Quick answer: If your garage door won’t close in winter, check the safety sensors first. Low winter sun can shine straight into the receiving eye for a short window each morning or afternoon, and a dirty lens or bumped bracket can break the beam too. Shade or clean the eyes and check that both lights glow steady. If the door still reverses, or feels heavy, stop and call us.
Key takeaways
- A door that opens but will not close points first to the safety sensors.
- Failing at the same hour on sunny days, but not on cloudy ones, points to low sun.
- Never bypass, wire around or raise the sensors. They must sit no higher than six inches above the floor.
- Stop and call if both sensor lights are off, the door fails the reversal test, or it feels heavy or hangs crooked.
Why does my garage door reverse right before it closes?
Because the opener thinks something is in the way. Since 1993, openers made for the U.S. have needed a second safety feature, usually a pair of photo eyes near the floor on each side of the door. One sends an infrared beam and the other receives it. Break the beam while the door is closing, and it goes back up.
In winter, that beam gets broken by things you cannot see from the driver’s seat: low sun, road grime, a bumped bracket or a damp lens. Find your symptom below.
| Symptom | Points to | Quick check | Fix yourself or call |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reverses at the same hour on sunny days | Sun in the receiving eye | Shade that eye with cardboard, then close | Fix yourself |
| One sensor light blinking or dark | Sensor out of line | Turn it gently until the light holds steady | Fix yourself |
| Trouble after rain or on damp mornings | Wet or dirty lens | Wipe both lenses dry | Fix yourself |
| Both sensor lights off | Wiring, sensor or opener fault | Check that the opener has power | Call us |
| Door touches the floor, then goes back up | Opener settings or a binding door | Run the reversal and balance tests | Call if either fails |
| Door heavy or crooked, or you heard a bang | Broken spring or cable | Stop using the door | Call us |
Can low winter sun really stop a garage door from closing?
Yes. Sunlight carries infrared light, just as the sensor beam does, and Genie explains that the sun can interfere with the beam so the eyes cannot signal each other. Chamberlain’s support article on sun interference traces the problem to sunlight shining into the receiving eye.
The giveaway is timing. One installer’s guide says a problem that appears only in a 30 to 90 minute window each morning or evening is most likely sun. Clouds can hide it, so a door may work all week in drizzle and fail on the first clear afternoon.
The manufacturers recommend two fixes:
- Swap the sensors. Chamberlain’s first fix is to switch the sensors’ sides so the receiving eye sits out of the sun. It means moving low-voltage wires, so follow your manual or call Larry Myers Garage Doors.
- Shade the receiving eye. LiftMaster sells a sun shield, and Genie suggests a small shade box. Keep it out of the beam’s path.
How do I check and clean the safety sensors?
Most sensor problems take a few minutes and a soft cloth. Ask everyone to leave the door alone while you work, then:
- Read the lights. On LiftMaster sensors the sending eye glows amber and the receiving eye green; other brands vary. A steady receiving light means the eyes see each other. Blinking or dark means they do not.
- Clean both lenses with a soft, dry cloth to clear dust, cobwebs, road spray and moisture.
- Check the aim. Bikes, bins and bumpers knock brackets out of line. Turn the sensor gently until the receiving light holds steady, then tighten its bracket.
- Clear the path. Move wet leaves, boxes and hoses out of the beam.
- Test it. Block the beam as the door closes; it should go back up. Then lay a 2×4 flat in its path. The door must reverse on contact. Our reversal and balance test guide covers both.
If both lights are off, LiftMaster’s troubleshooting points to the wiring, the sensors or the opener’s logic board. That is a job for us.
Check the height too. DASMA’s six-inch rule says photo eyes must sit no higher than six inches above the floor, so a small child or pet crawling under the beam is still detected.
Garage door won’t close in winter but closes fine in summer: why?
Because the sun moves. In June it rides high and lights the driveway, not sensors a few inches off the floor. After the equinox in late September, it sits lower every day until late December. At the solstice, Portland’s midday sun reaches only about 21 degrees above the horizon, and by 4 p.m. it shines nearly flat into any garage that faces it.
Winter also dirties the lenses. NWS Portland notes that nearly 90 percent of our rain falls between mid-October and mid-May, and sensors that low catch every splash.
Cold, damp openers: force settings, travel limits and condensation
Our winters are damp more than frozen: NOAA normals put December lows near 36 degrees at PDX and 35 at Vancouver’s Pearson Airport. When humid air meets a cold slab, the floor can sweat, and so can a sensor lens just above it. Wipe it dry and try again, and see our guide to garage condensation and moisture.
Your opener also has two settings. The travel limit tells the motor where closed is. The force setting sets how hard it pushes before deciding something is in the way. If the door touches the floor and pops back up, or reverses partway with both sensor lights steady, a setting may be off or the door may be binding.
Please do not turn up the force to make a stubborn door close. That dulls the feature that keeps it from crushing whatever is underneath. If a setting seems off, have us check it, or follow your owner’s manual exactly and run the 2×4 test afterward. CPSC says a door that fails that test needs the opener disengaged until it is adjusted, repaired or replaced. Our garage door openers page covers repair and replacement.
Check the balance too. With the door closed, pull the release, lift the door halfway and let go. If it will not stay put, the springs need a technician.
East- and west-facing garages in Gresham, Rockwood and Felida
Which way your garage faces decides when the glare hits. In mid-December, west- and southwest-facing garages catch it in the hour before the 4:28 p.m. sunset, and east- and southeast-facing ones in the hour after the 7:44 a.m. sunrise. A south-facing garage can see low sun much of a clear day.
Picture a west-facing garage in Felida and an east-facing one in Rockwood: same sensors, same problem, opposite ends of the day. From Gresham to Vancouver, the fix is the same. Put the receiving eye on the side that stays shaded at the problem hour, add a sun shield if needed, and keep the lenses clean.
We serve Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties in Oregon and Clark County in Washington. Call our Portland line at 503-852-9238 or our Vancouver line at 360-777-6854.
When to call a professional
Call us when the simple checks do not fix it, or right away if:
- Both sensor lights are off, or the receiving light will not hold steady after cleaning and aiming.
- The door fails the 2×4 test. Stop using the opener until it is repaired.
- The door closes only when you hold the wall button down.
- The door feels heavy or hangs crooked, you heard a loud bang, a spring coil shows a gap, or a cable looks frayed or slack.
On many openers, holding the wall button brings the door down even with the sensors blocked. Use it only as a last resort to secure the house, watch the door the whole way, keep people and pets clear, and call us.
With a broken spring or cable, stop using the door, keep everyone away, and do not pull the emergency release with the door open. Springs store a lot of energy, and that repair is ours.
Our technicians repair and replace sensors, openers, springs and cables, with same-day service available. See our garage door repair page or contact our office.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my garage door only refuse to close in the late afternoon?
Most likely the sun is shining into the receiving sensor. In fall and winter the late sun sits low enough to reach sensors a few inches off the floor, especially in west- or southwest-facing garages. If the door works fine at other times and on cloudy days, shade the receiving eye or swap the sensors’ sides.
How do I know if my safety sensors are misaligned?
Look at the light on each sensor. When the eyes see each other, the receiving light stays steady. If it blinks or goes dark with nothing in the way, the eyes are out of line or dirty. Clean both lenses, then gently turn one sensor until the light holds steady. If both lights are off, call us.
Can the sensors be bypassed to close the door?
No. Never bypass, wire around or disconnect the sensors. Federal rules have required a second safety feature on openers since 1993 because garage doors have trapped and killed children. On many openers, holding the wall button down will close the door anyway. Treat that as a last resort, watch the door the whole way, and call us.
Can I move the sensors higher to get them out of the sun?
No. DASMA and federal safety guidance say photo eyes must sit no higher than six inches above the floor, so a small child or pet crawling under the door is still detected. Raising them might dodge the glare, but it leaves a gap where the door can close on someone. Shade the receiving eye or swap sides instead.
Garage door still won’t close?
Larry Myers Garage Doors has treated Portland and Vancouver customers like neighbors since 1973: transparent, affordable pricing, same-day service available, no extra charge on Saturdays, work backed by our warranty, and estimates that are always free.
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