Introducing PE Beams – a must-have security feature for your garage door.
Backed into your garage door? (Of course you didn’t; it closed on you.)
We’ve been performing garage door repairs throughout the Perth metropolitan area for years – and each week, without fail – we get at least four garage door impact calls. The tow ball appears to be the chief offender, followed by the roof rack, then the plain old whoopsie-daisy-what-was-I-thinking misjudgement of space.
Garage door impact damage falls into two categories:
- Door impact accidents: doors that close on top of cars or possessions, causing damage to either the door or the object
- Car impact accidents: where the car backs into the door, creating damage to the garaged door
Anyone with a garage door will know that to close the door, you must first press a button. Consequently, human error accounts for 95% of all garage door impacts here in Perth.
Sometimes these damaging impacts seem like they are just not preventable – if you lean on your remote, the dog sits on the remote or the kids decide to press random buttons, you probably think there’s not much you can do to avoid it. But the good news is that in many occasions, you can.
Enter: PE beams.
PE Beams (Photo sensors)
PE Beams can be a lifesaver for your treasure possessions – and your garage door. There’s no more worrying that your beloved collectible Holden will succumb to a nasty dent, and you can relax knowing that young children or pets won’t be seriously imaged by automatic door closure.
PE beams work on a simple concept: Two small reflectors are installed on either side of your garage door, usually higher than ground level (this could be tailored to suit individual needs).
Once installed, if the beam is obstructed, the operator will not respond when you press the button. So, for example, if your car is not quite in the correct position for the door to close, no problem – the beams will sense this and the operator will prohibit any movement until the obstruction is moved.
Also known as photosensors, wireless safety sensor or photoelectric beam sensors, PE beams come in a wide range of compatibility options, and can be added to any door or motor. Installation is simple and straight forward – and usually quite cost-effective.
DIY options to avoid door damage
There are DIY methods to avoid any door impact, although none are quite as effective as a product designed for that specific purpose that will physically stop the door from moving. But here are a couple of solutions some of our resourceful customers have come up with.
The LED guide
This involves positioning a small LED laser on the garage door ceiling. When the laser hits the dashboard is a particular place, you know you’ve positioned your car correctly.
Chalk
Some customers have marked the internal walls of their garage with chalk, so once they line up with the chalk, they can guage the proximity of the vehicle position. (Not suitable if you have just spent a fortune on your garage wall interior or are concerned about using chalk on your garage walls, but for many, this won’t be much of a problem.)
While the above DIY options help ensure your vehicle is tucked in, they won’t do anything to help prevent damage caused by your garage door closing down on objects such as bins, boxes or ladders. This is why garage or roller door PE Beams are an excellent safety feature that can provide complete peace of mind that your garage door, car, belongings, pets and family will be kept safe and secure – and free from damaging accidents.
