Before you start
Automated gates are heavy and can move without warning. Keep children, pets and cars clear while you check, and never put your hands near hinges, the gap between the gates, or a sliding gate's track while the system is powered. If the gate is damaged, leaning, or making grinding noises, skip the checks and switch it off.
1. Is there power?
Check the gate's isolator switch (usually near the control box or in the garage) and your consumer unit for a tripped switch. Rain getting into a junction box often trips the RCD. If it trips again as soon as you reset it, leave it off: that points to water or a wiring fault for an engineer to find.
Many control boxes have a small light or display. If it's completely dark, power is the problem.
2. Is it just the remote?
Try a second remote, the keypad or the intercom. If everything else works, change the remote's battery. If no way of opening it works, the problem is at the gate, not the remote.
3. Are the photocells dirty, blocked or blinded?
Photocells are the small sensors on posts either side of the drive. If their beam is broken, most gates won't close, and some won't move at all. Wipe both lenses, clear plants, cobwebs and leaves, and make sure nothing (a bin, a parked car) sits between them.
Low winter sun shining straight into a photocell can also stop a gate at certain times of day. If it only fails in the morning or late afternoon, that's a likely cause, and an engineer can fit a hood or reposition the sensor.
4. Is anything in the way?
- Sliding gates: leaves, gravel, ice or a stone in the track
- Swing gates: a branch, a pot or a mound of leaves where the gate swings
- A pushed-in or damaged safety edge (the rubber strip on the gate's leading edge)
5. Is it still in manual release?
If someone released the gate by hand during a power cut or a fault, the motor will run but the gate won't move until it's re-engaged. You'll often hear the motor hum or whirr with nothing happening. Re-lock the release with its key or lever (the way you released it) and try again.
6. Has the motor got too hot?
Motors have thermal protection. After lots of opening and closing in a short time, or on a hot day, they switch off to cool down. Leave the gate for 20 to 30 minutes and try again.
7. Are the underground motors flooded?
If you have underground motors (hidden in boxes at the foot of each gate) and the gates stopped after heavy rain, the boxes may be full of water. Switch the gates off and don't keep trying to run them: a motor running in water is quickly damaged. An engineer will clear the box, check the drain and test the motor. This is especially common on the clay soils across north Surrey.
8. Has the gate dropped or the hinges seized?
Look at the gate with it closed. If it's lower at the open end, scraping the ground, or the hinges are stiff and rusty, the motor may be straining and the safety system stopping it. Don't force it. This needs an engineer, and catching it early often saves the motor.
When to call an engineer
- The power trips again when reset
- The motor hums, clicks or grinds but nothing moves (and manual release is locked)
- The gate moves on its own, doesn't stop, or doesn't reverse when something is in the way
- There's water in the motor boxes or visible damage
- Nothing on this list fixed it