Garage Door Safety: How Falling Leaves Can Be Dangerous
Posted on: 21 October 2018
Fall weather can be wonderful, and the changing leaves are beautiful. However, when the fall to the ground, these leaves can be a huge problem for you and your safety. This is particularly true when it comes to your garage. It is important that you ensure that the falling leaves don't accumulate right inside your garage and/or near the safety sensors of your garage door opener. If leaves block these safety sensors, there could be trouble. Read on to learn more.
How Leaves Can Put Your Family At Risk
When an object is in the path of a garage door that is closing, it is important that the door is able to sense that something is in its path. If it is able to do this, then the garage will automatically stop closing and go back up. The safety sensors of a garage door are very important to all homeowners, but they tend to be most important to homeowners with children and pets. Garage doors are incredibly heavy, and garage door accidents occur more often than anyone would like to admit.
The garage door safety sensors are located on either side of the door, facing each other. Generally, they are located beyond on the track on wall brackets or on the tracks themselves. The way these safety sensors work is by transmitting an infrared laser between the sensors. If something breaks the connection between the sensors, the door will immediately stop closing and rise back up.
However, there are cases when the laser connection is interrupted. For example, the connection can be interrupted be spider webs, debris, or fallen leaves.
How To Make Sure Your Sensors Are Working Properly
Every so often, you will want to inspect your garage door safety sensors to ensure that they are clean and working properly. To clean them, simply remove any and all debris from in front of them and wipe each lens down with a clean lint-free cloth. If you see that the LED lights are blinking on the sensors, then the laser connection is being blocked by something or the sensors are not in proper alignment with one another. If the LED lights are steadily glowing, then your garage door should be in good working order.
If you have any questions, need help getting your garage door safety sensors re-aligned, or have any other garage door repair issues, contact a garage door services professional in your area for assistance.
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