Electric gates are great for controlling entry to your home or business and securing the property against damage. However, once the winter frosts start to strike, there are additional benefits that help. On a chilly night, you will enjoy sitting in your warm automobile while your automated gates open in front of you and then close behind you.
Your automatic gate may experience issues during the winter months. However, if you maintain it properly, you may avoid problems and ensure that the gate system provides continuous and effective service throughout the year. Before the winter weather gets bad, it is advised that you perform yearly maintenance in October or November. By doing this, you can take prompt corrective action if a problem worsens. What action to take? Let’s read it further.
Prepare your Electric Gate From Winter Weather
You must do several maintenance jobs for your business or residential gate before the snowfall falls to prevent gate troubles in the winter. The following actions are required each fall:
1. Lubricate the Gate
The lubrication and oil on the working components of your gate may have dried up in the summer due to the sun’s heat. To ensure that the gate opens easily during the winter, grease it beforehand. Make sure you use a lubricant designed specifically for cold temperatures.
2. Touch up the paint
Gates are quite susceptible to moisture throughout the winter. If you have a steel or wrought iron gate, this might lead to rust and corrosion problems. If you use a wood gate, rotting might become an issue. Make careful to inspect the gate and touch up any nicks or scratches. Scratches in the rust-resistant coating on wrought iron and steel gates make the gate susceptible to rust development. Scratches in the protective paint, varnish, or stain on wooden gates expose the wood to insect invasion and decay.
3. Check the Elements
Examine your gate system carefully to ensure its essential components are in good operating condition and will withstand the whole season. Consider checking the tracks and rollers of your sliding gate, for instance, to ensure they are not dented, deformed, or otherwise damaged. Even though these issues might seem minor in the summer, they might become problematic in the winter when the tracks are covered in snow and ice.
4. Check the Gate Operator
Additionally, you must confirm that the gate operator is in good working order. For instance, if the battery is reaching the end of its functional life, you must replace it. In colder climates, the battery in your gate operator should perform better. Sadly, a battery getting close to its end might be harmed by frigid conditions.
5. Contact a Professional Gate Technician
Before winter, a skilled gate expert should typically maintain your gate. He can inspect the gate, carry out all necessary upkeep and repairs, and lubricate the working components.
Resisting Ice Formation and Snowfall
Super cold weather, ice, and snow may be challenging when wintertime rolls around. First, remove any snow off your gate as soon as possible to prevent it from turning into ice. If not, melting ice might be challenging. Remember to use a brush to remove the snow from the slide gates’ paths. The use of salt or other de-icers is not recommended since their chemicals might ruin the surface. Keep in mind that ice and snow might cause the photo-eye sensors to trigger the security system and prevent the gate from shutting.
Problems faced during winter season
The electric gate operator may have problems in cold weather. Particularly, the oil in the operator’s gearbox might stiffen, causing the gears to lock up. As temperatures drop, your gate mechanism’s battery may also operate less efficiently. Some gate operators are available with heaters built into the operator enclosure to prevent such issues. These gate operators are rated for temperatures as low as -20 degrees Celsius when they don’t have heaters and as low as -40 degrees Celsius when they do. Hence it might be difficult to get weather report accurately but Weather API makes it possible. You can get exact data of weather not of your city but also of the whole world.
Conclusion
Your electric gate needs maintenance to prevent mechanical or security problems even when it is sufficiently efficient. Therefore, be sure to heed the suggestions made on this site.
