An electric gate can make life easier when it comes to traveling to and from your home. All you need to do is sit in your car and let the remote work its magic. However, like all electronics, an electronic gate opener is just as likely to deal with bugs and snafus.
You could be on your way out only to find that your gate won’t open. You may also be dealing with a gate that keeps opening and closing on its own. The good news is that there are ways to troubleshoot your electric gate opener. Keep reading to learn some electric gate opener troubleshooting tips.
Troubleshooting Your Electric Gate Opener
Before calling a technician, try troubleshooting your electric gate opener first to see if that helps. Here are some electric gate opener troubleshooting methods you can easily try yourself.
1. Check The Power Source
When troubleshooting your electric gate opener, a tip worth trying is to check the power source. There’s a good chance the power source might have somehow been disconnected, so ensure it’s plugged in. You could also see if the circuit breaker was switched off and turn it on again.
2. Change The Batteries Of Your Gate And Remote
Your remote is the next part of your electric gate opener system to troubleshoot. It might be time to change the batteries in your remote or gate. After changing them, test out your remote to see if that’s made a difference.
3. Unblock The Photo-Eye Sensors
Like your garage door, your gates also come with photo-eye sensors as a safety measure. See if anything obstructs the path of the photo-eye sensors, such as debris or living things like slugs. Remove these obstructions, then clean the photo-eye sensors before testing the functionality of your electric gates.
4. Clean The Gate Tracks
If the photo-eye sensors aren’t being obstructed, it might be the gate tracks. See if there’s any dirt or debris in your gate tracks, and thoroughly clean them. Sometimes, letting all that debris build up in the tracks makes it difficult for your electric gates to operate as needed. To avoid this problem in the future, make time to clean your gate tracks on a semi-regular basis.
5. Examine The Control Board
If your electric gate opener continues to have problems, examine your gate’s control board. Most control boards are located inside the gate operator, but you’ll want to consult your user manual to be certain. You should be able to find an error message on the control board informing you of the specific problem, which will help inform your next steps.
6. Test For Radio Frequency Interference
If your electric gates are opening and closing by themselves, it could be the result of radio frequency interference. You can determine if this is the problem by moving any devices you have that rely on radio frequencies at least fifteen feet away from your electric gate and its opener.
7. Adjust The Sensitivity Settings On The Loop Detector
The last of today’s electric gate opener troubleshooting tips deals with the loop detector. This part of your gate system is the wire that connects to your gate’s circuit board. When it comes into contact with a metal object, it signals to the gate whether it needs to open or close. If you’re dealing with an electric driveway gate that’s opening and closing on its own, you might need to adjust the sensitivity settings on your gate’s loop detector. Hopefully, that will return your electric gate to working order.
Our Houston Gate Technicians Are Here To Help With Your Electric Gate Opener!
We hope using these tips to troubleshoot your electric gate opener will allow you to continue your day as usual. However, there is a good chance that these troubleshooting tips won’t work. You might have a problem with the various switches that allow your gates to work, in which case you’ll need to call a technician for help. You can contact us at Gates Repair Houston, and our technicians will be happy to restore your electric gates to normal!