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The front of my house faces slightly south of due northeast. On sunny days, beginning in mid spring and lasting through summer, the late afternoon sun casts a shadow across the entrance to the garage and the safety sensor prevents the door from closing.
This puzzles me. I understand that the safety mechanism consists of a light source on one edge of the opening that's detected by a sensor on the opposite side, and if a person or object blocks the light beam from reaching the sensor, the door won't come down. But why would a shadow on the ground trip the safety mechanism? It's not blocking the sensor beam. And I've confirmed that the alignment of light source and light sensor is correct.
Short of nailing up a board to prevent the shadow boundary from crossing the garage entrance, what can I do to fix this?
Last edited by Those Who Squirm; 04-30-2023 at 08:35 PM..
Take the paper tube from a roll of toilet paper or paper towels, and tape the tubes to the sensors such that the beam passes thru the tubes, and the tubes shade the opening on the sensor. That might block whatever (shade ?) is causing the problem.
Take the paper tube from a roll of toilet paper or paper towels, and tape the tubes to the sensors such that the beam passes thru the tubes, and the tubes shade the opening on the sensor. That might block whatever (shade ?) is causing the problem.
It sounds like a good idea. We're back to cloudy days for now, but I'll try this at the first opportunity.
Take the paper tube from a roll of toilet paper or paper towels, and tape the tubes to the sensors such that the beam passes thru the tubes, and the tubes shade the opening on the sensor. That might block whatever (shade ?) is causing the problem.
This happens to my mom when the sun is hitting her place. I will tell her to do this. This has been happening for years and we couldn't think what to do. She even got talked into getting a new door and it still happens.
It's not the shadow that's tripping the sensor, otherwise the garage door wouldn't close at night. It's the sunlight hitting just right on the receiving sensor, basically blinding it to the laser emitter at the other side of the door.
I've had the same problem with my own garage door. I can block the sun with my body, and then use the garage door remote to close the door.
I had my sensors replaced and they work way better. It was cheap as I was having the garage door serviced anyways. It's very inexpensive to just get new ones and it's one of those annoyance factors that makes life suck.
Moving the senors to the top of the door will negate the 'safety' aspects, no?
Correct... unless a Wilt Chamberlain look-alike were to walk into your garage. Moving the sensors that high totally negates the reason for having them. If some kid were to be injured by the garage door closing on them after you had moved the sensors to the top of the opening, then the kid's parents would have a strong case for suing you for wilfull negligence.
Additionally, you might even damage your own car if someone accidentally bumps the closer button while you're entering or exiting the garage with your car. Far better to put a sun-shade over one of the sensors. I did that with my previous garage door opener. Just took a piece of cardboard, some scissors, and some tape and fashioned a shade for the sensor that the sun hits. The shade only needs to extend an inch or so out over the sensor that is in the sun unless it is an early morning or late afternoon problem. My newer garage door opener has the sensors slightly back further and I don't have the same problem with it.
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