An automatic gate that stops working picks its moment. It is usually raining, you are late, and it is either refusing to open with you on the outside or refusing to close with the whole street looking in. Most of the calls we take for automatic gate repairs across Geelong, Highton, Belmont, Leopold, Ocean Grove and Torquay fall into a handful of causes, and a good number of them are things you can check yourself in a few minutes.

Here is how to work through it.

First, get the gate moving by hand

Every automatic gate has a manual release. On a sliding gate it is usually a key-operated lever on the motor housing; on a swing gate it is a key or lever on each arm or at the underground motor. Releasing it disconnects the motor so you can push the gate open or closed by hand. If you are stuck on the wrong side of the gate, this is your first move, and it is worth finding the release key now, before you need it in the dark.

If the gate will not move by hand once released, the problem is mechanical, not electrical: something is jammed in the track, a wheel has collapsed, a hinge has seized or the gate has dropped and is dragging on the ground. Look before you force it.

Check the obvious electrical things

Power. Is the motor's isolator switch on? Is the circuit breaker in the switchboard tripped? On solar gates, is the panel clean and the battery charged? A gate that has been sluggish for a few days before dying often has a battery on its way out.
Remote batteries. If the gate works from the keypad or the intercom but not the remote, the remote is the problem. Replace the battery before anything else. If a new battery does not fix it, the remote may need re-pairing to the receiver.
Photocells. The safety beams across the opening are the most common cause of a gate that opens but will not close. If something is blocking the beam, a bin, a parked car, a branch, long grass or a spider web, the gate will refuse to close and may click or flash instead. Clear the beam and wipe the lenses. On the coast, salt haze on the lens is a regular culprit.
Obstructions. Walk the full length of a sliding gate's track and look for stones, mulch, a tennis ball or a build-up of sand. On the Bellarine, wind-blown sand in the track is a common one after a stormy week.

Common symptoms and what they usually mean

The gate opens but will not close. Almost always a photocell beam being blocked, dirty or misaligned. Occasionally a failed photocell or a wiring fault.

The gate stops partway and reverses. The motor has hit its force limit, which means the gate is binding somewhere. Check the track and wheels on a sliding gate, the hinges and ground clearance on a swing gate. If nothing is obviously catching, the force setting may have drifted or the motor may be losing power.

The gate moves slowly or struggles. On a battery or solar system this is a low battery. On a mains system it can be a failing capacitor, a worn motor or a gate that has become heavier to move because the wheels or hinges are wearing.

The motor hums but the gate does not move. Usually the drive is disengaged, the manual release has been left on, the gear or rack has stripped, or a capacitor has failed. Stop pressing the button; running a humming motor cooks it.

Nothing happens at all, no lights, no sound. No power to the control board. Isolator, breaker, a blown fuse on the board, a dead battery or a failed transformer. If the isolator and breaker are on, this is a technician job.

The gate opens on its own. Rare but alarming. Usually a fault on the control board, a short in a wire or a stuck input from an intercom or keypad. Release the motor and secure the gate manually until it is looked at.

The Geelong and coastal factors

Two things shorten the life of gates around here. The first is salt air. Motors, control boards, photocells and keypads on gates in Ocean Grove, Barwon Heads, Torquay and along the Bellarine coast corrode faster than inland, and the first sign is usually intermittent faults: a gate that works most days and not others. The second is our clay soils, which move with the seasons and can heave a sliding gate's track or shift a swing gate's posts enough that the gate binds in winter and works fine in summer. If your gate has a seasonal pattern, that is why.

When to call for a repair

Call when the manual checks above do not resolve it, when there is no power at the board, when the motor hums or clicks without moving, when the gate is dragging or dropped, or when the fault is intermittent and you cannot pin it down. Do not keep cycling a gate that is straining; it turns a cheap repair into a motor replacement. And if the gate is stuck open and the property is exposed, we treat that as a priority call.

For an older gate, it is also worth being realistic. Motors, like anything, wear out, and a control board from fifteen years ago may no longer be supported. Our automatic gate repairs and servicing page explains what a repair visit involves, and we will tell you straight if the sensible option is a new motor rather than another patch.

Prevent the next one

Most of the faults above are prevented by an annual service: lubricating hinges and wheels, cleaning and aligning the photocells, checking the battery, testing the safety reversal and checking the track and posts for movement. It is a small job, and on a coastal gate it is the difference between a motor that lasts eight years and one that lasts fifteen.

If your gate has stopped and you have run through the checks, send us the symptoms and the make of the motor if you can see it. We can often tell you what it is likely to be before we arrive, anywhere across Geelong and the Bellarine.

Automatic Gate Not Working? Troubleshooting for Geelong and Bellarine Homes