Generally, your garage door sensor will prevent the door from closing if there’s an object nearby so you want to make sure nothing is obstructing the sensor beam.
Sensor Power
A lack of power supply is one of the most common causes of a malfunctioning garage door sensor. Look for small LED lights on the sensors. If the lights are turned on for both sensors, then you can rule out a problem with the power supply. If the lights are off in one or both sensors, however, it points to an issue with the power supply.
Sensor Lenses
Sensor lenses will often be covered in dirt. This occurs if there’s a lot of pollution or wind near your home, you live close to an intersection or you rarely clean your lenses. All these can cause dust to pile up on your lenses, blocking the sensor from functioning properly. Give the sensors lenses a good cleaning to restore optimal functionality.
Sensor Moisture
Sometimes, if the area in and around the sensors is wet, the sensors can malfunction. This may occur if the sensors are exposed to rain or water from your sprinklers. If that’s the case, just dry them with a clean piece of cloth.
Sensor Alignment
Make sure that both sensors are aligned with each other because if they’re not, they won’t work properly. You can check this by simply looking at the LED lights on both sensors.
Sensors Wear and Tear
Sometimes the problem may be that the sensors have succumbed to normal wear and tear. This is especially the case if you’ve been using the same sensors for over a decade.
Bottom Line
Now that you know how to test garage door sensors, you can take appropriate action based on the issue. While some problems can be sorted out with a quick fix, others require the expertise of our experts like our experts here at Metro Garage Door. If you’re unable to fix the problem, be sure to seek the services of a professional garage door expert.
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