Installed Ghost gate opener three years ago. No problems to date. Installed on a light 12 ft x 5 ft aluminum Gate Crafters gate. Made my own solar charging system with a 20w solar panel, Morningstar charge controller and a $25 Walmart small lawn tractor battery. The Morningstar quality four stage charge controller will make the battery last a lot longer.
So just an update regarding ghost control. They now have heavy duty options for gates up to 1000lb or 20ft I’d love to see you revisit this now that ghost controls has had time to flush out their portfolio. Edit: doing so more digging on there site shows some fine print. You cannot use a ghost control gate operator if you have a solid panel gate. It’s not designed to be able to handle the possibly of the wind pushing the gate. Even on there heavy duty options.
@@magicmanchloe we would love to see them come up with a photo eye system that runs off of a solar panel that will meet UL 325 standards. Unfortunately their systems do not meet basic safety standards.
My Amazon purchased Topens gate system has been working very well here in Alaska. 1/3 the price of Lift Master. I use it on a 10' 350lb gate at my lake house property. Solar Panels and 2 12v batteris comprise the power source. I installed it myself. RFID- Keypad - Fob- or Switch can control the gate. Fob works 500' from the gate using their wireless kit. The only drawback is it doesnt work below freezing temps. In the winter I simply mechanically override the actuater with the T wrench and disengage the actuator and operate it manually. Im going to use 12v pad heaters this winter to keep the actuator arm warm, but for less than $500. Im on year 2.
@@butlercontractingbastrop Thank you! I didn't see any other manufacturer rating their gate for our winters so I thought it worth the risk. We can see temps go as low as -35 near Big Lake, Ak. Customer support has also been A1. Longevity is still unknown but even having to replace any major part is much more affordable in my math.
Thank you we hope you got some useful information. We will say an update on the Ghost Controls we do not recommend them if they are solar powered as they are not compatible with the photo eyes for safety. Unless they are hardwired with a 120V power source these units are not meeting basic safety requirements.
We have a LiftMaster here at our facility and have had nothing but issues from the day it was installed. I think the longest it has operated continuously is 3 months. Issues from not opening, not closing one side opens the other doesn’t, it’s so bad now we just don’t even bother closing it. We have had the folks that we bought it from come out again and again and never could get it operating correctly and just stopped coming. Installation was shoddy. Nobody wants work on it. LiftMaster sucks.
We are sorry to hear you are having issues. It is very odd for that to occur LiftMaster stands behind their products and warranties them. If you would like to reach out to us we can help you get connected to another company that is certified that may be able to look at it to make sure it is not an installation issue.
Wish i watched this before. Bought the mighty muel and saw it had a smart app. I have no clue why they even advertise it as such because 1 its an additional $120 for the modular so you spend the $$ on that only to find out that 2. It doesn't support the current android version and doesn't support any smart home app. The app on apple looks like it was designed 15 years ago by a highschooler and doesn't work. The remote stopped working about 2 days in. Also i understand why it needs a battery but why on earth does it not have a place to put the battery it requires? The old gate had a place in ghe control box but not fhis one. So now you have to build a housing for something it requires. I could go on but it feels like the company jusy doesn't care.
Thank you for sharing your frustrations and experience. While these DIY inexpensive units look attractive on the store shelf they are loaded with issues and hidden conditions as you experienced. We hope you were able to learn a few things and when the time is right you can upgrade to a system that meets your needs.
We agree there are a lot of issues and a lack of safety features with them. That being said for a DIY person they may like it but they often call us to fix them.
I have over 25 years in the field installing gate operators. LiftMaster is overpriced. Their arms go out the rev. Limiters system is bad and if you think ghost control is bad, you're not installing them correctly or the correct application. I have over a hundred in the field and have zero problems. Apollo is 10 times better than LiftMaster? I have some apollos that are over 25 years old in the field. Still working
Installed Ghost Controls opener and it works good. From several vids I have seen, the biggest issue is how people are installing them. ie wooden fence posts, wood lags for fastening hinges, wires not in conduit...
