Centurion Automatic Gate Systems

Centurion Systems

Your Sliding Gate: What You’ll Need

Unless you possess the power of teleportation (in which case we’d like offer our thanks for reading our modest newsletter, oh visitor from another world), chances are that you gain access to your property by means of a point of entry enclosed by walls, or “gate” as we sometimes like to call it (as an interesting aside, the word “gate” derives from the old Norse word gata, meaning road or path). But, perhaps you only recently had the fence or wall erected and it as yet sans gate, or you have simply decided to automate an existing one. Then, dear reader, it is important to know what kind of hardware you’ll need and what function it performs, lest you end up with a gate that is either recalcitrant or, even worse, unsafe. Fortunately, we’ve been in the gate automation business for going on 30 years and we’re channelling that experience towards guiding you in any-gate related endeavours that you may wish to undertake.
Here’s what you’ll need:
Guide-rollers

Centurion d5 motor

Guide-rollers do exactly what their name suggests, they guide the gate. In other words, the guide-rollers – which are normally just two nylon rollers that rotate on shafts – hold the gate vertically and prevent it from falling over which is, you know, something you’d want to avoid if possible. For improved safety, we recommend fitting additional support posts to prevent the gate from falling over should the guide-rollers fail.
Anti-lift Brackets
Again, the job description is more or less in the name here. Anti-lift brackets help prevent unauthorised access to your property by ensuring that the gate can’t simply be lifted off its track by some devious criminal/strongman combo (of course, most gates are light enough not to require a strongman to lift it, hence the need for anti-lift brackets).
Endstops
Endstops are very important from a safety point of view and prevent your gate from abandoning its track. Remember that there is always the chance, however remote, that the gate will overrun its limits (and we’d like to point out here that with our new generation of gate motors, the chance is even more remote since the operator will always look for the origin magnet and will run the gate slowly if it is not detected), and you don’t want the gate behaving like a runaway train with nothing to stop it. CENTURION recommends installing mechanical endstops that are sturdy (preferably welded onto the track) and do not move even when subjected to considerable force.
Wheels
The movement of your gate depends largely on the presence of a collection of spherical objects that rotate about a shaft, or “wheels”. Keep in mind that the entire weight of your gate will rest upon the wheels, so it’s important to keep them in a good condition and rotating freely. They will also need to be compatible with the profile of the rail. CENTURION stocks both U- and V-profile gate wheel kits, as well as the novel GateShox system which dramatically reduces noise in sliding gates. Over time, the rails of sliding gates can become corrugated and uneven from use, and GateShox help absorb the load through a spring system, resulting in a smoother ride and quieter operation.
Rack
If you’re planning on automating your gate (and, let’s be honest, it’s the logical thing to do), you’ll need a toothed rack fitted along the length of the gate to mesh with the pinion of your gate motor. The setup works in an almost identical fashion to the rack-and-pinion configuration found in the steering wheel mechanisms of most cars and, depending on which operator you’re planning on having installed, you’ll need either Raz, nylon angle or steel rack. Not sure which one? Give us a call on +27 11 699 2481 for some friendly advice.
A Reliable Gate Motor
We previously likened buying a new gate operator to selecting a new car. Considerations such as the weight of the gate, maximum number of daily operations, push force and duty cycle all need to be taken into account when choosing an automation system. But, most of all, it’s important to ensure that you choose a gate motor that will never leave you out in the cold, so to speak. CENTURION manufactures a wide range of reliable swing and sliding gate motors for domestic, light industrial and full industrial applications. Our operators are constructed from only the most robust materials in accordance with the ISO9001 quality assurance system, and carry a 24 month warranty.

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DC powered Motor

Why We Do Things the DC Way

A long, long time ago there was a very heated, very public battle of wits between DC disciple Thomas Edison and his AC adversary, Nikola Tesla. Their feud was what started the age-old power struggle (literally) between direct current and alternating current, and while there has since been numerous accusations that the Father of DC’s character was less than savoury, there can be no doubt that this method of power distribution has made the world a better place(as has AC!).

In fact, DC has made such an incredible impact on the world that it has become a fundamental part of our design philosophy. But why exactly has direct current become the preferred method of power distribution? Why is it that so many appliances nowadays has a built-in transformer and rectifier circuit to change the input AC voltage to low-voltage DC? And why do we at Nevosys bank on it with our own products?

Well, we’ll tell you…

It’s More Cost-Effective to Implement

This is true for a number of reasons. Firstly, DC devices have only two conductors (namely positive and negative) versus the three (live, neutral and earth) needed for AC equipment. Since DC allows us to operate at much lower voltages, less insulation is typically needed which in turn leads to reduced costs.

Also worth noting is that DC circuits are generally less complex and require less components and yet they provide superior motor control to AC (another benefit – especially from an access automation point of view where one can accurately adjust running speeds for enhanced safety and security  requirements).

Reliability and Autonomy

This point is probably a bit hackneyed, but we all know that it’s true. When the Dark Knight does rise (we’re talking about power failures, in case that metaphor was a bit obscure), it’s important that your appliances carry on working despite the sudden loss of mains power.

Direct current makes this a possibility. You’ve all heard the term “battery backup” being used – now, the battery being a staple of DC power distribution – is what allows your gate motor to dutifully carry on serving you even during lengthy power failures.  AC machines can still be outfitted with backup, but it requires costly additions such as DC converters. Backup is native to DC machines.

Lightning Protection

This point ties in very closely with the one above. Since DC operators gives you a mechanism to fairly easily decouple yourself from the main utility grid using solar power and other energy generators, you are effectively putting another level of protection between you and possible lightning damage.

Higher Starting Torque

While it’s true that AC motors produce higher running torque, think in terms of gate automation. What is more important: setting your gate in motion or keeping it that way? If you guessed “setting your gate in motion”, congratulations! You know your stuff. 
DC motors produce superior starting thrust, which is what you need especially if your gate is slightly on the heavy side. Once it’s on the move keeping it that way is, well, automatic.

Improved Collision Detection

DC machines have been found to be more sensitive than their AC counterparts from a collision detection perspective. This is an important feature to have in your automated system, especially if you have kiddies or pets around.

In a nutshell, the load speed profile of DC motors is such that they tend to slow down when obstructed whereas AC motors are synchronous and only slow down when they literally stall against the load. It is quite simply easier to electronically detect a DC motor hitting an obstruction which in turn allows us to apply more sensitive anti-crushing protection.
 
It Allows Us to Operate in the Safe Zone

Edison once notoriously performed a public demonstration involving an elephant to show the dangers of alternating current, but that’s kind of a cheap shot (not to mention utterly inhumane) and we won’t resort to that here. Besides, at high voltages DC can be much more dangerous than AC.

The fact is, the DC we employ in our gate motors is of the low-voltage variety (typically around 12-24V) which means that it is much, much safer than the AC alternative.

Please note that our aim is not to slate AC in any way. On the contrary, one of our most robust operators – the A10 – is an AC mean machine and offers myriad benefits such as a higher duty cycle and improved running torque that a DC unit might not be able to provide. Our goal is simply to provide you with some insight as to why DC is such an important part of our design philosophy.

DOMESTIC AND LIGHT-INDUSTRIAL SLIDING GATE OPERATOR 

 Main features

• Battery backup
• Potent push force
• Intelligent speed control
• Rapid and smooth opening and closing
• Exceptionally easy system set up via LCD user interface
• Onboard NOVA (KeeloqTM encryption) multichannel receiver with selective delete
• Multiple operating features including Alarm Modes (a world first)
• Integral ChronoGuard timer functionality