Driveway gate openers ???

[jinman]

Here is a shot of the internal workings of the GTO gate opener in this and subsequent three posts. I'm not making good/bad judgements about this opener because my girlfriends gate is far larger than the manufacturer recommends. I'm just showing where/how failures occur.

 

[jinman]

Another view.

 

[jinman]

Final view...

I'm not sure I can even get all the parts to repair this operator, but if not, is there another operator that would not require replacing the controller? You ARE the gate man, Harv. I may just have to hire you on a consult. Have you been to northwest Wise County recently? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Afternoon Jim,

Here's some basics for you to think about. Most of the screw drive operators, (bulk of the operators out there for swing gates) are nothing but satellite dish locators converted to twelve volts.

What is happening when you activate the receiver whether it's with a remote transmitter or a simple off--on switch is turning on an electric motor that spins a shaft. The shaft is a threaded bolt for all practical purposes. When it reaches a limit switch it turns off. The gate is open or it is closed. When the switch is turned on again the motor is automatically reversed from it's last function. It spins until a limit switch at the other end turns it off once more. If the gate was open before it is now closed or vice versa.

So let's pretend that amongst all your contacts you have a bud who has access to a twelve volt satellite dish locator. Or maybe he has an old handicap ramp out of a van. Some of those have the same mechanisms for lifting the ramp up and down.

You can now use that piece to replace the broken GTO PRO MULE etc clone while keeping the controls. You might have to become creative with the limit switches but you will be ahead of the game.

The best thing you can do for your lady friend is to have her buy an Apollo and you install it. It isn't hard to do and you'll have piece of mind that she won't be locked out or the gate open for any and all to visit.

BTW I got a CD in my World Fence News yesterday. It was from GTO PRO bragging about their new soft start soft stop wonder operator that will make me a wealthy man. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I've never even considered soft start or stop as an issue but then what do I know. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Your ideas look like they'll work fine. But just between us I think it's wasting your good mind on fixing something that is dead set on being broken.

 

[jinman]

Harv, thanks for the good advice. The baseplate and post attaching hardware is about $30. If I can get all the parts for under $100, I'll probably just go ahead and repair this one for now. When Mother's Day or my girlfriend's birthday rolls around, I'll get her the Apollo unit as a gift. Her gate is about 15' long and probably weighs 250 lb.

The GTO unit has been in service for four years and has had the same battery for all that time. Sometimes the lock will bind and fuses blow, but the gate has been fairly trouble free for the last 1-1/2 years. Of course, when it's busted, it's busted and all the times it worked okay are forgotten. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Jim that sounds like a good plan.

I have two ideas to offer you for your short term repairs. One would be to place a dense rubber gasket about a quarter inch thick between the mounting bracket and the post and mounting bracket and operator. This would give you some shock relief at a minimum investment in time and materials. Another alternative would be to figure out how to place a dense rubber grommet as bearing between the pivot bolt and the mounting bracket. Again, just a little shock relief. We all know a little can go a long way. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[NIXON]

thanks for all the responses and site info ! I guess I have a lot of home work to do . To para phrase Harv .... I do believe if you buy cheap , You'll buy twice /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif John.

 

[jinman]

Total cost of repair parts was $36 and were in stock at a local distributor in Hurst, TX. I'll try to get the gate repaired and take some pictures this weekend. Temperatures are in the teens and low 20s now, but this weekend it's supposed to be back up into the 60s. You gotta love these Texas winters. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[jinman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Do any of you folks have one of these ?? If so, what brand ?
Any particular likes or dislikes ? )</font>

John, I hope I haven't hijacked your posting. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif I just figured you and others might like to see the kinds of problems and possible solutions you can have with gate openers. My girlfriend has a photocell and charger which works very well until we have several days of cloudy weather with lots of gate openings. At those times, the battery may become weak. The unfortunate thing about it is that when you need the gate opener to work the most (bad weather) that's when it's most likely to fail. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif If you can run electricity to the unit, it would be better.

 

[NIXON]

John, I hope I haven't hijacked your posting. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Actually I appreciate it ! It's exactly what I was looking for when I posted . All I know about gate openers is some are probably better than others ( like most every thing else ) .
It's nice to hear the good points about a product ,as well as the WARTS !! All the best . John

 

[heehaw]

how hard would it be to modify a garage door opener to open a gate??? those things are cheap and seem to work forever?
heehaw

 

[kensfarm]

I've thought of that too.. seems the kind that uses the threaded bolt might be best suited for a gate opener.. maybe a little extra housing to keep out the weather.. use the door stop sensors for gate stop sensors.. would be a fun project to work on!

 

[_RaT_]

Unless you rigged up some kind of leverage to increase the gate opening width, you would be confined to a pretty small gate. Most openers have less then 7' of travel. I too had thought about it albeit a very short amount of thinking.

 

[NIXON]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( how hard would it be to modify a garage door opener to open a gate???


I gave it a bit of thought also . I figured by the time Igot it working it'd cost more than a top quality unit made for the job . Weather proofing was also a big consideration .
John

 

[jinman]

Harv, I thought I'd show you what I've finally done on my girlfriend's gate to get it working again. I decided to leave the gatepost hardware alone and concentrate on the point where the operator attaches to the gate bracket. In this first attached photo, I took a picture of the gate to show that it really is a bit large for this opener. The guy who installed it told my lady friend that the gate was "right on the limit" and I think he fudged a few pounds. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[jinman]

I removed the gate bracket and put a couple of compression springs behind it. I used grade 8 3/8" bolts because the bolts take a lot of side-to-side stress and grade 2 bolts bent like plastic.

 

[jinman]

When the operator starts to close or open the gate, the springs compress and the gate doesn't provide an instantaneous load on the operator. The operator is much quieter than it was before when it would load up with the whole weight of the gate as soon as it started to move.

 

[jinman]

As the gate latches, the operator compresses the left spring to it's maximum and provides a torque buffer. In this picture, you can see the slotted holes on the gate bracket. these had me worried because I thought the bracket sliding back-and-forth would make the calibration of the operator really tough. Well, I was wrong. The bracket just slides from one end to the other and then the springs start to compress and "do their thing" so that nothing is sloppy at all. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

This setup has worked for over a week now with no problems, so I'm hoping it will hold up at least until I can get a better gate operator. All-in-all, I think things have turned out pretty good so far. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[fishman]

That's a nice fix, Jim.

 

[jinman]

Thanks, John. It's not a "truly" elegant solution, but for now it works and I don't think the gate operator is self-destructing. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif