Keep Your Garage Door Safety Eyes Safe

In 1993 the government did us a big favor. That year, the government
began to require that garage door manufacturers include safety eyes
and reversing mechanisms on every garage door they make and install.
Since the industry is notoriously under regulated, this legislation
was a huge step forward in reducing the number of home accidents
associated with garage doors.Safety eyes are installed in pairs near
the bottom of the door track. You see them as small lights. On one
side, the light is yellow; on the opposite side, the light is green.
The yellow light is the transmitter which directs an infrared beam
across the expanse of the door. The green light acts as the receiver
indicating that the infrared beam has reached its target. When there
is no obstruction, both lights shine steadily, and the door opens and
closes safely. When the two lights can not make a connection,
something is interfering with the transmission and reception of the
infrared beam. If there is an object in the door's path, the reversing
mechanism will come into play, reversing the direction of the door
before it can crush the object in its path. If the eyes are not in
alignment, the garage door may not function.Your government, your door
manufacturer, and your installer have worked together to protect you
and your family. Now it is your job to assure that the protection
keeps working. These eyes are pretty durable. All you really need to
do is to make sure the lights are connecting as intended.Your first
assignment is to clean the track and the safety eyes regularly. You
won't need to get out the garden hose or the brillo pads, a light
dusting will do. Even in the tidiest garage, leaves blow in and
spiders spin webs. Something as tiny as a spider web can prevent the
light from connecting between the two safety eyes. Just keep the
foreign objects out of the way.Your garage is a busy place where it is
possible for the safety eyes to become misaligned. Some of them will
blink when this happens; others will turn red. In either case, you can
make the adjustment yourself. No repairman needed. Simply loosen the
wing nut you will find on the side edge, and move the eye up, down,
left, or right until both the green and yellow light emit a steady
glow.Tighten the wing nut again, and your safety eyes will continue to
protect you for weeks.