Why an automatic gate stops working
It helps to work through four places in turn: the power, the remote or keypad, the gate's path, and then the gate and motor themselves. The first three you can look at safely in a few minutes, and knowing which one it is makes the door specialist's first visit far more useful.
Anything inside the motor housing or the control box is for the door specialist. Anything in the mains supply is for a licensed electrician.
Safe checks first
- Power: if the motor plugs in, check the outlet is switched on, and think back to any recent blackout or storm.
- Remotes: if one remote fails and another or the keypad works, the fault is the remote, not the gate.
- The path: look for stones or leaves on a sliding gate's track, or a bin or car inside a swing gate's arc.
- The beams: if the gate has safety beams, make sure no pot plant, parked car or web is across them.
- Solar: on a solar motor, check the panel for shade, dust or droppings after a run of grey days.
When the gate stops, then turns back
That can be the safety system doing its job. CENTSYS says its D5-Evo detects obstructions for anti-crushing protection, and its V-Series swing motors use electronic collision sensing, so a gate that meets resistance is designed to stop rather than push on.
Resistance isn't always a person or a car. A worn wheel, a track packed with grit or a hinge that has dropped can make the gate hard work for the motor. If you already know how to release the gate from its motor, try moving it yourself and note whether it runs easily, catches in one spot or drags the whole way.
After a blackout, or on a solar gate
Many motors carry a battery for power cuts. CENTSYS fits its D5-Evo with two 7Ah batteries so it keeps working when the mains is off. If the gate ran on battery through a long outage, or a solar motor has had little sun, the battery may simply be flat, so mention it when you tell us the job.
Repair the motor, or replace it
Check the paperwork before anything else. Merlin says warranty claims on its gate openers go through the dealer who installed them, so a fairly new Merlin motor goes back to that dealer first.
If the motor is out of warranty and has failed, its replacement still has to suit the gate's weight and the power available at the gate. A like-for-like swap is not a given: the door specialist may suggest a different model if the gate is heavier than the old one was rated for, or if you want battery backup or app control this time.
Leave the electrics alone
Don't open the motor housing or the control box, and keep away from damaged cable at the gate. A fault in the mains supply, a scorched outlet or storm damage to the wiring is a licensed electrician's work, because every electrical job in Australia needs the correct licence for that work.
Details that help the door specialist
- The make of the motor, if there is a label you can read
- Sliding or swing, steel or timber or aluminium, and how old the motor is
- What it does: nothing at all, stops partway, turns back, or beeps
- When it started, and anything just before it, such as a storm, a blackout or new paving
- Whether the motor might still be under warranty
What you can do, and what to leave
You can
- Run the safe checks above
- Clear the track or the swing path
- Swap the battery in a remote that has stopped
Leave to a door specialist
- Opening the motor, its gearbox or the control board
- Wheels, tracks, hinges and limit settings
- Any fault in the mains supply, handled by a licensed electrician
What we would do
Film the gate on your phone while it misbehaves. Ten seconds showing where it stops, plus any lights or beeps from the motor, tells the door specialist more than a long description, and you can show it to them when they ring.