Can Sunlight Keep My Garage Door From Closing?

Written by Automated Garage Door Systems on . Posted in Blog

Our company likes to be direct because we know your time is valuable. Sunlight can keep your garage door from closing.

The Process

We have shown up to a number of different clients house after they placed a call because their garage door refused to close. Then we simply pushed the button and the garage door worked just fine. There is always a moment where we are surprised and the customer is baffled. Then we eventually find no other issues such as a sensors being misaligned. That is usually when we start questioning the time of day when the issue first took place. If the issue first started in the morning or evening it is a good sign that sunlight is the culprit.

The Problem

Most garage doors use infrared light sensors. These sensors are put into place to protect people, animals and possessions from harm. A garage door will not close if something interrupts the path between the two sensors. When the lumens of light from the sun surpass that of the infrared sensor light, the sensors are not able to signal to one another. That is why the garage door will not close. The sunlight usually has to be going directly into one of the sensors to cause this to happen. During the morning and evening the sun is low enough to allow light to reach the sensors.

The Solution

You can hold your garage door closing button on most models and the garage door will close regardless of sensor communication. You can also block the sunlight from reaching the sensor and use the garage door remote to close the garage door. Most people opt to hold the garage door closing button within the garage.

We hope this article helps you with your garage door issues. If you need a garage door repair company in Riverside or just simply have questions, do not hesitate to call us or email us your garage door questions. Below are some links to other helpful articles.

Should I use WD-40 to lubricate my garage door?
Why Did My Garage Door fall off the Tracks?

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