4 Important Factors of Garage Door Safety

When operating optimally, garage doors safely facilitate the movement of homeowners in and out of their homes. However, when a garage door hasn’t been regularly maintained or is utilized incorrectly, it can cause harm and injury to those in the house. Some of these injuries can even be serious enough to lead to death. For this reason, garage door safety should be the utmost priority for any responsible homeowner. Here are four important factors to keep in mind when ensuring the safety of your garage door. 

The Reverse Function 

Your garage door’s reverse function can be useful in many cases. When things are working correctly, a closing garage door will reverse itself when it senses something blocking its path. When a homeowner excessively tries to maintain this function, a garage door’s reverse function can very easily become too sensitive or not sensitive enough, which could lead to serious injury. If reversing sensitivity is set too low, a garage door will attempt to close itself, even when there is an object blocking its path. Anything or anyone below the garage door can be accidentally crushed in this scenario. While homeowners can adjust their garage door’s sensitivity themselves, we recommend having experts handle the issue just to be safe.

The Manual Release Mechanism

Learning how to operate the manual release lever is important for those looking to ensure greater safety. The manual release lever lets you operate your garage door yourself without the need for any other equipment. This is important to know in situations where your door opener could malfunction or when a power outage disrupts the normal operation of your garage door. You need to be prepared for any situation and know how to operate your garage door manually. 

Garage Door Balance

Proper balance is vital to the safe operation of a garage door. Properly balanced garage doors can maintain their positioning on the rails and are easily lifted and lowered when manually handled. There are many instances when a garage door isn’t evenly balanced, resulting in dangerous situations where those in the home can get hurt. Garage doors that aren’t properly balanced can drop without warning and can also raise upward at high speed when opened. Either scenario can injure those unprepared for the sudden movement of your garage door. To check if there is an improper balance, have a garage door expert test out the balance of your garage door and make the necessary adjustments.

The Photoelectric Sensor

The photoelectric eye sensor can detect the presence of an invisible beam. If the beam is broken because of the presence of a person or object, the garage door won’t close. However, if something is wrong with the photoelectric eye, the garage door may close, even if there is something in its path. This will cause physical injury or property damage, depending on who or what was in the way of the garage door. There are numerous potential causes for a failing photoelectric eye sensor, like dirty lenses or damaged wiring. To find out what exactly is wrong with your sensor, contact a garage door specialist for help. 

Promote greater garage door safety in your house by ensuring its optimal functionality. Get in touch with garage door technicians who can assess your garage door to see if everything is running as it should. Our experienced team at All Right Garage Doors has extensive experience and can help with any garage door need that arises at your property. We have earned the trust of countless Orange County and Mission Viejo residents by providing friendly customer service and excellent garage door replacement and garage door maintenance services that are the best in the industry. To learn more about what All Right Garage Doors can do for you, call us at (714) 726-2225 or fill out our online form.