Opener Repair
Limits, force settings and logic boards cause 'won't close' symptoms too.
Learn more →Try This Before You Call Us
We'd rather you fix this free in five minutes than pay for a visit. Work down the list:
- Clear the beam
Anything between the two eyes — trash can, rake handle, cobweb, the corner of a storage bin — breaks the invisible beam six inches off the floor.
- Clean the lenses
Desert dust films over the lenses surprisingly fast. Wipe both eyes gently with a soft dry cloth.
- Check the lights
Each sensor has an indicator LED. Steady lights on both = aligned. A dark or blinking light = power, wiring or alignment trouble.
- Realign gently
Sensors live at ankle height and get kicked. Loosen the wing nut, aim the eye at its partner until the light goes steady, retighten.
- Consider the sun
If failures happen at the same time each day, low sun is blinding one eye. Shade it with your hand and test — if the door closes, you've found it.
When It's Time for a Technician
- Lights won't go steady no matter how you aim them — likely a failed eye or broken wire in the run to the opener.
- Wires are visibly damaged, spliced with tape, or were stapled through during some past project.
- The sensors check out but the door still reverses — the problem has moved up to the opener's force settings, travel limits or logic board.
- Your opener predates 1993 and has no photo eyes at all — worth a conversation about a modern opener for safety alone.
Test the reverse, not just the beam
Photo eyes are one of two safety systems. The other is pressure reverse: a closing door that touches an obstruction must reverse. Test it monthly by laying a 2×4 flat where the door lands — the door should pop back up on contact. If it doesn't, stop using the opener until it's adjusted. We test both systems on every visit.
Common questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my garage door close fine sometimes and refuse other times?
Classic Las Vegas symptom: direct sunlight. Low morning or evening sun shining straight into one photo eye can overwhelm the receiver so it can't 'see' its partner's beam, and the opener treats that as an obstruction. If your door misbehaves at the same time of day, sun blinding is the prime suspect — a sun shield or swapping the receiver eye to the shaded side usually cures it.
One sensor light is off (or blinking). What does it mean?
On most systems, one steady light per sensor means aligned and powered; a dark or flickering light means no power, broken wire or misalignment. Check the bracket hasn't been kicked, the lens is clean, and the thin wires up to the opener aren't pinched or chewed. If lights won't go steady after realigning, the wiring run or an eye has failed.
Can I just bypass or remove the safety sensors?
No — and we won't do it either. The photo eyes are a federally required safety system (they've been mandatory on openers since 1993) that exists because closing doors used to injure children and pets every year. Holding the wall button to force a close is a diagnostic clue, not a lifestyle. If the sensors are unreliable, the fix is repair, not removal.
My sensors are fine but the door still won't close. What else could it be?
Travel-limit or force settings drifted on the opener, an actual obstruction in the track, a binding door that the opener interprets as resistance, or a failing logic board. See our opener repair page — the diagnosis overlaps.
Keep exploring
Related Services
Safety Tune-Up
Every tune-up tests the photo eyes and the pressure-reverse system.
Learn more →Smart Openers
Modern openers self-report sensor faults to your phone.
Learn more →