Water and Gate Openers
Houston is no stranger to heavy rains and flooding. In this industry is not uncommon at all for people to forget about their gate opener as long as it is still working but doing a couple of preventative things after huge rains will go a long way to extending the life of that gate opener. Nothing living likes the flooding! That includes ants, lizards, etc....They will and do regularly find refuge in the gate opener housing. As soon as the waters recede (and the rain stops of course) it is a good idea to check inside gate opener cabinets, arms, housings, etc to see if they have set up a nice cozy living room in your gate appliances. If so, DO NOT just spray them with the power still on (bzzzzz). Turn off the breaker that powers the opener AND unplug the batteries from the control board that there is NO POWER on the control board at all. Using a paintbrush or something with soft bristles removes any offending freeloaders and if you see any water left behind WAIT TIL THE UNIT DRIES OUT to power it back up.
IF your opener has been completely submerged, it probably can be saved but it's a bit of work. You will need to either have a pro (we can refer one if you think this is way over the head of the fence guy who installed yours) or if you are very handy and HAVE A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF ELECTRICITY, the opener will need to be disassembled and flushed out with fresh clean water, then dried, re-grease any parts that require it and reassembled. Once floodwaters have been inside the control board, cabinet, gear reducers, electronics, etc it WILL slowly corrode. In time the opener will probably fail as the corrosion takes hold.
We are here to help! With 30 years of experience and lots of factory-fresh replacement parts, we can help you save money and make your equipment last longer!