Recently, a customer with an 8-year old XP Gate Operator had to send a circuit board to us for inspection. She asked us for instructions on disconnecting her circuit board as neither she nor we wanted the circuit board to short-out in the process. We decided to make a instructional video (scroll down below) to help her complete this fairly straight-forward task. Basically, 2 main steps must be followed:
- Disconnect the positive (red) cable from the battery
- Disconnect the solar wires
The gate operator purchased by our customer has been on the market for 23 years. SUN-POWER has sold thousands of the XP series solar & 240 volt gate operators across Australia and in to export markets. Owners of our auto-gates range from Broome, Darwin, Cairns, Longreach, Brisbane, Port Moresby (PNG), Byron Bay, Orange, Dubbo, Wagga-Wagga, Sydney, Bega, Eden, Mornington Peninsual (VIC), Bairnsdale, Warrigal, Ballarat, Geelong, Melbourne, Wodonga (& Albury), Port Augusta, Adelaide, Port Lincoln, Kalgoorlie, Busselton, Pinjara, Perth to Karratha etc.
With such a wealth of our Auto-Gate operators out in the market, we do answer calls from owners that have units damaged by lightning strikes, ride-on-mower hits, vehicle hits, vandalism and (yes) sometimes user-error when attempting to change a battery (please consult your manual before performing that simple task). We have seen corrosion & short-circuit damage from owners who have sprayed their live circuit board (i.e. electricity running through the circuit board means it’s ‘live’) with insect repellant to get rid of a few inhabiting spiders and/or ants. Don’t do that! 😀 You wouldn’t pour water on your laptop’s keyboard. Keep liquids away from live circuits!
Often such external force damages (the non-insect/arachnid spray ones) are covered by insurance. We have had a dozen or more reports from customers in the last few years that have turned in to repair-jobs, billed to their insurance company.
So, in the unlikely event that you need to remove your circuit board from your gate operator for assessment by us, the YouTube vid’ below should help you do that without damaging it. Not everyone takes instruction the same way. This video is prepared for those of you who prefer to watch & learn:
We trust this information is useful. 😀