Won't open / won't close
Why your gate opens but won't close
A gate that opens fine and then refuses to close is a fault that gets misread as a broken motor. Covers safety sensors in depth, plus the other causes worth ruling out.
Gate troubleshooting
What's wrong with the gate
Straight explanations of why automatic gates fail — what a given symptom points to, what it rules out, and the point at which it stops being something you can sort out yourself.
Fort Worth and the DFW area · Free estimates
Gate faults get misdiagnosed before anyone is called out. A gate that will not close gets blamed on the motor. A gate that does nothing at all gets blamed on the opener when the trigger is the real fault. Guessing wrong is what turns a small repair into an expensive one.
So we write these the way we would explain it standing in your driveway: what the symptom narrows it down to, and when it genuinely needs someone with a meter and a ladder. If an article saves you a call, that is a good outcome. If it tells you the call is worth making, that is a good outcome too.
Published
Available to read now
In progress
What we're writing
The list below is what this section will cover, grouped the way the faults actually group. These are not written yet, so none of them are linked — when a guide goes live it moves up the page.
Gate won't open or won't close
Where the gate does nothing at all, moves part way and stops, or starts closing and reverses.
- Automatic gate won't open
- Automatic gate won't close
- Gate stops halfway
- Gate reverses when closing
- Gate stuck open
- Gate stuck closed
Need this fixed now? Automatic gate repair
Gate opener and motor
The operator itself — noise without movement, no power at all, and the question of whether the opener or the gate is at fault.
- Gate motor hums but won't move
- Gate opener clicking
- Gate opener no power
- Gate vs gate opener: which one is broken
Need this fixed now? Gate opener repair
Access control
Keypads, remotes, intercoms and card readers — where the gate works but the thing that triggers it does not.
- Gate keypad not working
- Gate remote not working
- Gate intercom not working
- Card reader not reading
Need this fixed now? Access control
Storm and impact damage
Gates that stopped working after something happened to them — weather, a power cut, or a vehicle.
- Gate not working after a power outage
- Gate not working after a storm
- Gate hit by a car
Need this fixed now? Emergency gate repair
Guides
The practical ones: getting through a gate that will not move, and what actually happens when a technician arrives.
- How to open an automatic gate manually
- What happens on a gate repair service call
Need this fixed now? All services
Not here to read
If the gate is down right now
Skip the reading
A gate stuck open leaves the property unsecured, and a gate stuck shut can block the only way in or out. Neither is worth researching first.
Emergency gate repair— or call and describe what it is doing.
Know what you need
If you already know roughly what the problem is, the service pages are the faster route than the guides.
Still not sure what you're looking at?
Describe what the gate does when you trigger it and we can narrow down what kind of problem it is before anyone comes out.
Licensed and insured · Over a decade in business · Fort Worth and the DFW area