How To Align Garage Door Sensors

Garage door sensors must be aligned to ensure your garage door opens and closes properly. Sensors may fall out of alignment over time, so it’s important to understand how to align garage door sensors. Garage door sensors are designed to prevent the door from closing if something obscures the sensor. This safety feature prevents the door from closing when something is in the way and at risk of becoming damaged or injured.

In this article, you will learn how to align garage door sensors so they close properly.

Why Align Your Garage Door Sensors?

The sensors are vital to your garage door opener. If it gets the signal to open or close, it’s going to do so no matter what. If there’s something or someone in the way, you want them to avoid getting hit with the door. You don’t want to dent your car or worse, hit someone with the door. When the sensors are working correctly, you won’t need to worry about this.

How To Align Your Garage Door Sensors

Here’s a step by step guide to aligning your garage door sensors properly. Follow them carefully, and the job will be done in no time at all.

Step one: Firstly, you’ll need to cut off the power to your garage door properly. The best way to do this is to trip the fuse to your garage in the breaker box. You won’t be working directly with any wiring, but when it comes to electricity, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

Step two: Locate your garage door sensors. They should be at each side of the garage door, near the ground. You’ll want to unscrew them enough that they come loose, but they don’t come all the way out. You want to be able to slide them up and down without them coming out when you do so. They also need to stay put when you reposition them.

Step three: Now, slide those mounting brackets down low as you can, without them coming out of their position.

Step four: Locate some string, and tie it to one of the mounting brackets. It needs to be long enough that you’ll be able to pull it across to the other mounting bracket.

Step five: Pull that string across to the other mounting bracket, and tie it to it. The string should now be taut between the two brackets.

Step six: You now need to check that the string is level between the two brackets. Get a spirit level and hold it under the string. If the level shows the string isn’t even, adjust the mounting brackets until the string sits level.

Step seven: Now that the mounting brackets are in position, screw them back in tightly to hold them in this position. Once you’ve done that, ensure that you check the level of the string again. Screwing the brackets in can affect the alignment, so ensure you don’t skip this step.

Step eight: You’re now nearly done. Take the string off the mounting brackets, and turn the power back on to your garage door. The sensors are now aligned properly.

As you can see, adjusting the alignment is actually a lot simpler than you’d think. Follow these steps carefully and you shouldn’t have a problem.

Testing Your Garage Door Sensors

Now that you’ve got the sensors aligned, you’ll want to test them to ensure they’re working as they should. Again, this is quite simple to do so it’s worth taking the time to do it.

All you need to do is get a block of wood and place it in the path of the garage door. Use your remote to get the garage door to shut, and then see if it recognizes that something is in the way. If it’s working as it should, then the door should auto reverse before it comes near the wood. If it hits the wood, or it auto reverses too quickly, then you’ll want to adjust the sensitivity. This is usually done on the control system for the garage door opener. Check your instructions to find out exactly how to do this.

Safety Measures

Now, the sensors on your garage door aren’t the only things that are making your garage door safe. Here are some other maintenance tips that will help you keep it safe for you and your family to use.

Security

It’s hard to stress just how important security is to your garage door. It’s a major path into your home, so you want to ensure that no one can use it if you don’t want them to. For example, if you have an older garage door opener, you’ll want to update it. Older models don’t use rolling codes, which renders them more susceptible to burglars. You’ll also want to cover up windows in your garage door to deter would-be thieves and invest in good lighting to keep your garage lit up at night.

Pest Control

Did you know that your garage door is a target for pests, too? It offers a great entrance to a place where they can shelter and breed without being noticed. You’ve got to keep on top of that to ensure they don’t get into your garage. Keep the door shut when not in use, and take a look at your garage door seal every now and again. If there are signs of something chewing on it, you’ll need to get your garage inspected for pests, the sooner, the better.

Clean Out Your Garage

Yes, it’s a large undertaking, but it’s vital to your safety that you do so. The garage is a common dumping ground for all kinds of things that need to be cleared up. Sharp garden tools, flammable items and more all pose a risk. Take a day to clear out your garage, and remove anything that you don’t need. If you need to store flammable items in there, ensure that you’re only doing so in small quantities. Put anything sharp or dangerous on high shelves, where children can’t reach them.

With this guide you’ll be able to align your garage door sensors correctly, making your garage door safe for everyone to use.