- Look at the beam path. A cone, a puddle, a piece of debris or a marshal standing in the wrong place will block it. This is the most common cause and the quickest to rule out.
- Check the emitter has power. The battery packs run 55 to 60 hours, which means the one that dies is the one nobody charged. Swap in a charged pack rather than testing the flat one.
- Check alignment. The emitter has a spotlight beam pattern to make this easier. Re-aim it at the sensor and watch for the beam to register.
- Check the height. If the stands have been knocked, the beam may be passing over or under the car.
If the system has an activity log, read it. A cable or wiring fault shows up as bad data on the line rather than as silence, which distinguishes a broken connection from a blocked beam.