Raise your hand if this has happened to you. You’re running a little late, you climb in the car open the door, back out, push the remote control button to close the door and nothing happens. “Why won’t my garage door close?” you say to yourself.
So then you run in the house push the wall button and still nothing, door wide open. So you try holding the wall button in, until the door is shut and voila! Finally, the garage door shuts and you exit the front door.
If you raised your hand you are not alone because this is a common occurrence that happens to us all. Most of us know to check for obstructions in front of the photo eyes but here are a few other things to be mindful of during this type of situation before calling your garage technician.
Look at the sensors and check for the following:
– A little colored light on the photo eye, and if you see that, check to see if it’s lit, blinking or if it’s out. (in normal operation this light should be lit solid)
– While the color of the lights varies from brand to brand, in most cases each sensor will have a light that should be lit solid 24 hours a day.
– Some brands such as Linear (LDO33/LD050) will have a red and a green light on one side and a green light only on the other. Since this varies it’s always a good idea to check with your garage door company with whom you purchased your door from.
(Side note: if you can identify the model of opener you have it will help us help you get it fixed quicker- You can find that on the unit at the ceiling. If ladders aren’t your thing, have a remote control that came with the unit handy most of the time we can get the information we need from that)
So you find one of the PE’s (that’s short for photo eye) is blinking, that tells us either it is dirty or it has been bumped out of alignment. Here are the DIY steps you can do in order to trouble shoot the problem:
– First, clean off your photo eyes with a clean soft cloth, get rid of any dirt, dust or debris, from the outside weather, insects and even the frogs yes frogs who are known to sit on the photo eyes.
– Once they are clean and pest free check to see if they are still blinking, and if they are, then it’s time to move them a bit.
– You may have to move each PE because the goal is have all of the lights on each Photo Eye lit and steady.
Patience is the key, PE’s must be aligned or else they can’t communicate, so clean them, align them, get the lights lit and your door should be back to working like it did before with just the push of a button.
As always when working with any mechanical device if you’re unsure or the trouble shooting tactics don’t work, it’s always best to call a professional. D & D Garage doors is the largest garage door company in the state of Florida, owned and operated by two brothers, Denver and Dallas. We have over 30 years in the industry and most of our employees myself included, have been with them for at least 9 years or more. We are a good company you can trust to handle your ups and downs.
So remember when the door won’t shut, it could just be the frogs! 😉
