What sensor? Our automatic garage door opener operates via radio wave (I think). We definitely do not have a sensor outside.

Well, I have two doors in direct afternoon sun and haven't had that happen, but googling makes it sound like its not in the least little bit unusual that you have.

There are online instructions on how to make shields for them, with suggestions running all the way from toilet paper rolls (sans the paper :)), to hose pieces to styrene plastic from the hobby shop.
http://www.wikihow.com/Shut-a-Garage-Door-when-the-Sun-Is-Shining-on-the-Electronic-Eyes

amazon sells some ready made -

Here is a link that might be useful: Garage opener sun shields Amazon

I was going to suggest a shade as well to block the sun's rays. Interestingly, the same thing used to happen if the sun was shining on the tv sensor and it prevented the remote control from working. I would just block the sun's rays with my hand but that's kind of tough to do with the garage sensor. :)

We have it happen sometimes in the summer in the evening when the sun is on that side of the house.
It is an intermittent problem. Doesn't happen often. I can't remember the last time it did happen. When it does this, I can just pull the door release to manually open/close the door; close the door, then hit the button on the opener.
Or I can just position myself so that I cast a shadow on the sensor and close the door as usual. Or usually I can just wait a few minutes for the sun to change its angle and the problem goes away.
Like I said, doesn't happen very often.

Pooh Bear

Oh phoggie we had this problem last year and it drove me nuts!!! We tried everything, making a little shield to shade the sun, etc. Nothing worked. We called the repair people, the same people who installed our garage door and they said the sensors give out over time, even though ours were only 2 years old. They installed new sensors but we still had the problem, although not as frequently. We called them again, then they came back and adjusted something in the control box on the ceiling. I'm not sure what it is called, but it's how sensitive the door is to pressure. For example, if the door hits something, a person or a vehicle, it will stop going down and go up again. They adjusted the setting on that so it wasn't as sensitive and then the sensors worked fine, the sun didn't bother them anymore. I bet we never needed new sensors, just to have that setting changed in the beginning!

Wow, that's weird. I can imagine the confusion it would cause and it's dangerous, too, if the door won't stay closed.

We have a door coming out of our garage, just a regular door with a locking handle and a deadbolt and it can't seem to stay shut, it's the oddest thing. Woody will leave to go fishing, I hear him slam the door and an hour later, I'll go down the stairs into the garage and find that door open a few inches, brrrrr in the winter. He's having to throw the deadbolt to keep it closed. The lock isn't that old, either, and when you test it, it holds firmly. So odd! He thought I was nuts when I would remind him to close that door when he leaves, until the time he came home and found it open himself. And it's not anyone messing with it, we don't have neighbors and no one has a key but us.

We have the problem. Thanks for the link.!

We haven't had that problem, but years ago planes landing/taking off from O'Hare would emit signals that had our garage door doing the tango. We weren't alone in this, although we were one of the complainers farthest away from the airport. It was fixed.

BTW, I've never programmed our car's internal system with our garage door frequency, and I remove the sensor clip and take it with me when leaving the car for maintenance or at a parking garage.

Lindsey CA- are you sure you don't have a sensor? As far as I know the sensor is a safety feature so that the garage door doesn't go shut on a person (or animal). In the case above, the sun is putting a shadow over this sensor and the sensor thinks there is something in the way (such as a person) so it won't go shut. Our sensor is towards the bottom of the door on the frame. If your door doesn't have a sensor, what prevents it from shutting on a person?

Today is cloudy....and it works great! I also read that someone suggested switching the receiver sensor and the emitter sensor around....might suggest this to my builder.

Casey, I will also ask if there is something in the control box he can adjust. But this is getting old really fast!

Thanks for letting me know I am not alone in this problem...any more suggestions are welcome.

Is this a new-ish opener? If so, then contact the company and ask them to come out to fix it.

This house was built less than 2 years ago.

It happens to me every year for about 5 weeks in the summer. I get out of my car with the remote and stand so my shadow falls on the sensor until the garage door is completely closed. It is a pain, but at least it's only for a few weeks.

When I got a new garage door I had them switch the sensors and it didn't help.... I think because the sunlight breaks the beam

Kitty....glad to know changing sensors might not be a fix all... I will try standing to make a shadow again....the last time I tried this, it did not work either.

Make sure the sensors are aligned correctly. I accidentally knocked one out of
alignment; the door would go up but it wouldn't close.

Pooh Bear

Hi phoggie,

I'm a bit confused over this ... you say that the door won't shut if the sunlight hits the sensor in a certain way. So ... it's open, right?

But then, if you want the car out, you have to get it out before sunrise ... or wait till after noon ... which tells me that the door won't open to let you move your car out during that period.

Which leads me to the conclusion that the sunlight forces the door to stay shut for that period.

I try to keep a fairly open mind ... but I'm having a hard time getting closure over this one.

ole joyful

Joyful.....right...the sun shining on the sensor will not let the door stay closed.

The reason I said I had to back the car out before sun came up was the fact that when I get the car out, I want to be able to put the door down, and the door to stay down, because I will be gone all day and do not want the door to be up while I am gone.

Thankfully, it does stay down at night.