How to disable safety sensor on garage door opener?

Question

I have a Chamberlain Liftmaster w/ the pain-in-the-butt sensors on the door track. I have a feeling that one of them has "gone bad." The one with the yellow LED is remaining illuminated, however, the green one - the sending unit - is caput. If I jostle the sensor the light will flicker and fade out. I have removed it and all the internals appear OK, nothing damaged nor any wires are seperated from their connections and I am certain it is aligned correctly - there's no way to make it illuminate even by aligning it by hand. It was not bumped, but rather just stopped working after I was away on business for 5 days and it was unused.

My desire is to bypass this system. I don't have any animals nor are there small children around that I need to consider. Plus, my garage door is aluminum and extremely light. A two year old could lift this thing so the sensors really are a nuisance. How can I bypass the circuit? Can I simply connect the two wires together and hard wire the circuit closed? There HAS to be a way. Some contractor out there knows how to do this.

Also, if your only intent is to warn me of the danger with statements like "why do you think its called a safety sensor" save yourself the time. I'm only looking for confirmation this can or cannot be done and not the indignant opinion of someone who doesn't know how these systems operate.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

most garage door openers will not let you by pass the sensors since its a safety issue and they could be held liable. you should try to call the manufacture and see about ordering new sensors. first i would try cleaning the eyes to see it that would help, its possible that they have some dirt buildup

Answer 2

Disconnect the two sensors and re-mount them on the ceiling about a foot apart.  This is what I did since I have no animals or small children.  You will have to get them to operate before this will work.

Answer 3

I also had a Chamberlain GDO, model #41A5389-1 with a broken IR sensor.

Adam and the guy who said to just point the sensors (might have to replace them) at each other are both right.

The circuit is not a simple NO/NC (normally open/normally closed) as was the case in most older GDO's.  Therefore a person is unable to easily bypass the copyrighted "Protection System" by opening or closing any circuit.

In fact, there is a specific trouble code that is given when the wires to the IR are shorted or open.

Internally on the PC board, this "Protection System" is part of the processor that also controls the motor.  The safety features must be present for the motor to operate, else you are returned with an LED error code:

# flashes - Problem

1-The Protector System wire open or totally misaligned

2-The Protector System wire shorted or black/white wire reversal

3-Door Control or Multi-Function control Panel wire shorted

4-IR sensor slightly misaligned (dim or flashing sensor LED)

5-Motor overheated/Possible RPM sensor failure -- unplug to reset

6-Motor circuit failure -- replace RX/LX board

Rapid-Chamberlain transmitter with the correct format code being received

(opener not necessarily programmed to respond)

I would guess that you may thank the manufacturers association attorneys and the litigious good citizens of our country for this "protection" from ourselves.

Answer 4

You can just run 1 wire 2 conductor from the opener to a button on the wall and bypass the sensor. I am not sure about the sensor, but you may be able to twist a pair together and that would close the "sitch" if you will. The sensor acts like a switch that when blocked would be "open" not allowing the door to go down.

Hope this helps