Mighty Mule Gate opener slave stuck open

[acraiger]

Just wondering if anyone with a might mule dual gate opener has had the same issue as me.

The slave arm keeps getting stuck in the open position and will not close, but if I wait a while, it will eventually close. Sometimes resetting the power switch on the box helps, but not always.
The master arm always opens and closes.
I connected in a dry cell marine battery a year ago, and bought a new solar panel that Mighty Mule recommended, and since then it's been fine except for the slave arm not always closing. The slave arm always opens, just not always closing.

I think I have this issue more when the weather is cold.
My other thought is maybe the wiring that goes under the driveway to the slave is not very good, and maybe need to try running a new cable under the driveway.
The cable is run under the driveway inside a 1" pvc pipe.

 

[seville009]

I have no clue, but since you described a solar charged battery being involved, if it were me, I’d grab a brand new battery and hook it up to see if that cures the problem.

 

[countrybumpkin]

From what you described I’m going to guess a thermal break in a connection or something. You say it opens fine but has to wait a bit before it closes have you tried opening the gate as soon as it does close?

 

[countrybumpkin]

I believe those are a 12 volt dc system so a simple automotive test light or a multimeter could be used to test the circuit starting at the board to see if it’s actually sending to voltage to the arm when you try closing it.

 

[acraiger]

Don't think I have ever tried opening it right after it closes. That's a good idea to check voltage going to the arm.

 

[Tx Jim]

May I ask what type cylinder you're referring to as a "slave cylinder"?? 1st thing I suggest to check is battery voltage. Electric gate openers I've owned in the last 25 yrs had either single or double gate operating arms(aka cylinders) but double gate arms were wired so as to operate together to open/close both gates simultaneously but far from master/slave configuration such as hyd systems. My guess is when gate is stuck open control board has lost electrical current to that operating arm via loose connection or faulty relay. It's also possible control board is faulty. I have an Apollo gate opener that operating arm started opening/closing partially sometimes that required control board replacement to solve the problem. Over many yrs I've owned both Mighty Mule & Apollo gate openers.

 

[WranglerX]

Aren't the cylinders really a electrical operated "linear actuator"... If it opens ok but does not close I would suspect actuator is is dc powered and 1> the control replay that reverses voltage to actuator is malfunctioning or circuit board electronic does not signal relay to reverse polarity at actuator, or 2> there is a bind in arm assemblies of the actuator and can not overcome the bind and maybe kicking in a to protection mode where power is not allowed to actuator until thermal reset...

Does actuator function correctly when NOT connected to gate?

Dale

 

[Stimw]

I had a MM dual gate opener and gave up on it after inventing a few cuss works for it.
It would work when it wanted to. I had to keep the pins free so I could open it manually.
A friend has had 2 singles fail too.
But if I had to guess, there might be a setting for walk in that is delaying one side.

 

[levi333]

Don't know what model you have, mine is a single FM500, that i just replaced the REV COUNTER board in the arm last night, part GTO RVCTBD50, it fixed my similar issue.
I could open my gate, but then it would start beeping every one second and would not close. The first few days it did it I could power off/on the main box and it would reset but after a few days it just wouldn't close. Water gets in the arm and fries that REV COUNTER board ($25). Looks like a VERY common issue.

 

[Diggin It]

I think I have this issue more when the weather is cold.

Define 'cold'. My single won't always work below about 20 degrees, but works fine above that. I'm guessing my gate is a bit unbalanced (like I am) and the arm binds somewhat. Disconnect the malperforming arm from the gate and try to operate it. Also operate the gate while you're there and make sure it moves freely. Lube and/or rebalance if necessary.

 

[mred2]

I have a dual gate, I think it is a 402. I have had this happen to me. It has been the solar charger having a bad connection. They have very small wire. I also had a bad battery once. I do use two batteries. On this unit, there is a delay on the slave gate opening. The slave gate also closes a couple of seconds ahead of the master gate. There is a switch that controls this in the control box. This is for use, if you have an electric lock on the middle of the gate. With two gates and it set to have a lock the master gate must open first. As it opens, it drains the power and the slave gate then has to start with less power. For winter weeks and no sun, I have had to take the batteries to the house and charge them. Has always worked so far.
And we know the cold is hard on batteries.

 

[TnAndy]

I had a MM dual gate opener and gave up on it after inventing a few cuss works for it.
It would work when it wanted to. I had to keep the pins free so I could open it manually.
A friend has had 2 singles fail too.
But if I had to guess, there might be a setting for walk in that is delaying one side.

My first set of gate opener were the linear actuator type made by Genie (thankfully no longer on the market). Like you said, royal pain in the backside. The circuit boards were forever going out, even though units were grounded and power run thru a surge protector. I got to know the parts lady at the 800 number on a first name basis.

I finally trashed them and replaced with a swing arm type opener that has ZERO electronic components....every thing in it except the radio receiver board ( and I use a cheap universal Genie unit for that) is mechanical switches....no 'black chips' and such to burn out. Been on there 20 years now, and all the maintenance consists of belt change (1/2hp motor on master/slave units goes a gear reduction right angle drive) once every 10 years, and once one of the double throw switches that does the reversing went bad. UNFORTUNATELY, they discontinued this model, to build one with a auto close loop, electronic eyes like garage doors and such, which meant circuit boards again.

I'll keep this thing running forever, every piece in it can be sourced from other parts suppliers. It actually doesn't look that hard to reverse engineer it and build one. Fairly simple, easy laid out wiring and mechanical parts.

Both units were about $1700 twenty plus years ago, which was a punch in the wallet, but honestly, it's one of the few things I can say will probably out last me.

 

[acraiger]

Just wanted to thank everyone for their suggestions.

The wire that came with the MM was not long enough, so I had to add wire when I installed it going to both the main and slave arms. I think I had used the wrong gauge, it was going from 16 gauge to 22 gauge.
So I switched the wire I had added with 16 guage wire, I just did the wire going to slave which goes under the driveway inside a 1/2 inch pvc pipe. So far it has been opening every time. I'm not 100% sure it is fixed, as it is now summer, and have not had any cold days to test it. The manual did say to use 16 gauge.

Before the alarm was going off almost constantly every time I opened it, the 2 beep alarm until I reset it. Then the slave would not close until I waited a few hours.