The photo-eye sensor on your garage door is a small piece of equipment, but it plays a significant role in keeping you safe. Without this sensor, your garage door would close on objects in its path instead of raising back up to avoid them. It’s essential to regularly inspect and clean photo-eye sensors on overhead doors to prevent any damage to property or injury to people.

How Photo-Eye Sensors Work 

Photo-eye sensors function by sending an invisible beam across the base of your garage door. When an object interrupts the beam while the door is shutting, it will immediately stop closing and begin to raise up. Because of this, your garage door is typically quite sensitive to cars, toys, or people that interrupt the beam. Overhead doors are designed to respond to anything that disturbs the beam, so you need to keep the base free of dirt, rocks, and other small debris that might disrupt the sensor. 

Common Photo-Eye Sensor Issues 

While your photo-eye sensor can stop working altogether, it’s more common for the sensor to get dirty or for the sensors on either side of the door to lose their alignment. If you suspect that your sensors are dirty, take a close look at the lenses. Like a camera, the photo-eye sensors can malfunction if the lenses are covered in dirt or scratches. It’s easy for the lenses to accumulate dirt since they’re close to the ground. Treat the photo-eye sensors gently, like you would a camera lens so that they last for years to come. Take a clean cloth and mixture of water and dish detergent and wipe down the surface of the sensor. Be sure to dry it thoroughly after it is clean.

For alignment issues, visually inspect each photo-eye to see if they appear to be aligned. Use a measuring tape to check the distance of each eye from the ground and double-check your alignment with a level. You can adjust the sensors by removing the bolts, moving the sensors, and then reattaching the bolts once they are aligned. If the sensors are misaligned, the beam won’t lay flat and the lights on the sensor will flash red. Once they are aligned correctly, the light will turn green.

Elizabethtown Overhead Inc. has helped Elizabethtown, KY, residents maintain and repair their overhead doors for more than 25 years. Their professional team is experienced in all aspects of repair and installation for overhead doors, and they work with a variety of vendors to provide stylish and durable garage doors. Speak to an experienced member of their team today at (270) 763-9121 or view a full list of their services online.