Lower Keys
Photo-Eye Repair in Key West
Key West photo eyes serve cottages on narrow lanes and raised houses open to the weather. Sun and salt collect as a film on lenses a few inches off the floor. Until those eyes see each other, a remote may not be allowed to close the door. Holding the wall control is constant pressure, and that hold can complete one downward run.
What you can see from the slab
Open the door, look at the indicator, then break the beam with your foot and watch the lamp. Salt film on a cottage jamb and salt film under a raised house both dull the lens. A damp cloth takes that film off, and a dry paper towel scratches the lens. A crab trap, a bike, or a pot in the line is enough to stop the remote. On a raised house the eyes often live in open air, so say that with the lamp result.
Aim, then the wire
Aim, a power check, and a trace of the wire all come before new eyes go on the jamb. Salt at a splice near the slab copies a failed sensor where the cable runs in the weather. A cottage can hide a staple in a short drop that never leaves the room. Code loss in a remote stays separate until the beam is known to be sound. The label on the head selects the sensor, and power is confirmed before any housing comes off.
Hard sun and a narrow lane
Hard afternoon sun can wash a lens on a cottage front or on a raised opening that faces the lane. Say whether the failure is limited to that bright hour or the remote is quiet all day. A short reverse can be the eyes, the down limit, or salt binding a roller in the track. North Roosevelt or White Street may be the way in, and the lane name still has to be written down. Add a one-way stretch if the lane is narrow, because that changes where a van can stand.
Three results worth keeping
The wall button, the remote, and the keypad are each tried, and the three results stay apart. A working keypad with a quiet remote points at the remote once salt film is out of the beam. Failure of all three unless the wall control is held points at the eyes rather than the transmitters. A photo of both eyes shows the salt film and the aim, and the lane width belongs with it.
Tape where people walk the lane
Tape over the pair defeats the entrapment check and leaves a lane opening unguarded where people walk. One held run can close the door for the night, and the sensors still have to work after that. If the door is stuck open, call (645) 256-1794 and say the lane opening is up. A door already down that only ignores the remote can wait on the form for a callback.
Request this visit.
Call (645) 256-1794 about this door.
We answer any hour Sunday through Friday.
Saturday stays closed.
Keys Door Co is family-owned, local, and insured.
We have worked this coast for over ten years.
Common questions
Why does the wall control close the door when the remote stays quiet?
Holding the wall control is constant pressure and can complete one run while the remote waits on the eyes. Salt film or afternoon sun on a cottage or a raised opening keeps the remote from finishing.
Can I leave tape on the eyes until someone comes to this lane?
Tape over the pair defeats the entrapment check and leaves the opening unguarded where people walk. One held run can secure the door for tonight, and that tape should be off the lenses afterward.
Why does a raised door turn back before it reaches the floor on its own?
An early turn on a raised opening can be the sensors, the down limit, or a bind in the track. Salt film can blind the lens and imitate a limit fault when you are still out at the street.
Request service
Name the street and whether the door is up, down, or stuck.
- Repairs and replacement parts
- Openers and controls
- New garage doors