The Six-Inch Rule

© 2002 Door & Access Systems
Publish Date: Summer 2002
Author: Tom Wadsworth
Page 46


Caption:
WRONG! This sensor has been mounted dangerously high at 25 inches off the ground. Six inches high is the maximum height.


Technical Tip
The Six-Inch Rule

Since January 1, 1993, federal law has required that garage door operators be manufactured with secondary entrapment protection devices. Photoelectric sensors are the most common means to provide this entrapment protection.

The effectiveness of photoelectric sensors depends on the proper installation of these devices. The technician who installs or services the door and operator system must ensure that the photoelectric sensors are installed according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Important: These sensors must not be installed higher than six inches above the garage floor.

If the sensor is installed higher than six inches off the floor, “You increase the possibility that someone lying beneath the photo-eye, or crawling under the photo-eye, will not be detected by the beam,” says Barbara Kelkhoff of Chamberlain, chairperson of the DASMA Door Operator Committee. In addition, she says, the garage door opener will not comply with the law.

If you have any questions about the mounting height of a photoelectric sensor, Kelkhoff urges you to call the operator manufacturer.