Power Cut: Do You Know How to Open Your Gate?

Most people find out the answer at the worst possible moment. It takes two minutes to check on a normal afternoon.

Every automated gate has a release

It disengages the operator so the gate can be moved by hand. On some it is a lever, on others a keyed cover, and on underground operators it is inside a buried box.

If you do not know where yours is, that is the thing to find out today rather than in the dark.

Try it while nothing is wrong

Release it, move the gate by hand through its full travel, and re-engage. You will learn how much force it takes and whether it is stiff.

You also find out whether the key still turns, which on a Malibu gate exposed to salt air is not guaranteed.

Keep the key somewhere findable

Not in a drawer inside the house you cannot drive up to. Somewhere accessible from the driveway side, and somewhere you will remember at night.

A spare with a neighbour is not a bad idea on a long private drive.

Battery backup buys you time, not immunity

A decent system cycles the gate a number of times on batteries. It is not indefinite, and batteries degrade quietly over years.

The gate that worked through the last outage may not manage the next one.

Worth testing yearly

Manual release, safety sensors, and the force setting. Fifteen minutes once a year and you know where you stand.

We check all three on any service visit as a matter of course.