Backward Garage Door Opener



Question:
Just bought a house and the garage door opener is installed backward. (apparently to make it fit). The box for the opener is in the front by the opening of the garage when it should be in the middle of the garage. So, when the garage door opener is in the open position the door is actually closed and when the opener is in the closed position the garage door is actually open. (does that make sense?) The big problem with this is the sensor beam running across the opening of the door. When the beam is tripped the door goes down instead of up. Sounds like an accident waiting to happen.... Any thoughts on fixing this? There is a support beam running across the middle of the garage ceiling and I assume the bracket that would attached the the garage door would not fit becasue of the proximity of the support beam.

Answer:
Is the support beam in the way because it happens to be right where the motor (box) should be? Does the track run below the level of the support beam? If so, you might be able to find an extension kit for the garage door opener to extend the track. Maybe you can make it long enough that the garage door motor will sit behind the beam. I know I can get an extension kit for my genie opener. I don't remember if it was the screw drive or chain drive (or both) which can be extended (I have one of each). I was originally going to say to try to reverse the motor wires so the motor spins in the opposite direction. However, (assuming you could make that work), I doubt that the pressure-activated safety systems (if door closes down on someone, the door opens back up again) would work in reverse. I don't think my doors would ever decide to close on their own for any reason. I think thay simply stop if they have a problem going UP. They reverse on an obstruction going DOWN however. For now, I would figure out how to rewire it so the safety sensor beam is disabled. People survived for years with garage doors with no safety beam in place. Certainly that is much safer than a garage door which will make an effort to close down on you on purpose if you happen to walk under it while it is opening.





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