Garage door opener safety lights

Not sure what they are called, but I'm talking about the little devices low on the garage door frame that detect when an object such as an animal is under the door.

One of these got knocked out of alignment when something fell against it. So now, the garage door won't close unless I hold the button down while it closes.

I don't know how to align them so they work again. I have not been particularly observant as to whether there is supposed to be a light showing on both of them, or only one. Right now, there is a light only on one side of the door frame.

Anyway, I'd appreciate some advice on how to align these devices. It is a

16 foot opening, so laying a board across from one to the other is pretty much out.

Bob

Reply to
OMB
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I'd try tying a long string around the one which wasn't damaged then take t he loose end over to the damaged one. Lightly pull the string tight enough so that you get a straight line without pulling the undamaged one off the w all. Use that as a guide to align the devices.

A high-tech way to do it would be to use one of those leveler/measurer lase rs, if you have one of those.

Paul

Reply to
Pavel314

There should be an AMBER LED light glowing on the sending unit regardless of alignment.

The GREEN LED light on the receiving unit will only be glowing when the units are in alignment.

If you have the AMBER light showing, go to the other unit and just move it around until the GREEN light comes on. Alignment is NOT that critical. You do not need to use string, a board, laser level or micrometers to adjust this.

Here's a video that will help if you still need it.

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Note that IF the "something" that fell against it happened to be a kid ramming a bicycle into it, or somebody letting a 12 lb sledgehammer "bump" it, the unit may be broken and need replacement. You cannot align a unit that is toast.

Reply to
Unquestionably Confused

Bob,

YouTube has many videos of this alignment.

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Dave M.

Reply to
David L. Martel

the loose end over to the damaged one. Lightly pull the string tight enoug h so that you get a straight line without pulling the undamaged one off the wall. Use that as a guide to align the devices.

sers, if you have one of those.

You can always pull a straight string from one to the other. They only have to be off a few degrees left, right, up, down, etc for the beam to miss. For the string to work, it would have to been perfectly aligned to the light beam or at least the frame of the transmitting unit, which is impossible to do.

Reply to
trader4

I put mine on the ceiling, next to the opener and about one foot apart. Real easy to get them aligned.

Of course they don't serve their original function, but who cares?

Reply to
HeyBub

thats exactly what i did, works like a champ

Reply to
ChairMan

The "safety lights" / auto-reverse "electric eyes" that I've dealt with have been very forgiving with respect to alignment.

I just "eye balled" them into alignment until both indicator lights came back on. The methods suggested by others will work...eye balling alignment is quicker & "good enough".

The GDO systems I've worked on have had a red light on each unit....system is aligned correctly when light on each unit illuminates.

Reply to
DD_BobK

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Seems one of those things that are a response to an uneeded problem.

I knocked mine out of alignment once and realigned it without needing any "how-to" u-tubes, etc. Only took a few seconds.

Mostly just common sense.

Harry K

Reply to
Harry K

I suppose you remove all belts, padding and airbags in your cars too.

Harry K

Reply to
Harry K

Just point them directly at each other, this is so simple a 10 year old could do it in 15 seconds.

Reply to
hrhofmann

Harry,

In light of OMB's question, why do you believe that this is unneeded?

Dave M.

Reply to
David L. Martel

They are nothing precise like laser safety fence or those red laser nets crisscrossing the room in some museum with a precious artifact you'd see in an art heist movie. They use LEDs without any additional collimating optics and best red LEDs have 30 degree aperture (viewing angle or the cone of most intensity of light). At 16' distance that translates into a spot 8.5' in diameter (R = 16' x tan(15) = 4.287' radius). That's a lot of play. As long as you at least just roughly point it towards the other unit, you can't really miss across a two-car-garage-wide opening. In other words, if it doesn't work, it may be because of wiring or other issues, not necessarily alignment.

Reply to
DA

On 05/28/2013 09:24 AM, DD_BobK wrote: [snip]

Mine have a red light on one and a green light on the other. If the beam is broken, the red light flashes and the green light stays on.

Reply to
Mark Lloyd

I agree WITH puzzled2. You do not need TO use string or a board.

Reply to
Y'all Gibbons

how did you know?

Reply to
ChairMan

Just point them at each other. You don't have to even be close.

Reply to
krw

Same place mine are. It has been a while and I forget exactly how I bypassed them. I think I duct taped them together. Most of them are a PITA, but "its for the children".

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

I've had mine for over 20 years with the sensors properly installed. Instances of the door not closing as I wanted it? None.

Harry K

Reply to
Harry K

Hi, When my kids were small I had them maintained. I have an IR sensor card which made the alignment of beam a snap but kids all grown up and left their nest. I permanently bypassed them.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

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