Why the safety features matter
Steel-Line describes a sectional garage door as usually the largest moving piece of equipment in a home, with a weight that can approach or exceed 200kg. It moves on its own, often while someone is walking to the car, so the opener's safety features are worth understanding and testing.
Garage door auto reverse: what it does
Auto-reverse stops a closing door and sends it back up when it touches something. B&D says all its openers have it built in, and Steel-Line says every opener it installs has an Auto Reverse System as standard.
It works on contact, so the door has already touched whatever was in the way. That is why Steel-Line's manual calls the reversing feature only a precautionary system and strongly recommends adding its photo eye beam as well.
Garage door safety beams and sensors
A safety beam is an infrared beam across the doorway, close to the floor. B&D says its beams detect objects or people in the door's path and stop the door from closing, so the door reacts before anything is struck.
Height matters. B&D's Smart Pro manual sets the beam 100mm above the ground, as per AS/NZS 60335-2-95:2020, low enough to catch a small child or a pet.
Some features depend on beams. Steel-Line says its auto-close timer only works with photo eye beams fitted, and Merlin says running a door from its myQ app needs Safety IR Beams installed.
The monthly safety check
Watch one full cycle
Open and close the door with the remote and watch it the whole way. It should run evenly, without jerking, scraping or stopping short.
Test the reversing
With the door open, Steel-Line's manual has you lay a piece of wood 70 to 100 mm thick flat on the floor near the middle of the doorway, then close the door. It must reverse when it strikes the wood. B&D's manual uses a 40 mm high object for the same check after an opener is installed.
Test the beams
Set an empty cardboard box in the doorway in line with the beams, step well back and press close. B&D says the door stops when the beam is blocked, so it should not come down onto the box.
Stop if it fails
If the door doesn't reverse, Steel-Line's manual says to have the opener repaired. Stop using it until then, and tell us the job.
Children and garage doors
Steel-Line's manual tells households to keep remotes out of children's reach, never to stand, walk or drive under a moving door, and not to let children play 'beat the door', which it says is very dangerous and can result in serious injury or death.
B&D adds two habits: teach children about the risks of playing near the door, and make sure the door is fully open before you drive in or out.
Put the wall button up high. Steel-Line's manual says at least 1.6 metres from the floor, away from moving parts and where you can see the door close, and B&D's Smart Pro manual puts any fixed wall control at least 1.5 m high.
The safety system is not for springs
AS/NZS 60335.2.95 does not cover hazards from the door's own mechanism, and the springs and cables carry the door's weight under constant tension. Steel-Line's manual says repairs and adjustments, especially to the cables and spring assembly, should only be done by someone trained in door work. Never loosen anything on the spring assembly yourself.
The standard behind openers
Garage door openers are covered by AS/NZS 60335.2.95, the standard for electric drives for residential garage doors that open and close vertically, battery and DC drives included. It also applies to entrapment protection devices such as beams.
Standards New Zealand lists the 2024 edition, published on 29 November 2024, as current, and notes that the 2012 and 2020 editions may still be in use, so an older opener was likely made to an earlier version. B&D's New Zealand care page says to run the opener's safety tests monthly and warns that skipping maintenance may void the opener's warranty.
If you tell us the job, mention
- The opener's brand and roughly how old it is
- Whether the door failed the reversing test or the beam test
- Whether beams are fitted, and whether you use phone control
- Whether children use the garage as their way in and out
What you can do, and what to leave
You can
- Run the reversing and beam tests every month
- Keep remotes out of reach and the wall button high
- Keep the doorway and the beam lenses clear of clutter and dust
Leave to a door specialist
- Fitting or realigning safety beams
- Setting the opener's force and travel limits
- Springs, cables and anything under tension
What we would do
If you open the door from your phone and there is no beam across the doorway, ask for beams to be fitted. B&D and Merlin both link phone control to beams, because an app lets the door move when nobody is standing there to see what is underneath it.