When an automatic gate stops working it is rarely the motor that has died. Across Malvern, Armadale, Glen Iris and Toorak, the faults we attend most often turn out to be a flat battery, a blocked sensor or a release lever someone forgot to lock back. Working out which one you have before you call saves time and, often, the cost of a call-out.

This guide is organised by symptom. Start with the one that matches what your gate is doing.

Nothing happens at all

The gate does not move, click or hum, from the remote, the keypad or the intercom.

Check the power. Look at the switchboard for a tripped circuit breaker or safety switch. A storm, a faulty outdoor light or a garden tool on the same circuit can take the gate with it.
Look for signs of life at the motor. Many control boxes have a status light. If it is dark, the board is not getting power.
Think about the battery. Most modern gate motors run from a backup battery that the mains keeps charged. If there has been a power cut recently, the battery may have run flat and not recovered. If the gate died during a blackout and never came back, this is the likely cause.

If the power is on and there is still nothing, the fault is likely to be the power supply, the battery or the control board. Those are technician jobs.

Only one remote works, or the remote works only up close

If the keypad or a second remote works but one remote does not, the remote battery is flat. If every remote now needs to be held close to the gate, the batteries may be tired, or something is interfering with the receiver. Replace the remote battery first. It is a small coin cell in most units and is the cheapest fix there is.

If new batteries do not help, the receiver aerial may be damaged, or the remote may have lost its programming. A technician can recode remotes or replace the receiver quickly.

The gate starts, then stops or reverses

This is the gate's safety system doing its job. It thinks something is in the way.

Photocells. The small sensors either side of the opening send a beam across the driveway. Wipe both lenses and check they still face each other. A car bumper, a wheelie bin, a cobweb or low winter sun shining straight into a receiver can all break the beam.
The track. On a sliding gate, sweep the full length of the track. On leafy Stonnington streets, leaves and seed pods pack into it quickly.
The swing path. On a swing gate, check nothing has grown or been left in the arc of the leaves.
Binding. Use the manual release and move the gate by hand. If it is stiff, drags or catches at one point, the motor is stopping because it has hit its force limit.

Never turn the force setting up to make a struggling gate work. That setting is what stops the gate hurting someone, and our post Automatic Gate Safety: Entrapment and How It's Prevented explains why.

The motor runs but the gate does not move

If you can hear the motor but the gate stays put, check the manual release first. It is very common for someone to release the gate during a blackout, or a gardener to release it to move equipment, and nobody locks it back. Re-engage the lever and turn the key, and the motor should take hold again.

If the release is engaged and the gate still does not move, the drive has probably failed. On a sliding gate the rack or the motor's drive gear may be stripped. On a swing gate, an arm may have come loose or a gearbox worn out. That needs a repair visit.

The gate stops short or overshoots

A gate that no longer opens fully, closes with a bang, or stops a little short of its latch usually has travel limits that have drifted. It can also mean a post has moved, the gate has dropped on its hinges, or a stop has come loose. On heavy timber and wrought iron gates, common on older Malvern and Toorak frontages, small amounts of hinge wear show up this way first. Limits should be reset by a technician, and the underlying cause fixed at the same time.

It works some days and not others

Intermittent faults are usually moisture or a failing battery. After heavy rain, water can get into an older motor housing or control box, or into the pit of an underground swing gate motor, which is common on heritage gates where visible hardware would spoil the look. If the fault follows wet weather, book a technician before corrosion damages the board.

Your first five checks

Power at the switchboard
Remote battery
Photocells clean and aligned
Track or swing path clear
Manual release locked back in place

When to call for a repair

Call us if the checks above do not fix it, if the same fault keeps returning, or if you notice any of these:

The gate does not stop and reverse when something is in its path
Burning smells, sparks or a tripping safety switch
A gate leaf that has dropped, leans or has come off its track
Water inside the motor or control box

Our Automatic Gate Repairs & Servicing covers all common brands across Malvern, Malvern East, Armadale, Kooyong, Glen Iris and Toorak, including gates we did not install. We diagnose first and quote before any work starts. Once it is running again, our guide Keeping a Malvern Automatic Gate Working: A Maintenance Guide sets out the simple routine that stops most of these faults coming back.

Automatic Gate Not Working in Malvern? A Troubleshooting Guide