Why didn't garage door reverse direction?

[RockyRR]

I pulled my van into my garage. Opened the rear hatch and took out my groceries. I went into the house through the interior door and on the way hit the garage door button to close garage door. Before I could react, the garage door came down on my open tail gate and ruined my garage door and scratching my van lift gate.

My question is this: Isn't the garage door supposed to reverse direction when it hits something?

Thanks,
Rocky

[pushkins]

Yes they are BUT depending on the year of the model and when it was installed it may not have the built in sensor, or it is poorly set, that is common as well but usually they will bounce back up even when not set correctly.

[TJR]

They advice to do the safety reverse test on a 2x4 laid flat on the floor. IF everything correct the door will stop and reverse. The opener need the door to come down on a fairly solid surface to reverse. The rear hatch will give before the opener sense the path is blocked, in many opener this is done with a rpm sensor inside the motor. With or without safety this work the same way, you are already all the way in and past the safety sensor that's suppose to be no more then 6 inch from the floor.
Why didn't it reverse?
1. the rear hatch gave and when reversed it made more damage.
2. incorrect adjusted opener, they(all door and opener manufacturer) recommend to do the safety reverse test on a 2x4 laid flat on the floor once a month and/or when a major repair has been done, BUT I do see more damage to doors, even when adjusted correctly, when closed down on to SUVs and vans.
3. already damage door where the sections can "flex"= more give before the opener sense something wrong.
The new MyQ openers from LiftMaster self adjust the force setting and adjust to the weather and take a very light touch.

[DIYGarageDoorParts]

I pulled my van into my garage. Opened the rear hatch and took out my groceries. I went into the house through the interior door and on the way hit the garage door button to close garage door. Before I could react, the garage door came down on my open tail gate and ruined my garage door and scratching my van lift gate.

My question is this: Isn't the garage door supposed to reverse direction when it hits something?

Thanks,
Rocky

Most AC Powered operators have manual force settings, this is a problem even though it reverses on a 2x4, it really doesn't tell us just how much force it took to reverse the door. Also the 2x4 test is very crude because the force to close or open a garage door varies at every point of the open and close cycle. The new DC powered opener like the new Liftmaster, Marantec, Hormann Silent Drive, and my two favorite operators are Sommer Synoris Direct Drive, and the Linear LDCO800. (the Linear has metal gears and Sommer is a direct drive, where all Chamberlain Liftmaster (even the dc models where the gear housing is riveted shut, and Genies all have plastic gears).The DC operators basically create a torque curve that is stored in its memory as it learning during the programming mode. They are sensing at every point and with stop or reverse if it senses if anything is wrong or different. So for example if you hatch on you car was up it would stop on that and not damage it. Also if would react if you changed the springs or changed the rollers on your garage door. For Safety these openers can't be beat.