Garage door sensor lights are crucial elements designed to ensure that no obstruction is on the way. Those owning a garage are perhaps familiar with the door sensor colors, green and red/yellow.
Have you ever wondered what these colors mean? If they have any connection to specific objectives and safety? What if both the sensor lights are the same color? What kind of problem may occur if they are not working?
If you have such questions in mind, stay with us for more information.
Should both lights be green on garage door sensors?
Both the lights on a garage door sensor should not be green. Typically, one light is green, and the other is yellow or red. The green light is the receiver, while the yellow or red implies no hindrance between the two sensors. If the lights don’t function, it means the garage opener will not work.
Sensor lights on the garage door should be working for you to avoid issues or accidents. The lights are typically LED standard with green, yellow, or red colors.
The yellow or red are the sending light, whereas the green light is the receiving one. The yellow or red light also indicates any blockage on the doorways. Without these lights working accurately, you may get in trouble when trying to park your car inside the garage.
When none of the lights are functioning, you have to understand that the garage door opener is not going to work. How can you fix such an issue? Well, you have to check the alignment.
When the alignment and the wiring are correct, both the sending and receiving lights will glow steadily. However, the green light will beam regardless of obstruction. So the yellow/ red light should work correctly to make us aware of any hindrance on the way.
There are once again, garage doors without different colored sensor lights. So how do you check for blockage in that kind of setting? You need to inspect the sensor to see if any objects are blocking them.
What color should the lights be on garage door sensors?
Garage door sensor lights usually consist of universal colors. Hence, it is easy for people to understand what they should expect. These lights are crucial for detecting any object or obstruction on your garage door path.
They also do not allow the garage door to be closed if any hindrance is on the way.
The colors we observe in the garage door sensor are green and yellow/red. Sometimes you get to see the same color on both the sensors. It is again mostly seen on the older safety sensor.
Each of the colors has a different meaning. The sending sensor features the yellow/red light, and the receiving sensor will have the green light. With yellow/red, you get to find out if there is any object on the garage door.
If none of the lights work, it indicates the door opener of your garage will not work.
Why are my garage door sensors different colors? What does it mean when one garage door sensor is green and one is red/yellow?
Garage door sensor lights usually come in two different colors. We observe one sensor to be green and the other one to be yellow/ red. These sensor lights ensure that there is nothing in the doorway.
There are reasons for them to be different in colors. They also bear contrasting meanings. Here we have jotted down a few crucial insights on why they are different in color and what they mean?
Different function:
LED lights on the sensors have two primary functions. One of these safety sensors is the transmitter. The other one is the receiver.
When the garage door closes and if the beam between these two is not working or broken for an object, the door will not close but go into reverse and fully open.
Greenlight function:
The green light represents the transmitter sensor. It is also known as the receiving light. It shows that the units are powered up.
When the green light or the receiving sensor is off or dim or flickering, you need to understand that there is an alignment problem. Fix the issue for it to work accurately. Also, the older safety sensor system uses green lights on both sensors.
Red/yellow light function:
The sending sensor lights are usually red/yellow. It is to be aware of any object or hindrance on the garage path. It also indicates the safety reverse sensors are not in alignment. The garage door will remain open until you fix the issue.
What does the yellow, red, orange, and green light mean on garage door sensors?
The lights on the garage sensors are an infrared beam of light. The sensors use a photo eye system that lights invisible infrared rays from the sides of the garage door.
There are mainly two colors, green and red/yellow. However, one will observe orange as well. So if you are wondering what each light represents, here’s our understanding.
Yellow light:
Yellow/red lights generally make us aware of any hindrance on the way. It can also indicate that the safety reverse sensors are aligned incorrectly. If you do not fix this issue, your garage door won’t close properly.
Red light:
A red light in the garage sensor will start blinking when the sensor is out of alignment. You can fix the issue by realigning. You can move the lights until you see the red light stays lit.
Orange light:
The orange light on a garage sensor means a loose wiring connection. It will send flashes or stay off. You need to check the alignment of the sensor.
Greenlight:
Greenlight is the transmitter or receiving light. If your garage door sensor is showing a green light on one and red light on the other, it means that the path has no obstruction.
How do you know if your garage door sensors are bad?
Some signs show that your garage sensors are not working correctly. We have listed the reasons here for you to understand clearly.
Garage door won’t close:
The first sign, it will show that the garage door won’t close when the door is malfunctioning. It also means the sensors are not working or not in alignment.
The green and red lights will go out or start blinking. You can use a few pieces of cardboard on the way to test the issue.
Dust accumulation:
If you live on a busy street, dust and dirt will begin to store on your sensors daily. The lights are tiny and get blocked by dirt over time. They will stop sending the necessary signals.
To eliminate the issue, carefully wipe and clean the sensor lenses. Again, excessive humidity, rainfall, or lawn sprinklers can cause a similar problem. In that case, wipe off the moisture and then unscrew the metal holders to see if they are wet inside.
Wire damage of sensor:
The wire used on the sensors is damaged when you see orange light instead of the usual red light. Hence, carefully inspect all the wire connections. If they are tangled, unweave them. Also, check for broken or twisted wires.
Sensor power supply:
If you observe both the lights on the sensors are off, that indicates the reason is there is no power supply. You can fix this problem by reconnecting the sensors with the power supply.
How do I reset my garage door sensors?
Sometimes the sensors are misaligned or obstructed. If the receiving sensor LED is off or flickering, the sensors are not aligned or due to hindrance. One can address the problem by resetting or realigning the garage door sensor. Here’s step by step on how to do it.
Locate the receiving sensor:
The receiving sensor has green-colored light. First, locate it and see if it is off or blinking. If either happens, you need to understand that the sensors are out of alignment. Also, because of obstructions.
Locate the sending sensor:
It is usually the yellow light. If there is an object or if the sensors are not aligned accurately, this light will blink. Also, you cannot close the garage door if this happens.
Aligning the sensor:
First, detect which sensor is having an issue. Once you find out, fix the problem by realigning it.
There will be a wing nut on the sensor body. Loosen it. Now move the sensor around until you find out the LED light is glowing steadily.
Now tighten the wingnut back. It is how you can work on the other sensors as well.
Final Thoughts
The lights on the sensors are different from each other and indicate different purposes. The sensor lights help operate the garage door correctly. If there is an issue, the sensor lights will not work, either flicker or stop working. If not fixed properly, you may fail to close the garage door.