Since the early 1990s, residential Garage Door Openers sold in the US have been required to have two independent reversing systems. Both can fail silently. Testing them takes two minutes.
Test 1: the photo-eye sensors
With the door open, press close and wave an object — a broom handle is ideal — through the beam near the floor. The door should stop and reverse immediately. Never use your hand or foot.
Test 2: the mechanical reverse
Lay a solid object flat on the floor in the door opening. A length of timber about two inches thick is the traditional choice. Close the door. When it contacts the object it should reverse.
If the door keeps pushing, or stops without reversing, stop using the opener until it is adjusted. That is the setting that protects a child.
BH Garage Door USA technicians
If either test fails
- Check the sensor LEDs — a blinking light means misalignment.
- Clear cobwebs and dust from the sensor lenses; both are common causes.
- Confirm nothing has knocked the brackets out of line.
- If the mechanical reverse fails, the close-force setting needs adjusting. That is a job for a technician — setting it too low causes nuisance reversals, too high defeats the safety.
Why monthly
Sensors drift. Brackets get knocked by bikes and bins. Force settings wander as springs age, which means a door that passed six months ago can quietly fail now. It is the cheapest safety check in the house.
Why this is worth two minutes of your month
A garage door is the heaviest moving object in most homes.
Short version? Modern doors have real safety engineering in them — two independent reversing systems, pinch-resistant sections, containment for the Garage Door Springs.
All of it only helps if it is working. And all of it can fail quietly, with no warning at all that it has failed. Most people find this out the expensive way.
The two tests, and how to do them properly
The first is the photo-eyes. With the door open, press close and pass something through the beam near the floor. A broom handle is ideal. Never a hand or a foot.
Here is the bit we would want to know. The door should stop and reverse immediately.
The second is the mechanical reverse. Lay a solid object flat in the opening — a length of timber a couple of inches thick is traditional — and close the door onto it.
It should reverse on contact. If it keeps pushing, or stops without reversing, stop using the Garage Door Opener until it has been adjusted. It is a small thing that turns into a big thing.
What we check on a safety visit
Every visit runs the same way, whatever the original complaint was. It is quicker than it sounds, and it stops us treating a symptom and calling it a fix.
- Photo-eye alignment and the condition of both lenses.
- The mechanical auto-reverse, tested against a solid object on the floor.
- Force settings — too sensitive gives nuisance reversals, too high defeats the point entirely.
- Spring containment on any door still running extension springs.
- The condition and reach of the emergency release.
If something on that list is worn but not urgent, we say so and give you a rough idea how long it has left. That way you can plan instead of react. Nobody enjoys hearing it, but it saves money.
The mistake we see most
Taping the sensors to face each other, or unplugging them, to stop a nuisance reversal.
And this is usually where it goes wrong. We understand the temptation. The door keeps reversing, it is maddening, and the sensors look like the problem.
They are not the problem. They are reporting one.
That circuit is what stops a door closing on a child. If it misbehaves, fix the cause rather than removing the protection. It is a small thing that turns into a big thing.
The short version
If you take one thing away from all of that: a door that is balanced, lubricated and has working safety reverses will outlast one that is not. By years, not months.
Almost everything we get called out to was preventable. Most of it was cheap to prevent, too.
So if any of this sounds like your door, get eyes on it while it is still an inconvenience rather than a breakdown. We would rather do the small job.
Why this is worth two minutes of your month
A garage door is the heaviest moving object in most homes.
Here is the bit we would want to know. Modern doors have real safety engineering in them — two independent reversing systems, pinch-resistant sections, containment for the Garage Door Springs.
All of it only helps if it is working. And all of it can fail quietly, with no warning at all that it has failed. Most people find this out the expensive way.
The two tests, and how to do them properly
The first is the photo-eyes. With the door open, press close and pass something through the beam near the floor. A broom handle is ideal. Never a hand or a foot.
Here is the part people tend to skip. The door should stop and reverse immediately.
The second is the mechanical reverse. Lay a solid object flat in the opening — a length of timber a couple of inches thick is traditional — and close the door onto it.
It should reverse on contact. If it keeps pushing, or stops without reversing, stop using the opener until it has been adjusted. You will notice it long before it becomes urgent, if you know to look.
What we check on a safety visit
Every visit runs the same way, whatever the original complaint was. It is quicker than it sounds, and it stops us treating a symptom and calling it a fix.
- Photo-eye alignment and the condition of both lenses.
- The mechanical auto-reverse, tested against a solid object on the floor.
- Force settings — too sensitive gives nuisance reversals, too high defeats the point entirely.
- Spring containment on any door still running extension springs.
- The condition and reach of the emergency release.
If something on that list is worn but not urgent, we say so and give you a rough idea how long it has left. That way you can plan instead of react. That is not a sales line. It is just how the hardware behaves.
The mistake we see most
Taping the sensors to face each other, or unplugging them, to stop a nuisance reversal.
Worth saying plainly. We understand the temptation. The door keeps reversing, it is maddening, and the sensors look like the problem.
They are not the problem. They are reporting one.
That circuit is what stops a door closing on a child. If it misbehaves, fix the cause rather than removing the protection. It is a small thing that turns into a big thing.
The short version
If you take one thing away from all of that: a door that is balanced, lubricated and has working safety reverses will outlast one that is not. By years, not months.
Almost everything we get called out to was preventable. Most of it was cheap to prevent, too.
So if any of this sounds like your door, get eyes on it while it is still an inconvenience rather than a breakdown. We would rather do the small job.
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