Garage Door Opening after Power Failure

[G W]

Exactly. The beam is to be no more than 6 inches above the floor.

 

Best regards,

Gary Funk

[MarkJames]

There's a point on every one of my vehicles that can overhang the door beam without tripping it.  The part that caused my particular problem was the license plate bracket - which got destroyed by the door in the incident (along with the door top which the garage door company want $900 to replace)

 

Seeing what the door could do to itself and to a couple of 1/4" steel bolts gave me a new respect for just how dangerous a garage door can actually be.  It could easily kill/main someone.  We don't have small children around us (rural area) so I don't stress over it much - but Teken's advice about checking reversing pressure and beam setting is definitely sound.

 

mark

[MarkJames]

As an aside for the OP regarding connecting to Elk...

 

I hooked mine up yesterday and it's working great.  I connected it to one of the Elk outputs and trigger it programmatically.  

 

It was a real 'rtfm' moment for me, though.  I have boxes of electronics around so I grabbed a solid state relay (3-32VDC in) and hooked it to the Elk only to have it not work.  So I switched to an automotive 12V relay which also didn't work. Then I went to an HVAC relay which also didn't work.  Of course I had to crimp on connectors then cut them off to tin ends and then re crimp new connectors in between each of these steps so I wasted the better part of an hour and a half on this before finally pulling out the Elk manual.

 

Turns out the Elk outputs are meant to drive a relay that draws no more than 50ma.  So basically a small reed relay.  duh.

 

I have a drawer full of those (didn't use them at first because they're all small and require soldering).  Put one of those in place and shazam!  works like a champ.

 

The moral - read the f**king manual.

[larryllix]

<snipped>

 

The second thing I'll comment on is what Teken mentioned re: door closing pressure.  I recently had my door replaced and the installers did not adjust the closing pressure.  I drove in but didn't back in far enough.  I hit the down button and walked away only to hear the door get caught on my bumper and apply so much pressure that it collapsed the top panel of the garage door!  I was stunned how strong it was.  It's definitely worth checking this out (probably worth checking everything he mentioned)

 

mark

A body man told me they have at least one vehicle with a damaged rear hatchback per week from garage doors coming down on the door after getting the groceries out.

 

I use the LED laser markers for my garage. When the red dot just enters the windshield onto to dash I have 1 inch clearance behind my vehicle for the garage door to shut.

 

Since my last unit I purchased was a dual unit and I already had one for my second bay, I used the two beams for "just in far enough" and "far enough to get the groceries out of the back, but still get past the front". You pick which LED  occurrence you want when you drive into the garage.

 

The beams are only defined to protect small children and toys from being crushed, not vehicles. I have raised mine to protect the side opening back door though. Not recommended in the mfg. instructions though. A crosshatch grid of beams would be good and somebody mentioned one here, quite some time back.

[Teken]

I just went with the old school method and hung up a tennis ball on a glow in the dark string. Car approaches and hits the windshield in the center of the rear view mirror - you know the vehicle is in the proper location.

 

Then again I don't have to worry about depth as I made my garage to be longer (24.XX feet deep).

[MarkJames]

My car has one of those distance measuring do-jobbies on the back.  I generally back up till it says I have 18" behind the car.  That time I'd forgotten that my golf clubs were on the floor so it measured 18" off the golf clubs - which put the car too far forward.

 

That'll learn me to rely on tech.  

 

 

The beams are only defined to protect small children and toys from being crushed, not vehicles. I have raised mine to protect the side opening back door though. Not recommended in the mfg. instructions though. A crosshatch grid of beams would be good and somebody mentioned one here, quite some time back.

 

 

 

that'd be very cool - a la mission impossible.  Likely prohibitively expensive.

 

 and hung up a tennis ball on a glow in the dark string. 

 

 

Why does the string need to glow in the dark?  You got a disco running in there?

 

mark

[Teken]

 

Why does the string need to glow in the dark?  You got a disco running in there?

 

mark

 

Hello Mark,

 

There wasn't a real reason for using the glow in the dark paracord. It just so happen to be the first bunch I grabbed from my rope box.

 

I have about 35 different types of ropes in various material for climbing, repelling, pulling, securing, etc. The glow in the dark tracer paracord intended use case is to help locate zipper pulls, gear, and for location marking like on a tree / rock.

 

The one's I have on hand will remain illuminated for more than 12 hours which offers plenty of time for the sun to rise for the next day.

 

I wanted a low tech / low cost method which did not require batteries, chem sticks, etc which could be reused over and over again for emergency / survival purposes.

 

For more high visibility use case I rely on low yield radiated cells . . .  

[larryllix]

I just went with the old school method and hung up a tennis ball on a glow in the dark string. Car approaches and hits the windshield in the center of the rear view mirror - you know the vehicle is in the proper location.

 

Then again I don't have to worry about depth as I made my garage to be longer (24.XX feet deep).

I had one of those for  awhile and my kids would bat it around the garage when the garage door was up.

 

I had to take it out after l my tires were low, one time, and I my wife couldn't get past the front of the car. As far as I know she might still be there.

Actually I moved and the darn thing couldn't track us. Then the LED missile guidance system took over.

[stusviews]

Low tech wheel chocks. If your an aggressive parker, then they need to be checked occasionally

[Teken]

Used the speed bump (chalk) method for awhile on my own for a long time. For the braille drivers who insist upon drive by feel it didn't work too well because they thought the *Crack* was the final indicator.

 

Sadly after going through a few nice sets I gave up . . .

 

I have a old school hazard light detector with the customary green, yellow, red position lights. Which was in service for a long time at my parents home but during the move some decided they wanted it more than I.

 

Bastaards . . .

[stusviews]

I installed one of those in my wife's garage, but the lights confused her. So do traffic lights

[Teken]

I installed one of those in my wife's garage, but the lights confused her. So do traffic lights

 

Why?

 

Because she thought like in the movie Star Man that yellow means go faster?!?

 

LOL . . .

 

My girl friend bless her heart is very aural and thus needs / wants to hear things make a noise. After showing her the two squished sets of neon yellow chalks.

 

Her only reply was how come they don't make more noise when run over?!! With a reply like that I gave up and decided to go with the tennis ball because she gets the visual Que and a nice thud.

 

What do I get out of all of this - no more having to squirm from the side trying to open the doors properly.

[stusviews]

I installed one of those in my wife's garage, but the lights confused her. So do traffic lights

 

Why?

 

Because she thought like in the movie Star Man that yellow means go faster?!?

 

We live in a major city with thousands of intersections, many of which are not perpendicular. Depending on the approach, it's possible to see the traffic light facing the cross-traffic.

[larryllix]

We live in a major city with thousands of intersections, many of which are not perpendicular. Depending on the approach, it's possible to see the traffic light facing the cross-traffic.

Oh geeesh!

I hope the R on the shift lever isn't thought to stand for 'Race'.

 

My wife went to jog the car up in the garage once and depressed the gas peddle trying to unhook her shoe from under the brake peddle. Luckily she stopped just before the freezer door in our 29 foot deep garage.

 

If I would have known that it would have been built 32 feet deep.

 

'Gas peddle' should be have been referred to as 'acceleration request reostat'

[stusviews]

My wife went to jog the car up in the garage once and depressed the gas peddle trying to unhook her shoe from under the brake peddle. Luckily she stopped just before the freezer door in our 29 foot deep garage.

 

Just place the freezer 29 feet deep in the ground. It's cooler there, too, so you'll save on electricity.

[MarkJames]

Then the LED missile guidance system took over

 

 

I got one of those about 10 years ago and for the most part like it a lot.

 

The only issue I've had is positioning it so that it does what it's supposed to....

 

I haven't tried mounting it on a side wall - just on the ceiling like they show in the promotional stuff.  It seems most useful when the LED hits the dashboard or someplace easily seen even when well lit.  Thing is that the garage door is fully up when the car backs in so it blocks all the obvious spots on the ceiling where it would mount - the door is in the way!  And if you go too far back on the ceiling to mount it then the laser pointer just hits the roof of the car instead.

 

mark

[larryllix]

I got one of those about 10 years ago and for the most part like it a lot.

 

The only issue I've had is positioning it so that it does what it's supposed to....

 

I haven't tried mounting it on a side wall - just on the ceiling like they show in the promotional stuff.  It seems most useful when the LED hits the dashboard or someplace easily seen even when well lit.  Thing is that the garage door is fully up when the car backs in so it blocks all the obvious spots on the ceiling where it would mount - the door is in the way!  And if you go too far back on the ceiling to mount it then the laser pointer just hits the roof of the car instead.

 

mark

We decided years ago, after a few scrapes, GD frame repairs and body jobs to never back into our garage again.

 

When we built our new house the Chief Inspector said over my plans, "No, you aren't using the standard 8' wide doors, you aren't getting any younger". Best advise I ever got going 9' wide.

 

Yeah you have to drive in forward. Mount it on the door but the cord would be a problem. These days with LEDs and MS built in batteries should last years.

[mwester]

 My master plan to resolve this whole issue is well underway.  I've claimed half the garage as a workshop -- leaving one of the two cars parked on the driveway.  By early winter, I intend to have the other half claimed for the workshop... and that will resolve any issues relating to the garage door.

[stusviews]

I always wonder why people leave tens of thousands of dollars worth of vehicles in the street in order to store a few hundred dollars of goods junk, but a workshop is a very valid reason

[lilyoyo1]

I use the sensor to light up my kpl when the door is open and programs to actually control the door. So far it's worked really well. I use the seco-larm normally open/close so I don't need to use the reverse trigger.