Mighty Mule gate opener troubleshooting and repair
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- Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
- In this video, I fix my Mighty Mule Model FM350 automatic electric gate opener for free (no parts needed), and show how to fix a couple of common problems with these remote control gate opener arms.
A common problems with these arms - especially here in our climate in the Pacific Northwest - is that the arms get moisture inside them, and this either blocks the rev counter emitter / detector, or shorts out the rev counter board (a $41 part from Mighty Mule).
In this case, I make sure the rev counter emitter / detector is clean and dry, but I notice that the open position limit switch's small metal arm is bent, and covered in grease. My guess is that the acme screw had stiff grease (wintertime temperatures) and / or frost on it - and when the arm retracted, the built-up grease and frost bent the microswitch's arm, so the switch did not work, and the arm retracted too far and bound up the motor, causing the controller to fault out because the controller's stall force limit circuit worked.
Once I fixed the limit switch and reassembled, the gate opener has worked perfectly for the past 2.5 months. I'm always glad when I can repair something without having to buy any parts!
This could be one of the best youtube videos ever made. Thank you!!!
You sir are eloquent, educated and creative! Thank you so much for the help. I will be searching for the motor upgrade next, I hope you succeeded, as mine is so slow!! Cheers
You sir, are a dying breed.
Loved your video
I have model 271, it would open like a few feet then beep & stop. After disassembly i found the motor housing full of ants and larva. The larva were being pulled into the limit switch. After cleaning everything real good it works!
Very good. I believe you are unsurpassed at making understandable videos.
This is an excellent tutorial. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and tips! I especially appreciate your last point of having pivot end of opener slightly higher than the end that attaches to get. I live in a rainforest with 200+ inches of rain/year and I certainly don't want water in the housing!
Thanks! Yes, having the pivot end higher is important for water draining away from the mechanism!
I found this soothing to watch even though I don't own a gate, I like that you kept the sped up sound
Thanks! A soothing gate video - I love it!
@@normnelson You are very soothing. I would listen to a longer video with you taking about gates
Have the same issues with my mighty mule. great video, thanks for making it. helped me
Jeebus, that last tip blew my mind (installing with a bit of inclination, why didn't I think of this). Great video!
Thanks! It only took me a couple of years to think of it... Ha!
Nice informative video Norm 👍
It’s always nice to repair rather then replace, good work 🙂
Thanks Michael! I agree - I hate to throw away, I'd always rather repair...
Those gate openers do operate at a snail's pace. Good information and very helpful tip on installation. Have a good one.
Thanks Jake! The funny thing is - my neighbor has an old Mighty Mule opener, the type with the controller separate from the arm - and his arm is much faster at cycling!
You’re my hero today! Thank you!
thanks to your video I was able to fix mine.
👍👍👍👍👍
Great vid! Hope this helps my opener. Went out during a big rain storm and everything works except the motor. Thx!
Excellent, after much rain and deep freeze, the gate developed issues like you described. Warmer, it would work with stops. I was, am getting water drips when turning the on/off switch. This video is a great one as you show exactly how easy it is to service and also seal. The add-on of slanting for a water run is a good idea. Will probably try to repair before buying a new one.
Great job! Excellent video and really thorough instruction.
Thank you, and thanks for watching!
I wish every video was as good as yours. I waste so much time with dumb videos where people just want to be actors.😅
Yesterday morning my gate arm started to have the same issue. It wouldn't open or close and the gate arm had the same beeping pattern. I took it apart and followed all of the instructions in your video, there was quite a bit of water and moisture in the casing as I was taking it apart I was finding more water in each area. I dried everything out and let it set out to dry overnight, I put everything back together today but it's still not working, still beeps in the same way. Do you have any other suggestions for me to try? This video was the best result I could find online for this specific issue so I am hoping you might have some additional advice or tips for me to try. I hope you see this comment!
Thank-you so much for the video by the way! It was incredibly helpful and informative and made me feel comfortable taking this gate arm apart as I have never tackled doing it before.
Can’t wait to open mine up and get to work. Great video thank you.
Glad you liked my video - let us know how your repair goes. My opener has been 100% trouble-free since I did this mod just over a year ago... it made it through snow, sleet, freezing weather this winter... not one problem.
THANKS FOR YOUR BIG HELP
Thanks for the video! I had mud wasps plug my drain holes so yeah, it was wet!
Wet is no good! A little screen over the hole might help with mud wasps...
@@normnelson - that is exactly what I did. Those mud wasps ended up shorting out the round alarm/audio component. I sent this info/pix along to Nice/Mighty Mule for product enhancement consideration for those of us who live in the NW or areas where these critters thrive. Silicone and a bit of screen works great. BTW - great video!
Wow! So knowledgeable. Sounds like you can make your own gate opener! I hope I can get my Mighty Mule gate opener working. Thanks for the video.
Thanks very much, this was an awesome, informative, well-produced video. I really appreciate it.
Glad you enjoyed it! I don't want to jinx myself, but our gate has been working flawlessly since I did this repair / mod., and we've had lots of sub-freezing weather, snow, lots of rain too.
Norm...Excellent video & well produced! 👍👍
Thanks very much! Thanks for watching!
This was a great videos my gate needs help l will send this to the man who installed my gate he seem to know nothing about it.
Thanks! I hope it helps!
Well done video! Informative and insightful. Did you see a way to grease the leadscrew? Mine has started making a screeching noise.
Very informative in his explanations
Thanks! I'm glad it was helpful!
Great video.
Thank you.
Well done and thanks.
Great video; very helpful. Thanks!
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
You're talking about the WESTERN part of the PNW because the Eastern side is dry as a bone.....just saying.
I have a situation where I open the gate, and after a period of time it starts creeping back to the closed position. Not sure if this is common or can be corrected. Any suggestions? Thanks
My gate keeps opening and closing by itself and I can’t get it to stop. I live in the desert southwest, so moisture is not an issue. We have had temperatures 100 degrees plus for days. I don’t know if that could cause problems. My husband died a few months ago and I am not mechanically inclined, so I have no idea what to do. Can you make any recommendations or suggestions?
I’m having the same issue. Any tips would be appreciated.
Hey man I got a problem with my gate cause my mule gate closes when I hit the bottom to close but opens back up once it finishes beeping on its own. Do you have any suggestions?
Hello friend, I bought the same one, I assembled it today and it is extremely slow, you can barely see it moving, could you help me?
My micro switch was good plus replaced it just to make sure. Manually try continuity goes.. When I turn on still pass the switch and blow the fuse
Make sure the wires are connected to the correct terminals on the switch, (depending on the switch, you could have normally-open and normally-closed reversed) then the problem is in your circuit board.
My operating arm has a small weep hole that the spiders and or moss likes to close off.
I am looking for a circuit board like the one in your gate opener can you help me
Can you do a video on the gate latch at the other end of the gate. Mine is not working correctly. It opens and then closes before the gate can open. Thanks
Good video very helpful
Thanks! I’m glad it could help!
I think the seal seam at the bottom is best. The only other way to make it better is to split the seal the long way and put one seam at the top and one on the bottom.
I've had no problems at all with this opener since I sealed it up well. It's currently freezing weather here, snow and ice and it's still running strong!
where are the red and black wires that are connected to top of the board coming from? power switch or from the motor? Thanks
I'm not sure whether you're talking about the "top" of the circuit board as it looks once you take the cover off... that is actually the bottom of the board once the gate opener is installed. I will say that as I've shown it in this video, with the cover off, looking at the bottom of the unit... the red and black wires that you can see connect there go directly to the motor. The red and black wires underneath the circuit board (closer to the inside of the unit) go to the power switch. Does this help? ua-cam.com/video/DuddDiTF5nY/v-deo.html
How would you test the rev. counter switch and board just to verify they are both good?
Thanks for video. What bit did you use for top center? I noticed you switched to another bit but couldn't tell what.. Mine is clogged with bug mud and I can't visualize the head.
That's still just a torx bit for a torx screw (I can't remember if they're T-20 or T-25, but they're all the same), but I added an extension for that one screw because that one screw is further down a small hole.
Hey Norm, the front mount snapped off while wiring a replacement receiver antenna....how do I get the broken mount off? Thanks.
Hi VJ, I'm not sure what you mean by the "front mount"?
Maybe the manufacturer is not doing a half *way* (insert donkey name) descent job of water proofing.
Yeah, definitely a half-donkey job of water proofing. The good news is that (I don't want to jinx myself) since I did this fix / mod, this opener has been working flawlessly in all sorts of freezing, snowing, sleeting, fogging, rain, rain and more raining weather....
Would you know where to find a replacement bracket for the base? It's the part that'll connect to the post. I can't find parts anywhere online?
Do you mean the part on the arm, or the part actually attached to the post? Here is a bracket set for the post: gateopenerking.com/store/bracket-set-350ih-2-qty-351ih-352ih-353ih-sw1000-mm700.html?gclid=CjwKCAiAhKycBhAQEiwAgf19esr3xUpnF9n-A3wnHOlLbG82NK-ylHjidk6eWHwgZuEEMYId0YKE6xoCkUgQAvD_BwE
It’s the molded aluminum part that is part of the main motor housing that attached to the stainless steel brackets on the post. It’s an internal part that connects with two short bolts to the motor housing. It has two parallel tongues that bracket the metal piece I had to weld to the post. I’ve looked everywhere for this part. No luck….
@@theoh6260 I believe they only sell (or sold) that as part of a kit. You might try searching for "Mighty Mule rear mount kit R4430". I see one supposedly in stock in Canada? www.jokmamu.shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=82846
Why did you not grease the worm gear when you had it apart
I did put a little lube on there, I just didn't show it in the video.
What’s the dia of lead screw?
Too bad Mule spent no effort keeping water intrusion to a minimum. Ants and water kill these long before you get your moneys worth. Garage door opener works for years with no issues.
Yes, it is too bad... but with a few minor modifications, I think these MM openers will last a lot longer.
Do you know what size motor would fit a mm371?
I don't know for sure since I haven't disassembled a MM371, but it's likely a 550-sized motor. Both 540 and 550 sitzed motors are 36mm in diameter, but the 540-size motors are usually 50mm in length, while the 550 motors can be 55mm to 90mm in length. I recently repaired a small reciprocating saw (Makita knockoff) and the RS550 motor in it was 57mm long, which is pretty typical.
PS... it's model 350.
Hi VJ, what do you mean by "front mount"?
If it's afraid of water not well made
Yeah, water and electronics don't mix. It really should be sealed better / have a gasket from the factory.
Yeah, I just opened mine up, it got all kinds of water in it, gonna just build a little roof over it...
@@gilwilforbes Exactly. I made mine a raincoat out of 40mil Oatey gray shower pan liner. Fold it over the top and joined it together at the bottom with three small bolts (along the length, back, middle, shaft end) with wingnuts. Has lasted out in the sun/weather for over 3 years now, hasn't deteriorated.
@@normnelson Did you happen to do any water sealing around where the (power/accessory) wires come into the unit (would be opposite side of where the arm extends/contracts)? If you slightly raise the unit as you noted (so it is higher where the "L" shaped bracket is at, the issue now is that water will come into where these wires enter the unit. While there is a very small escape hole on the very bottom for this water, there is a lot of water and condensation buildup in there. Was thinking to either silicone this area or use plumber putty or something - have you done anything for this by chance?
Mighty Mule is a garbage opener. I had to stop buying them because I was having to replace them every year and the last one only lasted 6 months. Be aware! Customer service is non existent...
Sometimes they always fail they never work Mighty Mule sucks