Disable Photo Sensor On Sears Garage Door Opener



Question:
I grudgingly hooked up the photosensors on my new garage door, simply because you HAVE to. Has anyone found a way to bypass the sensors? I see future problems with alignment and sensor failures. Any failure results in the inability to close the door with the system. I didn't want to try something as basic as shorting the sensor (#3) to one of the switch connectors for fear of blowing out the logic. Looks like 18VDC on terminal #3 compared to terminal #1. I can only see a 1VAC +- change on the sensor terminals when the sensors are blocked/unblocked. I'm guessing an RF carrier, but don't really know, I just want to disable the sensors, now, or in the future when they fail.

Answer:
I've had three Sears garage door openers with the sensors now. The first one I put on my parents garage about 10 years ago. The next one I put on my own garage door about three years ago after my two year old son (at the time) was hit by our garage door as it came down! Fortunately, he was not hurt - but the results could have been horrendous. When we bought our new house last year I removed the antiquated Genie opener and put a new Sears opener, with the sensors, on. The sensors are on metal brackets that are remarkedly tough. The sensors also seem to have a considerable amount of allignment leeway. I have never had to re-aim any of my sensors. I did, once, have to clear a really bad cobweb off one once to get it to work. Personally, I like the sensors - they give me piece of mind about a potentially very dangerous piece of equipment. With three kids, two dogs and a cat I wouldn't consider removing or anyway disabling the sensors.





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