Garage door won’t close using remote

[fourjeepin]

Linear brand closers with belt drive. The door reverses at various spots during the closing process, but it will close if I hold down the main button. I was on the verge of firing off the parts cannon last night and replacing the safety sensors. But today I played with the door for a while and noticed that the safety sensors lights don’t flash like they do when I break the beam intentionally.

Any suggestions? Is it a bad sensor? Should I try new sensor wiring? Or tear down the garage and rebuild at 3x the size?

 

[walta]

The symptom is classic for a blocked or failed photo sensor.

Did you check for damaged wires?

Sometimes sunlight can blind the sensors. Did you try after dark?

Your eyes can’t see the IR light beam but your cell phone camera can.

My Lift master brand transmitter have a yellow indicator to show they have power. The receiver has a green indicator if the door is open and the beam is unobstructed.

Walta

 

[Steve W.]

Had the same thing happen at my sister's house last month. I suspected mis-aligned sensors, but they looked fine. Then I noticed the lights on the sensors were not lit. Checked the wires, they looked fine at the sensors, so I checked at the power head. Somehow, both wires had broken, right at the hold-down screws. Prepped the ends, clamped them down, her door works as good as ever.

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[svhamelly]

Th

Had the same thing happen at my sister's house last month. I suspected mis-aligned sensors, but they looked fine. Then I noticed the lights on the sensors were not lit. Checked the wires, they looked fine at the sensors, so I checked at the power head. Somehow, both wires had broken, right at the hold-down screws. Prepped the ends, clamped them down, her door works as good as ever.

.

The wires could easily break from vibrations of the motor when it runs.

 

[fourjeepin]

The sensor lights stay lite during the entire cycle so I do not think it is misalignment or vibration knocking them out of alignment or dust/dirt. I also do not suspect sunlight as this happens at all times of the day.

I am suspicious of a shorted wire. I haven’t investigated this closely but did give them a cursory inspection and wiggle/tug. I think next step is to throw up some temporary test wires.

 

[wayne55]

I've had to replace sensors before for this.