Liftmaster Garage Door Safety Sensors

Liftmaster garage door operators have two different styles of photo-electric safety sensors. So which one do you buy when yours stop working? That's going to depend on how old your operator is. You'll either have the older 41A4373A Liftmaster bolt style that bolts through the mounting bracket or the newer 41A5034 Liftmaster "Snappy Sensors" that snap into the mounting bracket.

41A4373A Sensors (old style)

The 41A4373A Safety Sensors are compatible with Liftmaster operators manufactured from 1993 to 1997. You can tell this is the sensor you need by the bolt that goes through the center of sensor and bolts to the bracket. They're compatible with opener models 1240, 1245, 1246, 1250, 1255, 1256, 1260 and ATS. Compatible with Liftmaster, Sears, Craftsman, Chamberlain and Raynor openers manufactured since 2000.

41A5034 Sensors (new style)

The newer 41A5034 Snappy Sensors are compatible with Liftmaster operators manufactured from 1997 to current. You can recognize the Snappy Sensors because they snap into the mounting brackets. These sensors work with operator models 1265, 2265, 2280, 2500, 2580 and other current models. Compatible with Liftmaster, Sears, Craftsman and Chamberlain.

As much of a pain the safety sensors are (especially when they're not working) you need to have them. They offer protection from the garage door operator closing on your car, yourself or a loved one. You'll know they're not working if your remote won't close the door and you have to use constant pressure on the wall button to get the door to close. This doesn't mean they're broke it just means they aren't working properly. Before you buy a new set of sensors check and make sure there's nothing blocking the sensors, there's no loose wires and the sensors are "looking" at each other & aren't knocked out of alignment. If you've done that and they still don't work then you'll probably have to get new sensors.

UPDATE: Due to the 41A4373A Sensors (old style) being discontinued we've updated this post

41A5266-3 Sensor Brackets

If you determine that you have the 41A4373A Sensors (old style) then you can go with the option of using the 41A5034 Sensors (new style) but you'll also need to use the 41A5266-3 Safety Sensor Mounting Brackets since the sensors mount differently from the old 41A4373A Sensors.

You can purchase the newer 41A5034 Sensors here and the 41A5266-3 Sensor Brackets here at the Garage Door Zone.

Raynor PEC-R3 Safety Sensors Available

Raynor Mfg. discontinued the production of the PEC-R3 Safety Sensors back in December 2008 but just last week announced that they have gotten an outside company to manufacture an after-market sensor for Raynor.

This is good news for all the Raynor R160 garage door operator owners. Up until now if the safety sensors (also known as photo-eyes) were to fail the operator became useless. Unfortunately a number of R160 opener owners have probably replaced their operators over the past couple of months because the sensors failed and there weren't any replacements.

The new #4050727 PEC-R3 Safety Sensors come with new mounting brackets and installation instructions. The connections on the ends of the sensors can plug into the existing wires so no new wiring is required.

These new PEC-R3 Sensors work with all of the model R160/R260 operators and some of the R170/R270 operators. It's best to double check your existing sensors to determine which sensors you need. If there are two wires coming out of one sensor and three wires coming out of the other sensor then you need the PEC-R3 Replacement Sensors. If you have two wires coming out of both sensors then you need the PEC-R4 Sensors. Unfortunately the PEC-R4 Sensors have been discontinued by Raynor Mfg. (as of 05/01/14) and are no longer available. There are no alternate replacement sensors available either.

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.