Guides · Gate motors
How to reset a gate motor, and which reset you actually need
"Reset the gate motor" can mean four quite different things: restarting it, clearing a lockout, wiping its settings back to the factory's, or clearing its remotes. Picking the wrong one can leave you with a gate that has forgotten where to stop or which remotes to obey. Here's how to tell which reset you need, how each works on Centurion, ET and Gemini motors, and why a reset so rarely fixes the fault that prompted it.
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Which reset do you need?
| What you want | The reset | Who can do it |
|---|---|---|
| The gate is behaving oddly after a power cut or a surge | A power restart | You, at the isolator; a full restart is ours |
| Remotes are ignored, but the gate works from the intercom or keypad | Check for holiday lockout before resetting anything | You, with the lockout remote |
| Settings have been changed and nobody knows how to undo them | A factory reset | A technician, at the control card |
| A remote is lost or stolen | Erasing remotes from the receiver | Usually a technician, at the control card |
Most "my gate needs a reset" calls are none of these: the gate is telling you about a flat battery, a blocked beam or something in the track, and a reset changes nothing. Read the motor's signals first: see gate motor beeping and gate motor not working.
A power restart
Turning a gate motor off and on again does help in one situation: a controller that's confused after a power cut or a surge. Gemini's AC slider manual, for example, says to switch the mains off, wait 10 seconds and switch it on again when the motor clicks but won't run after a surge.
What you can safely do:
- Find the motor's isolator or plug point, and its circuit breaker on the distribution board.
- Switch it off, wait a few seconds, and switch it on again.
- Check the breaker. If it trips again, leave it off and call us.
On most home sliders, the battery keeps the controller running with the mains off, so switching the mains alone may not restart it. A full power restart also disconnects the battery, which is inside the motor, beside the charger. Your model's manual says how; otherwise, that part is ours.
Before you reset: holiday lockout
If the remotes are ignored but the gate still opens from the intercom, the keypad or the button on the controller, check whether holiday lockout has been switched on. Centurion and ET motors have it: a remote button, held for a few seconds, that locks out every other remote. It's easy to switch on by accident with a long press, and it looks exactly like a fault.
Switching it off is done with the same lockout button. Each motor confirms it with its own beeps or flashes, set out on its manual page: Centurion D5-Evo and ET Drive. Gemini's slider manuals don't describe a holiday lockout, so on a Gemini, ignored remotes point elsewhere: see gate remote not working.
Factory resets, make by make
A factory reset puts the controller's settings back to the maker's defaults. What it keeps, and what you must set up again afterwards, differs by make:
| Motor | How | What survives |
|---|---|---|
| Centurion D5-Evo, D10 | Reset Options menu on the LCD: Factory Defaults, or Reset All for everything | Factory Defaults keeps the remotes and limits; Reset All clears both |
| Centurion D2 Turbo | Power off, hold the controller's pushbutton, power on, and keep holding until the beam and lockout lights cycle | Nothing: remotes and limits are cleared too |
| ET Drive 500, 600 | Factory reset in the Reset and Restore menu | The remotes; the gate must be set up again |
| Gemini sliders | No factory reset: settings are DIP switches and a dial that stay where they're set | Everything |
ET's menu also has a restore point: saved after a good installation, it lets the gate go back to working settings without starting from scratch. It's worth asking your installer whether one was set.
Every one of these is done at the control card, beside the battery and power connections, which is why we do them on site. The full steps are on each model's page: D5-Evo troubleshooting, D2 Turbo, ET Drive and Gemini troubleshooting.
After a factory reset: what has to be redone
A factory reset is the start of a setup, not the end of one. Depending on the motor, expect to:
- Learn the limits again, so the gate knows where open and closed are. On a Gemini, that means the gate running slowly to each end stopper.
- Set the beams, auto-close and modes back the way they were. The defaults may not match how the gate was being used.
- Learn the remotes again, where the reset cleared them.
- Check the collision sensitivity, so the gate stops on an obstruction without stopping for no reason.
That's why we'd rather find the fault than reset around it. A reset that "fixes" a gate for a day usually means the real cause, a weak battery, a dragging wheel or a beam out of line, is still there.
Resetting the remotes
When people ask to reset a gate remote, what needs clearing is the receiver's memory, not the remote. Some receivers remove one remote at a time (Centurion's D5-Evo menu, ET's Drive by user number); others only clear everything (Gemini, by holding LEARN until the light goes off). The details for each are on how to program a gate remote, Centurion remote programming and ET remote programming.
Beninca, DTS and other makes
We don't publish reset steps for motors whose manuals we don't hold, such as Beninca, DTS and older Hansa models. A reset on an unfamiliar controller can clear the limits or the remotes with no easy way back. If you have one of these, send us a photo of the motor's label and describe what the gate is doing; a technician resets and sets it up on site.
When to call us
Call us if the gate still misbehaves after a power restart, if a reset is needed at the control card, or if the gate has lost its limits or remotes after a power cut or a reset. We find the cause first, then set the gate up properly. All our spare parts are genuine, and every repair carries our six-month guarantee on our repairs. Your exact price is set in a free quote before any work starts. No call-out fee when we do the work. If no work is done, a R650 call-out fee applies.
Questions
Reset questions
How do I reset my gate motor?
Start with a power restart: switch the motor off at its isolator or plug, wait a few seconds and switch it on again. If the remotes are ignored, check holiday lockout first. A factory reset is done at the control card and clears settings, so it's a technician's job. See which reset you need.
How do you reset a gate motor?
It depends on the make: a Centurion D5-Evo resets from its Reset Options menu, an ET Drive from Reset and Restore, a D2 Turbo by holding its pushbutton while the power comes back, and a Gemini has no factory reset at all. See resets by make.
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