6 Common Issues with Electric Gates and How to Fix Them

Here are six common issues you might face with owning an electric gate and tips on how to fix them and make them reliable.

1. Power Failures.  Electric gates rely on power either from mains power or a battery setup and these power sources need to be reliable for your gate to be ready for you to use at any time .I do get calls from customers saying that the gate wont work, everything is dead. So the first thing to do is see if the mains power is turned on, maybe someone turned off the switch or the power point has stopped working. For solar systems, it could be that the batteries are flat so not enough power to operate. Most control boards have a small LED to tell you that there is power. so check for that ..

2. Remote Control Malfunctions.  Yesterday I had a customer say that yes the LED is on but nothing happens. Check by pressing the remote and see if the remote light comes on, maybe the remote battery is dead. But in this case, I asked him to relearn the remote to the control board, which he did and everything started working. Why the remotes lost the connection with the control board, I have no idea, but it fixed the problem. 

3. Mechanical Failures.  Check that all the gate hinges are good, the motor brackets tight, Maybe the gate post has moved so the gate is dragging on the ground, so the control board will stall. Check that the gate motor is engaged if it has a manual unlock system on the motor. This does happen where the gearbox is broken inside the motor because the gate has been forced by pushing hard.

4. Sensor Problems.  Many electric gates are equipped with safety sensors to prevent accidents. A common problem I see is when the sensors get condensation inside the sensor case so the sensor does not send the beam to the other side correctly so the gate will not operate at all. If I get a call saying a gate will not work, I say check that there is power and then ask about does it have a sensor installed. If it is yes, that is usually the problem. Often the sensor gets damaged or knocked out of alignment

5. Obstruction Issues All control boards have a stall force setting so that the gate, motor, or your car does not get damaged when the gate open and closes. It is usually set as low as possible, so if there is any issue with the gate moving correctly, because of small stones, trees, anything at all that could hinder the smooth operation of the gate opening or closing, then the stall force will kick in and turn the system off.

Addressing these common problems you can do yourself. You can check if the power is on, you can check that the remote is working, you can check that there are no physical reason for the gate not to move freely.  But if you get stuck you can call me ...regards Graeme 08 95711936