How to replace Genie garage door sensors [removal, installation, tools, cost]
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- Опубліковано 29 сер 2024
- Garage door sensors not working? Neither were mine. This video walks through step-by-step as I remove my old sensors and install the new ones on my Genie garage door opener system.
If you're not sure your sensors are the problem, a couple of common signs are:
1. The red LED is blinking 2, 3, or 4 times with a pause in between
2. The door will open fine, but won't close unless you force it by holding down the button on the wall console
If you're still not sure, here's a video that walks through end-to-end troubleshooting of a Genie garage door opener system.
• Garage door opener tro...
Below is a list of tools and materials that might be helpful. Be sure to shop around for the best prices - they change frequently!
Some of the links below are affiliate links and as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
New Genie sensors:
- amzn.to/3IvWl69 (Amazon Affiliate Link)
Tools:
Ratcheting Multi-Bit Screwdriver:
- amzn.to/3uaCXXj (Amazon Affiliate Link)
25' Measuring tape:
- amzn.to/3D0VFVl (Amazon Affiliate Link)
1/8" multi-material drill bit for pilot holes:
- thd.co/38QjwtI
Drill & impact driver combo:
- amzn.to/3IewsYx (drill only) (Amazon Affiliate Link)
- amzn.to/3qcfm7x (drill + impact driver combo) (Amazon Affiliate Link)
For Concrete Mounting:
Tapcon 1/4 x 1 1/4" concrete screws:
- amzn.to/3CY3fzZ (Amazon Affiliate Link)
- thd.co/3lx2jJx
Tapcon 3/16" drill bit for concrete screw pilot holes:
- thd.co/3pr2oRk
Concrete sealer:
- thd.co/32KgvaG
*This is only to plug the old holes in the concrete. If you're going to re-drill them to reuse, don't use this and use a quick setting cement or crack repair product instead.
Disclaimer:
I am not a professional. Videos produced by First-Timers Homes are provided for informational purposes only. All material provided within this video and website is for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Some projects, techniques, and material use may not be appropriate for all ages or skill levels. The DIY instructions used here are used to demonstrate and simplify projects to their basic steps. Please be safety and risk conscious, and use all safety precautions while following the tutorials provided by this channel and site. First-Timers Homes does not make any claims of the safety of the projects, techniques, or resources listed on this site and will not take responsibility of what you do with the information provided by this site. Viewers must be aware that by doing projects on their homes they are doing it at their own risk and First-Timers Homes cannot be held liable if they cause any damage to their homes. With different codes around the world and constantly changing standards, regulations and rules, it is the sole responsibility of the viewer to educate themselves on their local requirements before undertaking any sort of project. First-Timers Homes cannot claim liability with all applicable laws, rules, codes and regulations for a project. Please be sure to ALWAYS stay informed with your local building code. Have fun and stay safe!
I am a 67-year-old woman and I was able to successfully change my sensors thanks to your video. Thank you so much!!!!
Hi Kathryn, I'm glad the video was helpful. It's always great to hear that - thanks for leaving a comment!
As a first time homeowner, your channel is a hidden gem. Subscribed
I'm glad it helped, thanks for supporting the channel Toni!
Excellent short video showing clearly what needs to be done. Thanks for showing how easy this repair was to do myself!
Hi Nelson, I'm glad it was helpful. Thanks for watching!
Many thanks, I've just replaced my sensors and this video was super helpful. Thanks for taking the time to create and share.
That's awesome! I'm glad to hear that the video was helpful. Thanks for watching
Thank you for the video, helped me trouble shoot a wiring problem and saved me a lot of time.
Thank you for such a great video. Content, editing, duration, and sound quality, are all great!!!!!!!!!!
Appreciate the feedback - thanks for leaving a comment!
I have same problem. Thanks for sharing. Your video is very helpful. Really appreciate.
I'm glad it helped - thanks for watching!
Thanks for sharing, I'm sure the repair guy would've told me it was a wiring issue..,.thanks again
Thanks for watching Robert!
If you see the LED working, it is not a wiring issue...
Thanks for making it so easy, it really was!
Great video. It was super helpful to replace my garage sensors. Thank you so much
Hi Ramesh, I'm glad the video was helpful. Thanks for letting me know!
awesome video. my problem is that my existing wires aren't as simple as yours. one side has a blue wire, a red wire, a red/white wire and a blue/white wire and the other side HAS TWO wires with each of those. i have searched almost every wiring video i can find and can't figure out what can go together and what can just be left hanging.
Hi Jeffrey, if you can find the make & model number of your machine, the owner's manual can usually be found with a quick Google search. Sometimes they will contain a wiring diagram. I've found these diagrams to be pretty helpful. It might help you figure out the wiring situation. It might also be helpful to give your manufacturer's support line a call. Any chance your opener has been replaced before? Sometimes the old wires are left in, which only adds to the confusion. Hope this helps, good luck!
This video helped me figure all this out. Thank you!
Hi Paul, I'm glad it helped. Thanks for watching!
It’s excellent video, clear and neat
Thanks for watching!
8 Wires & 4 Wires. I have 8 wires, 4 wires on each side.
Directions
twist solid color wires together
Twist stripe color wires together
That makes 2 twisted wires on each side.
Connected 2twisted wires to top screw and two twisted wires to bottom screw.
Test
When wired right Geen LED is on (not blinking) and Red LED is on (not blinking) when sensors are alighted.
Sensors are not aligned Red LED blinks
Wires 8 or 4 wiring.
As you say, what needs to be done is to twist the like color/striped-coded wires together. In my case there were two sets of wires on the source side and one set of wires on the sensor side. The sensor side is easy, as there is only one set of wires (two wires with the insulation bonded together), one for each screw. On the source side you will need to take the coded wire from each set and twist them together, then twist the other two wires together and attach them to the screws (it doesn't matter which screw).
I have a chamberlain / lifemaster system and I still subscribed ! Dude, shows tools and prices for noobs. Details alternate positions for sensors and wiring details. Only did not explain which color wires get attached to sensor terminals ?
Hi Paul, I mentioned that my system is non-polar. If that is the case for you as well, it doesn't matter which wire is connected to each terminal. On some systems it will matter, though. The easiest way to tell is probably going to be to lookup the owner's manual for your make and model. It should have a section on sensors/wiring. Thanks for supporting the channel!
Love the editing. Very helpful and entertaining.
Thanks for watching!
My sensors seemed to be working with the green and red light on. Somewhere I read that dirty lenses can cause the opener to not function (I had flashing red circular lights on my Genie). I cleaned the lenses thoroughly and the opener worked again.
Hi Mary, nice catch on the dirty lenses - I'm happy to hear it was a simple fix!
Great video.
I have changed the sensors and the lights seems right to me.. one is red and the other is green. but when I press the wall console (wireless); all i hear is clicking sound.. I have legacy 650 and WIRELESS WALL CONSOLE, OVERHEAD DOOR - 39903R. the light bulb is working (power) is there.. I press the opener remote, I hear the click sounds.. nothing else. my opener is only 2 months old.
dude great job you say it all thank you learned something new😁😁😁👍👍👍👍😎
Awesome, thanks for watching!
Non polar bit helped me as the wires I had didn't have any color on them (on the sensor end). But after seeing the video I gave it a go and it worked a charm. As non polar means it doesn't matter which one is + and -?
Glad it helped Michael! Thanks for watching
Yes, non-polar means that. The circuits in the sensor and source make sure that even dumb Americans can install it without problems.
What if my system does not currently have a sensors? How would I go about wiring? Thanks for the video!
Hi Phillip, thanks for watching! There are tons of different models and situations, so I'd suggest contacting the support team for the manufacturer of your model to get the best specific advice for your unit and situation. Most will have an email or phone number that you can use to contact them - usually listed somewhere on their website. Hope this helps!
Thank you so much!
Thanks for watching and leaving a comment!
Hi there! Just found this video after the repair guy fixed the torsion spring that snapped but my sensors stopped working. The guy was nice and re-wired the sensors but now the lights don't work and my garage door can't make up it's mind if it wants to close or not He said the spring snapping was the reason but I'm not so sure but I have to rely on the expert. Is this possible?
Based on your video I'm wondering if I should just buy new sensors and install myself. Thanks for the video!
Hi Alyse, wow, sorry to hear about all the trouble. There are a lot of things that can cause the opener to behave oddly. I've made another video that walks through troubleshooting some of these things that might be helpful.
ua-cam.com/video/fxvV_OFjNmk/v-deo.html
Few things that might be also be helpful to check:
- The door should be balanced. If it takes too much force to open/close - like could happen with a new strong spring or spring out of adjustment - then some brands/models have limit switches that will cause the door to stop/reverse.
- Some brands have polar wires and some have non-polar, which means for some the mapping between specific screws on the sensor and corresponding specific slots on opener matters (the wire needs to follow this relationship mapping) and for some it doesn't matter. It's a bit of a pain, but if you can find the make and model of your opener, you'll be able to Google the owner's manual which will contain all of these details and troubleshooting steps.
- Various makes and models all have different error behavior - the owners manual is a really good reference for this as well. Some will blink specific sequences for specific failure modes, some won't blink at all, etc. If there are no lights on the sensors, it could also be that they're not receiving power. Most models provide power to the sensors via the wires that connect to them from the opener itself. These may not be plugged in all the way, could be broken somewhere along the length of the wire, or possibly could be connected incorrectly.
Hope this helps, good luck!
'...And put them in the right position to reduce sun interference as much as possible." What is the definition of "right position?" Under what conditions would the sun interfere? Which sensor is effected by sunlight? Both?
Hi, I followed Genie's instructions when I installed mine. So far, I haven't had any issues.
For the sensors I installed, the instructions mentioned the below for positioning:
- The sensor (green LED) should be mounted on the side of the garage that receives the least direct sunlight (diagram at 02:31)
- Sensor and source should have clear line of sight between them and be no more than 30 feet apart
- The top of the mounting bracket should be no less than 5in above the floor, and no more than 6in (can also mount on the floor as a last resort)
Google mentions that a lot of the garage door sensor systems use infrared. So, my assumption would be that issues might happen when sunlight has a direct line of sight to the sensor's photo eye, and when the sun is strong enough to overpower the source's signal. I would guess that this could cause the sensor to think the source beam has been broken, which would cause the system to stop the door.
But since I'm not a pro, it might be worth a call to the helpline for whichever brand/model you own if you have more questions. Hope this helps!
Genie mach force has red lights on the both areas of the machine any idle on what i should look for to fix.
Hi Marybel, I'm not sure I fully understand the issue and I'd hate to give bad information. I made video about troubleshooting garage door opener issues. Watching that might be a good place to start. It may be also be worth a call to Genie's support line to get information directly from them.
These resources may also be helpful.
1. Genie Owner's manuals support.geniecompany.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1308/~/owners-manuals
2. My troubleshooting video: ua-cam.com/video/fxvV_OFjNmk/v-deo.html
Did you attach the receiver in the same way as the sensor to the garage opener unit? Or do the sensor and the receiver connect to each other directly?
I did - Both the transmitter and receiver should have their own independent wires that run back to terminals on the opener unit itself. The terminals on the opener connect to a board inside of it where the connection between the transmitter and receiver is finally made. Hope this helps!
@@FirstTimersHomes thank you so much! Your video and post have been very helpful!!
Can you use sensors from chainberlain for replacement?
I don't know if you can mix sensor and opener brands. You might run into issues with differing circuit designs - some are non-polar, some are polar. Probably best to use original replacement parts designed for the opener/system that's installed.
One of my sensors is red and 1 is green. I thought both were green? I have a Genie .
Various makes and models will differ. My model uses the Genie 'Safe-T-Beam' system and has both a red (transmitter/source) and a green (receiver). Checkout the video at 0:52. Thanks for watching!
How do you make sensor adjustment after the installation?
Hi, in my case reusing the old mounting locations helped with this. I visually checked alignment, then tightened the screws so they were snug but not fully tight. Then made any adjustments needed, and fully tightened once I was happy with the alignment. Since then I've bumped them a few times, etc., and to realign them I just gently flex the bracket until they're back in alignment by holding it near the mounting points with one hand to make sure I don't pull it off of the wall, and gently applying pressure to the other end of the bracket near the plastic sensor housing until it's aligned.
How did you know whoch genie sensors to use? Model or serial number? I think my opener is from the 80s 😂
How much those sensors and where can i buy??
Home Depot around $30