Help! LiftMaster Garage Door Opener Light Not Activated by Safety Sensors

Published on By Champion Garage Door Repair.

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Question:

Can you tell me how to have the 84505r LiftMaster turn on the lights when someone enters the garage and breaks the beams from the safety sensors?

– Michael S.

Answer:

Hello Michael, unfortunately, LiftMaster and Chamberlain garage door openers no longer offer that feature. Any door opener manufactured during 2020 or after will not activate the opener’s light when the garage door sensors are obscured.

What can you do? Although there’s no way to enable this feature, you can replace your current LiftMaster wall button with a wall console that has a motion detector. This motion detector, located on the wall button, will activate the opener’s light when it senses movement. LiftMaster control panels with this feature include 880LMW and 881LMW.

Wall Console with a Motion Detector
Wall Console with a Motion Detector

4 comments

  1. Well this is absolutely ridiculous! Liftmaster intentionally removed (light) safety feature and the only way to get this feature back is by purchasing a different wall controller that has a motion sensor. This is nothing more than a price grab or price increase by means of removing a feature that has been standard in the industry for decades. This now poses a safety hazard if you step outside of your garage (after opening) for more than a few minutes at night time. You are forced to walk into a dark garage. Who is responsible for making these awful decisions?

  2. I fully agree with Mr Walker on this. I purchased a new lift master opener on my new garage because the old one was so faithful but now I’m rethinking this company’s products.

  3. Bob and Kevin it’s not Liftmaster’s fault. They lost a patent infringement case and have no longer offer that feature since 2020.

  4. Rick, respectfully it sounds like it actually is Liftmasters fault. Instead of infringing on a patent the could have paid to be able to incorporate the feature in their products. Instead of making us pay more to continue to have a safety feature that has been around for at least the past 25 years, they could include the wall.mount motion detector for free with their openers. This really is outrageous!

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