Surge Protect Gates and Self-Parking

Why Surge Protect Gates?
It’s late and your client is on their way home with their family. It’s also raining, and a lightning storm just passed through the area. The homeowner gets to the front gate and it does not open! Your client cannot get to the house and now everyone in the car is upset. The frustrated homeowner decides that he needs to solve the problem quickly and phones the installer, or worse, gets out and starts cutting wires until the gate unlocks and he can push the gate open. At this point, your client may be asking himself why he did not go through with the surge suppression quoted to him by the systems integrator to protect the gate and keypads he now has to repair. Gates and outdoor keypads are prone to lightning damage, and should be protected to avoid downtime, equipment failure, and repair costs.

How to Surge Protect Gates
• Install a TPX-1S240-F-100 inside the structure on the breaker panel feeding the gate. This will protect the electronics in the structure from surges coming in on the gate feed.
• If your gate has a breaker panel, install the TPX-1S240-F-100 at the gate panel.

Is your gate powered by an individual circuit coming from the nearest structure?
• If your gate is fed from a 120 volt circuit, install the TPD-LT120-30A-DIN2 at the gate.

Are you communicating with the gate over a copper wire? If so, you can protect either the gate end or the structure end, depending on what you want to protect and where you have room to install surge protectors.
• For network wiring, install the TPD-CAT6 at both the house and gate end.
• Install the TPD-CAT6-POE in front of the network switch feeding the POE camera for POE cameras at the gate.
• Install the TPD-24LIT4 in front of the gate sensing system for driveways and sensor protection.

Gate surge protection can be easy. Above are a few units that may fit your application depending on what was used to power and communicate with the gate. Protecting the power feed to the gate is the first thought when protecting a gate. The gate could be powered by its own breaker panel or, more commonly, there is a 120V circuit coming from a nearby building or home. Protecting communication wires to the gate can be done at both ends of the wire depending on what you want to protect. The farther the gate is from the structure communicating with it, the more chances of having problems on that line. For more information on how to protect you gate call today!

Why Do Gates Get So Much Lightning?
Gates are notorious for having lightning and surge damage to their motors and keypads. Why is this? Having a gate connected to a home’s electrical system is about the same as having a lightning rod in the middle of the yard. It’s going to get hit by lightning. If not today, someday! The power from the house to the gate is a direct pathway to the unprotected gate motor. The further the gate is from the house, the more potential there is for lightning to strike. Whether there is a direct strike or a nearby strike (up to a ¼ mile away), lightning may get on to the power line from the house to the gate. These surges can go towards the house as well as the gate motor, so it is advisable to install a suppressor on the electrical panel in the house feeding the gate. Lightning surges can also get onto the communication lines to the gate damaging both the keypad and house-end electronics. Some gates have an even larger chance of getting struck by lightning because of the metal fence that is connected to the gate. That fence is another lightning attractor system. Gated communities are spending tens of thousands of dollars a year on service calls on gates for these unprotected pathways.

Benefits All Around!
Peace of mind! Safety! Security! Failure to surge protect gates and keypads can negate the security the gate was designed to provide. The power feeds to the gate also leave unprotected pathways back into the house. Clients should be given the option to protect both the gate and the house when the gate is being installed. It is the client’s responsibility to protect his or her equipment, whether it is a gate keypad, a computer, or a home theater. It is the system integrator’s responsibility to show the homeowner how to protect it.