Raynor PEC-R3 Safety Sensors

***UPDATE 11-19-09**** REPLACEMENT PEC-R3 SENSORS WILL SOON BE AVAILABLE****

I just wrote the entry below yesterday explaining how Raynor Mfg. discontinued the PEC-R3 Sensors and that there weren't any (and there were no plans to have any) replacement sensors. I just received an email from Raynor Mfg. that they found a company to produce a replacement sensor (which they never told us they were pursuing). The replacement sensors should be available in the next week or so. I will post a new entry when they are available.
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This has been covered before but I still get numerous emails every week from people looking for Raynor electric operator PEC-R3 Safety Sensors. As of December 2008, Raynor no longer manufactures or supplies the PEC-R3 Safety Sensors. They are obsolete. That being said, the following questions are usually asked:

1. What can I use as a replacement? There are no substitutes or replacement sensors for the PEC-R3 Sensors. It's unfortunate but I have not seen or heard of anything that will work in place of the Raynor sensors.

2. Is there a way to bypass the sensors? No. The openers are manufactured to work under the UL325 regulation. Basically the operator has to have safety sensors to function properly for the unit to close the garage door. If the sensors are not functioning then the opener will open the door but will not close it.

3. Will the Raynor PEC-R4 Sensors work in lieu of the PEC-R3 Sensors? No. They are manufactured differently. The PEC-R3 Sensors were used on model R160 and some R170 operators. The PEC-R4 Sensors are used on most model R170 openers and all Flitestar operators.

4. How can I tell if I have PEC-R3 Sensors or PEC-R4 Sensors? There are two ways to determine which sensors you need. The part number should be printed on the top of sensors (either PEC-R3 or PEC-R4). If you don't see the part number check & see how many wires are coming out of the Receiver Sensor...if there's 3 wires (red, black & white) then you have PEC-R3 Sensors. If there's only 2 wires then you have PEC-R4 Sensors.

5. What do I do now? Unfortunately there isn't much you can do. As a last resort you can call around to different Raynor Dealers and see if any of them still have the sensors on stock. The downside to this is that you will be putting money into an operator that has obsolete parts. The upside is that as long as the sensors don't fail the opener will probably last another few years.

It's too bad that the PEC-R3 Sensors were discontinued because the Raynor R160 is a good workhorse of an opener. But like everything built these days products are discontinued for more sleek, fancier products but not necessarily better. Today's T.V.'s, computers, power tools, etc. are hardly worth fixing when they break. When the repair costs are 1/2 the price of a new ______ (fill in the blank) then you might as well just buy a new one. It's unfortunate but that's the world we live in.

If you'd like to send Raynor Mfg. an email & ask them to reconsider their decision to stop manufacturing replacement PEC-R3 Sensors you can send it to: thegarage@raynor.com. Perhaps if they get enough emails they'll bring the PEC-R3 Sensors back. You never know. Stranger things have happened.