Automatic Garage door difficulties...

[billt]

Billt,

I had the same problem with the sun, plus add to that the humongous amount of leaves I get in the fall.   I finally moved my sensors together, mounted above the opener, about 2" apart.  Yes, I've disabled the safety feature.  No, it isn't a problem as we're just careful about when we close the door.

The more I hear this, the better it sounds. I figure if I haven't shot myself or anyone else in the last 45 years shooting and messing around with guns, I can handle a garage door with a disabled "safety".

[alfsauve]

I promised pictures.   

First, since my ceiling joists run cross-wise and don't happen to conicide where I needed to hang the opener, I hung to uni-struts.  Then the angle iron can be positioned at any distance from the door. 

Then you can see the "magic eye" sensors.  I gave up on trying to make the work reliably, so just bolted them to the cross piece and haven't had a problem since.

Finally, I screwed an adapter plug into where the light bulbs would be and made my own little fixtures.  I'm no longer limited by wattage and can install some decent lighting in the garage.   Plus they lamps don't get near the vibration they would if screwed into the motor and the lamps last longer.

[billt]

That's a good idea with the light bulb adapters. I just may copy that.

[Timothy]

Unistrut is like duct tape...multi-use..

[billt]

I'm worried about the F.G.D.P., (Federal Garage Door Police), if I disconnect the electric eyes. Aren't they the same branch of government who put all those kids in jail for removing those sofa tags, some years back? I think they're connected with OSHA.

[Sponsor]

[alfsauve]

Hey, I didn't disable the magic eye safeties !!!   If you step between them when the door is closing it will stop. 

[billt]

Hey, I didn't disable the magic eye safeties !!!   If you step between them when the door is closing it will stop. 

I don't think a French runway model could get between those. Provided she could jump high enough! 

[Solus]

Not familiar with how this system works. 

I would assume that one of the devices is a projector and sends the light source to the other one which is the sensor?

If so, then wouldn't only the sensor needed to be shaded from outside light?

Perhaps switching sides so the sensor was on the shaded side, if there is one, would work?

Or moving it further away from the door opening? 

Or a tube in front of it to provide the shade, like the tube extensions you might see on scopes?

 

[billt]

I would assume that one of the devices is a projector and sends the light source to the other one which is the sensor? If so, then wouldn't only the sensor needed to be shaded from outside light? Perhaps switching sides so the sensor was on the shaded side, if there is one, would work?

It happens in the morning, then again in the late afternoon with the Sun on either side. so I'm assuming switching them would have no effect.

[alfsauve]

Like Bilt said, it was a constant battle, especially in the winter when the sun is lower on the horizon.  Moving the sensors back helped some, and sure I could futzy with sun shades, but then I also have a leaf problem in the fall.  My garage door seems to just be a magnet.  So if it wasn't the sun it was some big leaf stuck to the sensor.   I got tired of fighting it.  I have no outside pets that could get trapped and the grand-kids are never out of sight when they visit.