Garages are part of the exterior decorations of a house, they are well beautified for certain purposes depending on the owner’s choice, where the house is located, and how the house is situated.
In most cases, garage doors are faced directly in front of the main road. Some even having matching colors between their garage doors and front doors.
Every garage door is made with a safety sensor, and these sensors are carefully placed or inserted into the doors for the purpose of any unwanted occurrence like an accident that happens mostly with automatic garage doors. Such accidents have led to the loss of so many lives, cars, and pets.
What does it mean when one garage door sensor is green and one is red? When your garage door sensor is showing green while the other is showing red, it simply means that the sensor is powered on and there is no obstruction on the way of the sensor. This helps in the performance of the garage door at any point in time. When you notice this, there is no need to be afraid.
However, when the garage door sensor is green, it means the sensor is working very fine with no issues or obstructions but if the garage door sensor is red and continues to blink red color, it means the sensor is not properly aligned and should be rectified by you. In this case, you need to make sure to align the sensor well so that the led indicator will turn green again.
However, it is important to note that garage door sensors have different lights depending on the manufacturer, they can be red, green, yellow, orange and each of these colors has what it means.
Here are garage door sensor colors and their meaning:
- Green Light: Greenlight garage door sensor ndicates that the sensor is on. They are seen when the sensors are aligned with no obstruction on them.
- Red Light: Red light on the garage door sensor shows that both sensors are seeing each other without any form of obstruction on the way. However, when the garage door led indicator turns red and keeps blinking red color, it means that the sensor is not properly aligned.
- Yellow Light: The yellow light of garage door sensors is mostly seen in the sending sensor, this helps to transmit the infrared beam to the receiving sensor that has a green light on it. The green light sensor is always supposed to be lit.
- Orange Light: If you see the orange light on the garage door sensor either flashing or is totally off, this means that the sensor is losing the wiring connection. In this case, needs to be rectified by you.
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Garage Door Sensors
Garage door sensors are an integral part of an automatic garage door, the forms of these sensors are mechanical in nature, and it helps the reversing of the garage doors when it touches any object. In most places they use photoelectric sensors, these photoelectric sensors use what is known as an infrared beam.
They are mostly inserted up to 6 inches above the floor, with two sensors inserted on each side of the garage door and aligned together. This makes room for an invisible wire trip and helps to detect a car tire, a pet, a child, or a passenger’s legs.
The doors cease to work when any object touches or blocks the infrared beam in the door sensor, and it will automatically revere itself.
All garage doors function the same way and they serve the same purpose. These sensors come in different brands and models, some are universal which implies that a specific unit of the sensor would be matched to the garage door with a customized name associated with it; this would help the door function optimally and give the same level of safety no matter the type of connector used on the door.
How Do Garage Door Sensors Work?
Garage door sensors work when electric energy is transformed into an infrared beam of light. The same infrared beam of light comes from one side of the garage door units that are placed up to 4-5 inches above the floor level. This helps in sending the beam light to a central receiving unit on the other side of the garage door.
Therefore, be it a mechanical or photoelectric garage door, both of them need to work perfectly well and give you the best of services required of them.
Peradventure both sending and receiving parts of the garage door are not well aligned; you will see a signal showing on the door sensor with a light showing on the wall control unit of the sensor installed very close to the entry point of the door.
Garage door sensors work with the open and close buttons seen on the control panel of the sensor. They are all connected to the beam light, they can be wired or wirelessly controlled, but all the components that help the garage door sensor work properly have wire connectivity.
What Does Garage Door Sensor Being Green and another Being Red Mean?
When your garage door sensors showing green light and the other showing a red light on the black box that is exactly the size of a deck, It means something; the green light on one of the sensors is telling you those door units are well powered, while the red light on the other sensors shows that both sensors are seeing each other without any form of obstruction to it at any given time.
Do Both Garage Door Sensors Have To Be Green?
Each garage door sensor is supposed to be showing a green and red light, both lights have what it means and it would in turn help to enhance the functionality of the garage door. As said earlier, the green light signifies that the sensor is on while the red light means that both sensors are seeing each other without obstruction on the way.
Both garage doors are not supposed to be green, but anytime this happens and you notice that both garage door sensors are showing a green light it simply means that either of the sensors has been bumped or kicked. This can be fixed by placing both sensors to face each other until both lights come up so strong and steady.
How to Check If my Garage Door is out of Alignment
To check if your garage door is out of alignment, verify if the red light on one of the sensors is blinking. If it is blinking, it means that the sensor is not aligned properly and should be fixed. In this case, you need to have the sensor fixed so the sensor would stop blinking red.
However, it is pertinent to note that garage doors are as important as it could cause accidents that can either take ones live and as well can help prevent any unwanted accident and keep you alive when they are opened and closed it.
Just with the click of a button the garage door is either elevated or lowered to enable the entrance and exit of vehicles and other automobiles and human beings from the garage. Once the garage door is not working well or is out of alignment, it affects the life of its owner on daily basis, as he or she would not be able to make use of the garage as when due.
One common challenge with a garage door is when the sensors go out of alignment. There are some easy ways to detect if your garage door is out of alignment.
Here are the easy ways to check if your garage door sensor is out of alignment:
1. Light Indicators
This is the easiest way to tell when your garage door is purely out of alignment, simply check if the outside LED light is blinking whenever you want to open or close the door. If the green light is on it means that the garage door is working well and if you see a red light, it simply means that the door is out of alignment.
2. Dirty Lenses
Dirty lenses can also help you know if your garage door is out of alignment. Once you see the lenses dirty you should start thinking of aligning the doors. If peradventure you have a dusty garage or your garage is always dirty then you would always be running the risk of your garage doors going out of alignment as quickly as possible.
3. Damaged Wires
When you notice that the wires connecting the sensors and the doors are wearing out, it is a good indication that your garage door is going out of alignment. This can be caused by water infiltration, wind, pest infestation, and the use of certain tools. If you see some water damage, chewed marks, and another tampering on the wires of the doors and sensors, then you should know that the garage door is going or has gone out of alignment.
How to Tell if Garage Sensor is not Bad
To determine the functionality of your garage door you will need to get the regular cardboard box, just put the cardboard box at the same line where the sensors are, and try closing the garage door. If the doors successfully reverse even when it meets an obstruction then you should know that your garage door is not bad and it is functioning optimally at its best at any given time. But if the garage door closes itself on the box, that is a perfect sign to show that the garage door is bad and you might have to troubleshoot and get it fixed immediately.
How To Reset Garage Door Sensors?
To reset your garage door sensors, simply turn on the switch light and off it frequently up to 4 times, when this is done you will easily notice that the sensor light will stay on continuously. Immediately you notice that the light has turned on, turn off the switch and wait up to 5 seconds before you can turn it on again. This time you would notice that the light would stay off and immediately this happens, your garage door sensor has automatically reset.
Be that as it may, resetting your garage door sensor is an important thing to do at any time you notice any form of fault on it or when you observe that the sensors are not working well. You will notice this when your doors stop working and receiving commands through the sensors.
Conclusion
Garage door sensors are as important as it helps you know the state of the sensor and how perfect your garage would door would work. It is very important to always keep the sensors safe and in a clean environment to avoid faults, losing alignment, malfunctioning, or causing total damage to the door. If any of this happens it can lead to loss of life, property, and pets and this is what nobody wants to ever see occurring in his or her home.
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