Garage Door Sensor Challenge

[shammatt]

The problem is we’re expanding the old two car garage into
a 2k sqft shop and parking for antique and daily drivers. One
of the three new garage doors is located very near a front
corner of the garage, the corner turns 90 degrees and immediately
there’s an inward opening man-door with the hinge near the same
corner mentioned above.
Hope this description has helped and here’s the problem:
The standard laser (IR?) sensor is mounted near floor level intrudes
upon the swing of the man-door.

This photo is a generic shot of the sensor I’m talking about.

My question is: How do I maximize the door opening of the
man-door. Can I do away with the sensor entirely (the garage
door has an automatic bounce back control if it hits any sort of
obstruction)? Is there some sort of new style of sensor that may be
better?
Super thanks.

Steve Hammatt
Mount Vernon WA USA

 

[JJThrasher]

I haven't found one yet that can't be bypassed. I hate those damn things.

 

[Keith_MN]

Could you modify the mounting so it sits in the space between the rail and wall?

 

[Dirtydan69]

I have heard of people mounting them up in the ceiling about a foot apart aimed directly at each other. I hear it works.

 

[justanengineer]

Your opener will likely function without the sensors but thats not a great idea from a safety perspective, doors often move with an amazing amount of force. You could also try tweaking the brackets a bit to make the sensors fit a bit closer to the door, or even mount one sensor above the door or on the wall beyond the man door. Those sensors tend to be rather forgiving of aiming and distance between them, and nothing says they need be parallel with either the floor or the door itself.

Classy avatar btw.

 

[FearTheH]

Really you could mount them anywhere you wanted to as long as you have that amount of wire. The light reflecting back to the sensor just allows the circuit to be complete...really nothing to them at all.
You could also remove them altogether and run the wire without the sensors in place...as long as the circuit is completed.

 

[gnpenning]

You can move the sensors back from the opening as far as needed so not to interfere with your man door. The same sensor works on a 24' wide door as for a 7' wide. The sensor brackets you posted you can use the holes on the legs and screw or bolt them to wood or metal brackets. Very easy fix. In your case you only need to move the one eye.

Garage door sensors are a safety device for the protection of kids, pets and anything else you do not want crushed. Sure you can change where they are located and render them useless.

Interesting timing for this to come up. My friends elderly dog spent last night at the vets after being crushed by his door. Hagen the dog hearing and eye sight are fading. Saturday his getting eyes on his door.

 

[Blue XJ]

My sensors are zip tied to the opener mounting bracket near the ceiling pointed at each, works great!

Once the weather warms up I'll be moving them to where they belong, but for now it works fine.

 

[CSFJ]

Your opener will likely function without the sensors but thats not a great idea from a safety perspective, doors often move with an amazing amount of force. You could also try tweaking the brackets a bit to make the sensors fit a bit closer to the door, or even mount one sensor above the door or on the wall beyond the man door. Those sensors tend to be rather forgiving of aiming and distance between them, and nothing says they need be parallel with either the floor or the door itself.

Classy avatar btw.

It may depend on make and model of door opener as to wether they will function without the sensors. I just installed a new unit in my garage last month, and no amount of jumper wires or other short cuts would get it to function correctly. Finally mounted the sensors on the rafter truss next to the opener. (I have no children or pets to worry about)

 

[Colin Len]

Mine used to sit very close to each other, above the door.
They could always see each other, but they were just behind the springs....

This is how mine is as well. When I recently had my door installed the guy asked if I wanted the sensors installed or not. This surprised me but I liked the idea. So far I LOVE it and would not want to go back to those damned sensors. Now that I have a dog (and definitely if I have a kid) I might test the force of the door and see if I should move the sensors where they should be. But until then I'm going to enjoy casually walking thru the door when closing it without simultaneously playing limbo and avoiding laser eyes.

 

[turtleman321]

My sensors are just mounted above the opener on the ceiling and face each other.


I do have a friend that had his old heavy wood garage door close on his cat and caused a year long recovery for his cat. Broken back, couldnt walk etc.

So if you have kids or pets, I would test the bounce back feature.

 

[rlitman]

You can move the sensors back from the opening as far as needed so not to interfere with your man door. The same sensor works on a 24' wide door as for a 7' wide. The sensor brackets you posted you can use the holes on the legs and screw or bolt them to wood or metal brackets. Very easy fix. In your case you only need to move the one eye...

Along those lines, if moving the sensor in the corner all the way back to the wall doesn't give enough clearance, here's a thought. Put a reflector in the corner, and have both sensors mounted on one side of the door, facing the reflector.

 

[kbs2244]

"Put a reflector in the corner, and have both sensors mounted on one side of the door, facing the reflector."

If you decide to keep them operational this would be my pick.
The only problems are twice the distance for the light to travel and 3 things to keep in adjustment instead of 2.

BTW, on the latest one I installed you couldn't just jump the terminals.
They have some electronics that detect that and keep the opener for operating.
I had to use a toilet paper tube to align them.

 

[ford fanatic]

I have heard of people mounting them up in the ceiling about a foot apart aimed directly at each other. I hear it works.

This works, I set my last home up like this, this was before my daughter was born, the new garage is set up to code.

 

[shammatt]

Lot's of great information. At this time I think there are two viable options. #1 is to run the beam across the inside of the door, BUT at a steep angle downward from the man door end of the garage door. This will raise the IR light source to a point above the interfering man door swing. Not the safest approach, but we have no children or pets; thus the safety concerns are lessened. #2 is to find a way to mount the IR light system on the exterior of the garage door, thus clearing the way for full man door swing. There are concerns about finding a weatherproof system that is also compatible with my LiftMaster Jack Shaft Lift Controls.
The challenge is still there, but somewhat clarified with the input from the GJ members. Thanks for all your emails.
Steve

 

[MT Mike]

An outswing door is also an option. I have one on my garage. Works like a champ and frees up interior wall space.

 

[btdobie]

Could you change the swing of the man door to the other direction?