Liftmaster Gate Opener Help

[1jeepfan]

Bought this house a year ago. Older Liftmaster single swing gate opener was not working. There were a lot of loose wires laying around in the control box. It had one dead 12v battery in the box, but the solar was producing about 17 volts. I bought 12v battery for it. The control board powered up and displayed a code indicating the control board was bad.

A local company came out. Said the control board was bad and maybe other things. Wanted $4,000 to fix it. I said “NO”.

I ordered a new board and installed it. I had also realized it was supposed to have 2 12v batteries, so I got 2.

*My first question: are these batteries supposed to be wired in series, so 24v?? (Currently wired as 12v).

I have it working, but the “exit sensor” is not connected. The incoming cable has a blue, green, black, red a bare wire.

*Second question: where do these wires go? There is a wiring block labeled “Exit”, for 2 wires. No idea on the others.

This is a Liftmaster LA412 single gate opener.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[Snapped-off]

This is for the LA412.

 

[kbuhagiar]

A local company came out. Said the control board was bad and maybe other things. Wanted $4,000 to fix it. I said “NO”.

Been there. I swear that the gate controller maintenance shops assume that everyone with an automatic gate on their driveway is rolling in dough. I had the same situation (except ours is a sliding gate), got a couple of outrageous estimates, and decided to fix it myself. There is a lot of information and resources available on the internet, and I figured it out myself. Less than $200 in parts and a few hours labor and it's working perfectly.

It's important to keep the moving parts lubricated regularly; I try to do it a couple of times a year. Also doesn't hurt to occasionally open the control cabinet and clean out all the critters and cobwebs.

 

[1jeepfan]

Thanks for the info.

So, it looks like it‘s supposed to run on 12v. That’s how it’s wired now and it works, so…

Still not sure on the exit sensor. I know 2 wires go to the ‘exit’ lug. Just not sure which 2, and where the other exit sensor wires go.

Critters do like that box! Evicted a large colony of ants the first time. Had more ants the other day.

 

[tez929rr]

Thanks for the info.

So, it looks like it‘s supposed to run on 12v. That’s how it’s wired now and it works, so…

Still not sure on the exit sensor. I know 2 wires go to the ‘exit’ lug. Just not sure which 2, and where the other exit sensor wires go.

Critters do like that box! Evicted a large colony of ants the first time. Had more ants the other day.

A medicated livestock ear tag (cheap at Tractor Supply) will keep most bugs out of the control box. Common problem here.

 

[Torque&Recoil]

A medicated livestock ear tag (cheap at Tractor Supply) will keep most bugs out of the control box. Common problem here.

I'll have to try that. There always seem to be small ants in my gate box.

 

[My Old Tools]

You need a loop detector box that outputs to the relay on the board. These cheap aftermarket boxes work just fine.

EMX Multi-Voltage Loop Detector | EMX-MVP-D-TEK

EMX Multi-Voltage Loop Detector MVP-D-TEK makes it easy to manage your stock. All you need is one detector in your stock room and on your truck. With an input power range of 12 VDC to 240 VAC, the MVP D-TEK solves the problem of not knowing which voltage is required for a service call or...

allsecurityequipment.com

 

[My Old Tools]

Gates are a system of systems. The gate motor controller does the work. It has the limit switches and logic for open and close. It has inputs for relays. The button box, detector loop, and remote control or cellular remote are just inputs to those relays. Almost anybody's boxes will output a signal that will trigger the relay to open the gate. Our gate opener is a commercial Door King. Our button/phone box is a Linear. Our loop detector is D-tek after the Door King board died ($800), and our remote control input is another third party box. I do all of our work on it now since the security company charged us $900 to come out and add our name to the button box. I found all the manuals, figured out the system, etc. I have replaced boards, motors, you name it. Most recently the keypad wouldn't work after a rain. The Linear box is 20 years old. Keypad was NLA. I disassembled it down the the board and contact pads. Looks similar to a game controller inside. I cleaned the board with alcohol pads and cleaned the rubber contact pads, put it back together with 15 tiny screws, it works like new.

 

[tez929rr]

Gates are a system of systems. The gate motor controller does the work. It has the limit switches and logic for open and close. It has inputs for relays. The button box, detector loop, and remote control or cellular remote are just inputs to those relays. Almost anybody's boxes will output a signal that will trigger the relay to open the gate. Our gate opener is a commercial Door King. Our button/phone box is a Linear. Our loop detector is D-tek after the Door King board died ($800), and our remote control input is another third party box. I do all of our work on it now since the security company charged us $900 to come out and add our name to the button box. I found all the manuals, figured out the system, etc. I have replaced boards, motors, you name it. Most recently the keypad wouldn't work after a rain. The Linear box is 20 years old. Keypad was NLA. I disassembled it down the the board and contact pads. Looks similar to a game controller inside. I cleaned the board with alcohol pads and cleaned the rubber contact pads, put it back together with 15 tiny screws, it works like new.

Yeah, after my second swing gate (Apollo) I figured that out. I’ve changed boards twice over the years and the transmitter/receivers as the newer one installed from the factory wasn’t compatible with Homelink. Sure makes life a lot easier.