Garage door cracks roof

[RayK]

...And that's why I would never trust the automatic activation of a garage door opener, even one with a reverse/stop safety system. Is it really that hard to press a button whenever you want to open or close the garage door?

Truth be told, we do have a garage door opener. Even have one of the old-style handheld remote control for it. Never mind that we still can't park any of our vehicles inside the garage going on 20 years now, but we don't keep the remote inside any car, nor have we activated or programmed the HomeLink system in them. There's been too many reports of vehicle break-ins outside in the driveway or street, followed by digging for the remote in the glovebox or on the sunvisor, to gain (easy) access into the garage where there's more valuable stuff stored there. It's bad enough looking at people's security videos on Nextdoor.com and seeing how criminals bash in a car window and reach inside to open the door. I'm not going to take the chance with them also getting into my garage. There has been a minor crime wave around this area in the past few weeks with somewhere around 30 vehicles being broken into.

 

[crackers8199]

You can always install a 2nd set of sensors that are higher so they get interrupted by the bumper or sides of the car (by default they are usually too low an only the tires would set them off). It's easy, just buy a 2nd set and piggyback them off of the current set. Or just move your current ones up higher if you don't have kids or pets.

that's an interesting idea i hadn't thought of, nice...i would definitely NOT move the current sensors up. could cause an issue if/when you try to sell your house and forget to move them back down (the buyer may have kids and/or pets and expect them to work as designed).

 

[crackers8199]

i'm confused by so many people in this thread talking about the auto-open and auto-close causing this issue...how is that happening? you're supposed to set the location at the end of your driveway, not right inside the garage...

 

[TLLMRRJ]

You can always install a 2nd set of sensors that are higher so they get interrupted by the bumper or sides of the car (by default they are usually too low an only the tires would set them off). It's easy, just buy a 2nd set and piggyback them off of the current set. Or just move your current ones up higher if you don't have kids or pets.

Yeah, no. For most garage doors, you can’t just add more sensors. They don’t send simple open/closed circuit signals.

I thought it was nuts to pay $300 for the convenience of auto pushing a button once in a while just to risk having your garage door come down at an inappropriate time and do damage...and this thread proves it was much smarter for me to spend $7 at Amazon for a regular remote that I double sided taped to the bottom of the back of the screen. Completely hidden and so easy to press.

 

[boriszima]

i'm confused by so many people in this thread talking about the auto-open and auto-close causing this issue...how is that happening? you're supposed to set the location at the end of your driveway, not right inside the garage...

This happens to me couple of times. When i leave garage, door closes. When i arrive doors open. Sometimes i pull out my car to wash it and such in front of garage. When i do that, Tesla sends command to close and i then press it again to open it. then when i get into my car while garage door is still open, Tesla thinks it arrived and sends signal to active doors. Since my garage doors were open, they start to close. In my case thankfully i was not close to the garage.

 

[arnolddeleon]

You can always install a 2nd set of sensors that are higher so they get interrupted by the bumper or sides of the car (by default they are usually too low an only the tires would set them off). It's easy, just buy a 2nd set and piggyback them off of the current set. Or just move your current ones up higher if you don't have kids or pets.

Have you done this? When I looked at this it didn't look straight forward. I thought modern sensors send an encoded stream and you couldn't just parallel them. I may have to look at this again.

 

[ebmcs03]

Very clever. The car entering or exiting wouldn't activate the sensor except when the wheels passed which leaves time enough for a cluster.

Thank you

Then its too high and won’t detect a kid or animal crawling. Crushing a toddler is more expensive than $1200 roof. Just disable auto close auto open.

 

[toolman335]

...And that's why I would never trust the automatic activation of a garage door opener, even one with a reverse/stop safety system. Is it really that hard to press a button whenever you want to open or close the garage door?

Truth be told, we do have a garage door opener. Even have one of the old-style handheld remote control for it. Never mind that we still can't park any of our vehicles inside the garage going on 20 years now, but we don't keep the remote inside any car, nor have we activated or programmed the HomeLink system in them. There's been too many reports of vehicle break-ins outside in the driveway or street, followed by digging for the remote in the glovebox or on the sunvisor, to gain (easy) access into the garage where there's more valuable stuff stored there. It's bad enough looking at people's security videos on Nextdoor.com and seeing how criminals bash in a car window and reach inside to open the door. I'm not going to take the chance with them also getting into my garage. There has been a minor crime wave around this area in the past few weeks with somewhere around 30 vehicles being broken into.

Exactly. I've seen so many stories of this system malfunctioning. I have less than zero interest in my car thinking that it knows when I want my garage door to open and shut. What a completely unnecessary feature. I know it's tough to tap a button while pulling into the driveway or before leaving the garage, but if we all concentrate really hard we can do it!

 

[AdamVIP]

I have auto open on as it fires before I turn in the driveway and the door is generally open by the time I get there. I never use auto close though because I read too many horror stories here. The good news is that even with auto close off it still readies the button for you when you pull out of the garage so I just hit it when I know I'm clear and it closes fine.

 

[android04]

Yeah, no. For most garage doors, you can’t just add more sensors. They don’t send simple open/closed circuit signals.

I thought it was nuts to pay $300 for the convenience of auto pushing a button once in a while just to risk having your garage door come down at an inappropriate time and do damage...and this thread proves it was much smarter for me to spend $7 at Amazon for a regular remote that I double sided taped to the bottom of the back of the screen. Completely hidden and so easy to press.

Have you done this? When I looked at this it didn't look straight forward. I thought modern sensors send an encoded stream and you couldn't just parallel them. I may have to look at this again.

I just moved my photosensors up when I first got my car. I measured the lowest point that would be interrupted throughout the car and bumpers and moved them there (22 inches from the floor).

As far as putting in additional sensors, that may or not be doable depending on your garage door unit (different brands and years might operate in a different way). Usually there is a transmitter and receiver unit. They both receive power through the two wires that go to them (In my Chamberlain unit the two are wired into the same two terminals, so their positions are interchangeable). The transmitter just receives power and it has an oscillator that sends a simple IR pulse (not an encoded message). The receiver has electronics that read the IR pulse and shorts it's two wires if the pulse is interrupted. The garage door opener detects the short on the two wires that go to the sensors and stops the motor. The issue might be if your opener cannot provide enough power for two sets of transmitters and receivers.

 

[Runt8]

that's an interesting idea i hadn't thought of, nice...i would definitely NOT move the current sensors up. could cause an issue if/when you try to sell your house and forget to move them back down (the buyer may have kids and/or pets and expect them to work as designed).

They're not just for your own kids/pets. You never know when the neighbors kids or pets will wander over.

 

[ShoreTrooper]

You never know when the neighbors kids or pets will wander over.

Who cares about those little b@stards?

 

[smatthew]

For safety reasons, photo sensors must be installed a maximum of 6 inches above the standing surface.

 

[smatthew]

You could always upgrade your garage door with a light curtain.

Miller Edge MLC-K72 Monitored Light Curtain

 

[ebmcs03]

You could always upgrade your garage door with a light curtain.

Miller Edge MLC-K72 Monitored Light Curtain

LoL that’s more than homelink itself. Forget it.

 

[animorph]

I tried adding an additional sensor pair to my garage door. It pulled the voltage too low for any of the sensors to work. I assume there is a resistor inside the opener enclosure that allows the momentary short circuits. Connecting multiple devices drops the voltage too low for proper operation. If you wanted to externally power the second sensor that should work.

 

[mrbulk]

I set my auto open trigger point further away (30-50 feet), auto close is set nearer so I can visually see door go down before driving away. Is the Homelink for a Model 3 different from a Model S?

 

[Runt8]

I set my auto open trigger point further away (30-50 feet), auto close is set nearer so I can visually see door go down before driving away. Is the Homelink for a Model 3 different from a Model S?

I've had zero issues with it on my Model 3 (auto open and close). It opens or closes when I'm halfway in the driveway and halfway in the street.