False openings/closings - very low reflection

Hi
I just installed my garadget last night and it was working great until this morning. The top row of my garage door is windows, but it isn’t super bright in there. However to keep the garadget level (and not at a steep reflector angle) I put the reflector on the window pane. It’s now reading a reflection of 10 and sending lots of false readings. I’ve lowered the threshold to 10 (back when the reflection reading was 15) but obviously now it’s sending the false readings again. What should I do to increase the reflection reading?
Thanks.

Depending on which panel has the windows, you can point the beam at a solid panel above or below it. If the top panel is solid - try putting the sticker at its top edge. You can also point laser diagonally to the side of the panel - the beam doesn’t have to be strictly perpendicular to the reflector. If it’s the top panel that has windows, try pointing as far low as practical.

Please report what helped.

Hi

I tried putting cardboard up over the window. That raised the reflection to 80. But it has slowly been declining and now is siting around 15 with the cardboard up. Can the angle be 30-45 degrees down? It would have to be to hit an area without a window and dim.
Thanks

30-45 degree angle should still work.
With reflection of 15 you should be able to get a decent reading after setting threshold to 5.
Just curious: what was the change in ambient lighting that accompanied reflection drop from 80 to 15?

I had something interesting happen. One of the garagets started going below 25% reflection, Even though it used to have 85%+ consistently. I compared it to the reflection of the other unit (I have two in same garage space (no windows pure darkness). The other unit is showing still 85% plus.

I did notice the laser strength to be much lower than the other unit. So I ended up changing the USB power supply to a spare old one and it made a massive difference. from 25% below reflection rate to now 60 - 85%!!

Maybe the USB power supply was on its way out?

Unlikely, but a possibility.
Try swapping out back to the stock power adapter to see if laser intensity goes back down again.

Yes if I put the old power supply I get very inconsistent behaviour. Looks like on its way out.

@Crusader,
Please send it back, I’ll ship you a replacement power adapter.

No need. I had a spare so all is OK I’ll just chuck it in the bin. :slight_smile: thanks for the offer.

Made a tube to reduce reflective light from the top row of windows on the door. A simple toilet paper tube wrapped in black paper to make it longer and less reflective inside the tube. Laser reading increased from 37 to 97 on cloudy day… Also placing the reflector on a full panel below the widows also helped a bit.

That’s impressive resourcefulness, Dan! :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

Can you provide the comparative reflection values with the laser pointed at the same door panel with and without the tube in the same worst case scenario conditions?

Thanks!

Hi, yes just updated to post it increased from a 37 to a 97. Got lucky the role fit exactly and had some black paper on hand : ) An amazing product. My wife nearly killed me last week when I left the door open all night!

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Thanks for your feedback, it is much appreciated!

BTW: With the threshold set at 15, the reflection reading of 37 should still provide a stable detection, but 97 is even better.

Thanks. Cloudy here today and wanted to be sure when the direct sun comes in the windows on a clear afternoon no issues. I’ll send an update on the readings when we get some sun.

Hi, tested for 3 days of direct sun and no lower than 97.