A closed charcoal sliding gate in a Cape Town driveway at dusk, with Table Mountain in the distance

Power cuts and your gate

How long will your gate run in a power cut?

Choose your motor and battery, say how long the power is off, and see roughly how many times your gate will open on battery. Free, and nothing is sent unless you ask.

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Gate stuck open or closed right now?

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Stay safe first

Keep people, children and pets away from a moving gate. Do not walk through while it moves.

Do not open the motor housing. It holds mains voltage.

Never bypass, tape over or disconnect the safety beams.

Do not push a gate by hand unless the motor has been released.

What do you need?

Free quoteSend your details to WP Security

What is your gate doing?

Pick your motor and the problem. You get the simple checks to try first, and when to call a technician.

1. Which motor do you have?

The brand name is usually printed on the motor cover and on the remote.

2. What is it doing?

Pick a motor and a problem above to see your checklist.

What the Centurion beeps mean

2 beeps, repeating

No mains power. The gate is running on its battery.

What to do: Normal in a power cut. Use the gate as little as you can.

3 beeps, repeating

The battery is low.

What to do: Use the gate as little as you can and get the battery tested.

1 beep, repeating

The safety beams are blocked, or a stop or lock setting is switched on.

What to do: Clear anything in the path of the beams.

3 short beeps

The gate limits are not set.

What to do: Call a technician.

4 beeps, repeating

The gate stalled.

What to do: Check the gate runs free, then call a technician.

5 beeps, repeating

A hardware fault, such as a fuse, the motor connection or the beams.

What to do: Call a technician.

One long tone, about 30 seconds

An alarm is sounding (break-in or ambush alarm).

What to do: Check your property.

What the Nice flashing lamp means

1 flash

An accessory, such as a photocell, does not match what the motor expects.

What to do: Call a technician.

2 flashes

A photocell (safety beam) was activated.

What to do: Clear anything in the path of the beams.

3 flashes

The motor's force limiter was triggered: the gate met extra friction.

What to do: Check the gate and track run free.

4 flashes

The STOP input was triggered.

What to do: Call a technician.

5 flashes

An internal parameter error.

What to do: Switch the power off for 30 seconds, then on. If it comes back, call a technician.

6 flashes

Too many openings in an hour.

What to do: Wait a few minutes.

7 flashes

An electrical circuit error.

What to do: Switch the power off for a few seconds, then on. If it comes back, call a technician.

8 flashes

Another command is holding the gate.

What to do: Call a technician.

Every check for every problem, in one list

The gate does nothing at all

Check the power: is the trip switch or plug for the motor switched on?

Try the wall button or keypad as well as the remote.

Listen for beeps and look for a flashing lamp on top of the gate. Count them and write the pattern down.

Look for anything blocking the gate or the safety beams.

When to call a technician: Call a technician if the motor is silent with the power on.

The remote does nothing

Replace the batteries in the remote.

Try the wall button or keypad. If the gate moves, the motor is fine.

If the light on the remote comes on but the gate does nothing, the remote may need to be paired again.

When to call a technician: Call a technician if new batteries do not help.

It moves a little, then stops or reverses

Clear stones, leaves and dirt from the track, and look for anything rubbing on the gate.

Listen for beeps or look for flashes, and count them.

Send WP Security the pattern and a photo of the motor label.

When to call a technician: Call a technician if the gate keeps stopping and the track is clear.

It beeps or a light flashes

Count the beeps, or count the flashes of the lamp on top of the gate.

Note where the signal comes from: a beep from the motor, or a flashing lamp.

Pick Centurion or Nice above if you can find the brand name, and we will show the matching table.

When to call a technician: Send WP Security the pattern you counted and a photo of the motor label.

It struggles or stops in power cuts

Many motors beep when the power fails: the gate is then running on its battery.

If the gate stops soon after a power cut starts, the battery is usually worn out or too small.

Use the battery calculator below.

When to call a technician: Call a technician to test the battery.

It opens but will not close

Look for anything between the safety beams: a branch, a plant, a parked car.

Check the beam units are clean and have not been knocked out of line.

Never bypass or disconnect the safety beams.

When to call a technician: Call a technician if the beams are clear and the gate still will not close.

The gate is stuck and I need to move it by hand

Keep people and pets clear of the gate.

Use the release key that came with the motor. Your installer should have shown you where it goes.

Move the gate by hand slowly. Do not force it.

When to call a technician: No key, or not sure how? Call WP Security and tell them the brand on the motor.

Will your gate get through the power cut?

Answer each question to see how long your gate runs in a power cut. It works for load-shedding and for any other power cut. Nothing goes into the quote form until you press Ask WP Security.

Your motor

Your battery

How old is the battery?

How long is the power off?

How many times will the gate open or close?

Count every open and every close. A car going out and coming back is 4. Tap + or − to start at 10, then adjust.

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Your estimate

Answer the questions to see your estimate.

0 of 5 answered

Still to answer: your motor; your battery; how old the battery is; how long the power is off; how many times the gate will open or close.

How we work this out

Centurion D5-Evo: Centurion publishes two figures for the D5-Evo with its standard 7 Ah battery (4 m gate, safety beams not included): 44 openings in a half day and 35 in a full day. From those we get about 53 openings of battery, less about three quarters of an opening for every hour the gate sits waiting. A bigger battery is scaled up in proportion, and the age allowance is taken off.

Centurion D10: Centurion publishes two figures for the D10 Turbo Smart PLUS with its standard two 7 Ah batteries (4 m gate, normal speed): 130 openings in a half day and 104 in a full day. From those we get about 156 openings of battery, less about two openings for every hour the gate sits waiting. A bigger battery is scaled up in proportion, and the age allowance is taken off.

Nice Robus: Nice says its standard PS124 backup battery gives about ten openings or closings when fully charged. Nice does not publish a figure for waiting time or for bigger batteries, so the hours you choose do not change this number. The age allowance is taken off.

Read this as a best case. Longer or heavier gates, safety beams, keypads and lights all use extra power. Cold weather and old batteries cut it further. This is an estimate to help you decide, not a battery test. A technician can test your battery properly.

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Ask WP Security to look at your gate

WP Security installs and repairs Centurion and ET Nice gate motors. Send your details and they will contact you about your gate.

Prefer to talk? Call 087 808 3665 or WhatsApp WP Security.