The controller board of a BFT RIGEL 4 gate opener system, apparently was damaged by lightning. When I've got to the house, the gate was not working.
I've checked all the fuses and two of them were blown out and I've noticed the third one was jumped with a small copper wire. I believe the 24VCT transformer overheated and then burned because of this jumper wire.
After replacing the the two fuses and getting rid of the jumper with a new fuse, the one for the transformer kept blowing off so with the help of a multi meter I've came to the conclusion the transformer was giving a short.
Replacing the whole controller board costs around $305 with shipping but I've looked online for a 24 VCT transformer and a 1A one costs only $19 so I decided to order it first to give it a try.
I've removed the original transformer, solder the new one on, replaced the 120V external switch that was rusted and also added a GFCI outlet to protect the controller board since such an outlet was not there before. It worked like a charm and now the gate is fully operational.
Note the original transformer is rated 4A but the one I used is only 1A. The gate operators voltage requirements only get to 0.75A so I think 1A is enough to get it to work for my application.
Update 12/25/2014
This transformer is still working correctly with no issues
Update 5/30/2016
No issues to report with this tranformer but had to change the GFCI outlet because of corrosion .
Update 5/30/2016
No issues to report with this tranformer but had to change the GFCI outlet because of corrosion .
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