Electric Gate Annual Maintenance

You go to the gym regularly to maintain your health. You make sure your kids see the dentist at least once per year to maintain healthy teeth. You even take your pet for regular grooming and checkups to maintain her appearance and health.

Why would you ignore the large investment you have in your home or business by not considering annual maintenance? A furnace check in the fall and AC check in the spring already are scheduled. When you have a hail storm, you immediately contact a roofer.

What about that expensive automatic driveway gate you had installed? You bet your electric gate could benefit from an annual maintenance plan. Here are four components an electric gate annual maintenance plan can keep everything running smoothly and, in the long run, save you money.

Maintaining the Appearance of An Electric Gate

Sure you chose an electric gate for your property for security, but you also selected a design that would provide street appeal and enhance the appearance of your property. Most gates are made of highly durable materials, but they still can benefit from an annual power washing and inspection for damage or chipping.

Just like with a tooth cavity, if you discover it early and make the repairs when they are minor, you save money and greatly extend the life of your gate. Even better, like with a dental cleaning, when you catch a potential problem before it even begins, such as eliminating debris that could trap moisture against your gate. Professional maintenance crews also can check other structures involved with your gate, such as cleaning and inspecting mortar in brick or stone posts.

Many Moving Parts

From hinges to latch to chains or cables to wheels, your electric gate will have a great number of moving parts that should be checked and lubricated on a regular basis.

Depending upon the quality of the gate you installed, these components will be exposed to a certain degree of weather and moisture. Higher-end gates will have better sealed components, but still they must be checked regularly to ensure they remain sealed. On lower-cost gates, these elements will face greater exposure and require lubrication on at-least an annual basis, or more frequently if your gate is in a high-use situation, such as a business or storage facility.

You can consider doing this maintenance yourself, but you must make sure you are using high-quality lubricants and cleaners, as your maintenance professional would do.

The other advantage a professional maintenance plan brings to this aspect is the maintenance technicians will be able to test the gate to ensure it does not have obstructions that are causing the motors to overwork as they open and close the gate. They can test the pressure or torque to ensure there is not a problem. If there is a problem, they can diagnose it and correct the problem before it becomes a greater and more costly repair.

Those Tiny Components

As with all aspects of our lives these days, your electric gate is going to be controlled by small electronic components with circuit boards that can be affected by many issues. And like with most of these other gizmos, the great majority of us have no clue as to how to maintain all that electronica.

In fact, we probably don’t even have a clue as to all the issues that can affect these electronic components, especially since they are far from our front doors and quite likely exposed to the elements to some degree.

Again, as with the bigger moving parts, your high-end gate is going to offer better quality components with better seals against the elements, while the lower-end gates will need a greater inspection and cleaning.

When we talk about the elements, of course, the primary enemy is going to be moisture. Any electronic elements are going to suffer then they are exposed to moisture, and while most gate hardware will protect against direct moisture like rain and snow, there are many other ways moisture can reach these components:

• Dust and debris: Dirt and leaves seem to be able to work their way into any space that is not sealed like a hyperbaric chamber. And once inside what we thought was a secure perimeter, dust and debris will suck moisture in behind them.

• Pests: Many common garden pests also can work their way into the housing for your electronics and wreak havoc. Snails and slugs are especially dangerous as their slime trails can easily damage circuit boards. Spiders and their webs also attract moisture into your electronic components. Mice and rats can chew on wires leading into the service, making way for shorts and other damage. All of these issues are difficult for homeowners to spot but become commonplace for maintenance workers who see them on a regular basis.

Maintenance technician also will check all electrical connections as the regular vibration and expansion and contraction associated with hot and cold weather can loosen connections.

Maintaining Electric Gate Safety Features

A regular maintenance schedule also will ensure the safety features of your gate are working correctly so you don’t end up with a damaged vehicle or an injury if the detection system is malfunctioning.

If you would like to set up a regular maintenance schedule for your electric gate or if you need immediate repairs, contact us for a free quote and more information about how you can benefit from an annual maintenance plan. Our technicians work on all brands of electronic gates.