GDI GLWD Barrier Gate Operator
The GDI GLWD family is a barrier lift gate operator built for traffic management — parkades, open-air lots, mine and government sites, and any gate house where the arm cycles all day. The headline number on GDI’s sheet is the speed: the arm moves from horizontal to fully vertical in as little as 1.0 second, and the GB and GM models are rated for 8,000 cycles per day.
The case is powder-coated 11-gauge steel with a lockable door. Because the open and close limits are set electronically rather than with mechanical switches, the arm stays horizontal — it does not creep out of position the way a limit-switch barrier does after a season of heavy use.
Specifications
| Model | Max arm length | Time to open | Articulated arm | Cycles/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GLWD-GL | 10 ft | 1–6 s | Available | 5,000 |
| GLWD-GB | 14 ft | 1–6 s | Available | 8,000 |
| GLWD-GM | 18 ft | 1–6 s | No | 8,000 |
| GLWD-GH | 20 ft | 2.5–8 s | No | 5,000 |
A note on where these numbers come from. The table above is taken from the GLWD spec sheet we host and link below. GDI publishes arm lengths slightly differently in different places — its website and its longer technical document do not match this sheet exactly, and GDI states it reserves the right to change specifications without notice. Treat the table as the sheet-published figures, and let us confirm the exact arm length, cycle rating and options with GDI before anything is ordered for your site.
GL and GB include a 3″ × 1″ rectangular-tube aluminum arm. On GM and GH the arm is purchased separately. Both straight boom and articulated arm configurations are available, and the arm direction and case mounting can be set for either side of the lane.
Applications GDI lists for the GLWD
Open-air parking lots, underground parking, mines, government facilities and public institutions. Units can be run in a master/slave configuration where two arms need to work as a pair across a wide lane or an in/out pair.
Battery backup and cold weather
Operational battery backup on the GLWD is provided by three 7 Ah (36 VDC) sealed batteries with an intelligent internal charger. For Lower Mainland sites that means the arm still lifts during an outage instead of trapping vehicles. A thermostat-controlled heater (115–575 VAC) is available as a field-upgradable add-on, which is the option worth specifying for an exposed lot or an unheated parkade entrance.
The GLWD also includes an electro-mechanical holding brake that can be disengaged so the arm can be operated by hand.
UL325 on this model
GDI’s GLWD sheet lists UL325 compliance as optional, available with a NEMA 4 photo-eye package. If your site requires UL325 compliance — and most commercial vehicular gates in BC do — say so when the unit is quoted so it is ordered with that package rather than retrofitted later.
Common barrier gate faults and what they usually mean
Arm stops short of vertical or won’t hold horizontal: the electronically set limits have drifted or were never calibrated after the last power cycle. Unlike mechanical cams, these limits are stored in the controller, so a board swap or firmware reset without re-teaching the open/close positions leaves the arm floating. Re-run the limit learn routine from the keypad before assuming the brake or motor is at fault.
Arm moves sluggish or stalls halfway on a GLWD-GL or GB during peak traffic: you’re likely exceeding the 5,000 or 8,000 cycles-per-day rating. The sealed gearmotor and brake are sized for the published duty cycle; sustained queues at a busy parkade entrance will overheat the brake coil and trip the thermal protection. Check the cycle counter in the controller logs — if it’s regularly hitting the daily max, the site needs a heavier-duty model or a second lane.
Condensation inside the case and corroded limit-switch wiring: the 11-gauge powder-coated steel case is rated NEMA 4 only when the door gasket is intact and the lockable latch is fully engaged. Techs often leave the door unlatched after service, letting humid parkade air condense on the cold brake housing overnight. Verify the door seal and latch engagement on every visit.
Arm swings free with no resistance after a power outage: the electro-mechanical holding brake didn’t re-engage when mains returned. The brake is powered to release; if the 36 VDC battery backup pack is depleted or the intelligent charger has faulted, the brake coil never gets voltage. Test the charger output and battery voltage under load before replacing the brake assembly.
Paired master/slave arms operate out of sequence: the communication cable between operators was severed or the master lost its address setting during a controller reset. The master/slave link uses a dedicated RS-485 bus — not the main power conductors — so a nicked low-voltage wire in the conduit run will desynchronize the pair without throwing a main-power fault.
Specifying a barrier gate correctly
Confirm the clear lane width first. The GLWD-GL ships with a 10 ft rectangular aluminum arm (3 in × 1 in), the GB with a 14 ft arm; GM and GH require a separate arm purchase and cannot use an articulated arm. If the lane exceeds 14 ft or needs a folding arm for low overhead clearance, you must order a GL or GB — GM and GH do not support articulation.
Verify the daily cycle count against the model rating: GL 5,000, GB 8,000, GM 8,000, GH 5,000 cycles per day. A parkade with shift changes or event traffic can spike well above average; size for the peak day, not the monthly average. There is no field upgrade to increase the duty cycle — the gearmotor and brake are matched to the nameplate rating.
Pick the arm direction and case mounting side before fabrication. The operator can be built for left-hand or right-hand traffic flow, and the case mounts on either side of the lane. This is a factory configuration; the brake orientation, limit flags, and arm pivot hardware are not reversible on site.
Decide on UL325 compliance at order time. It is optional on this model and requires the NEMA 4 photo eye kit. If the authority having jurisdiction requires monitored entrapment protection, the photo eye and its mounting brackets must be specified upfront — retrofitting the eye later means drilling the case and re-routing low-voltage wire through sealed fittings.
Specify voltage for the thermostat-controlled heater option: 115, 208, 230, 460, or 575 VAC. The heater draws from the same supply as the operator; there is no universal-input heater module. If the site only has 600 V three-phase, you need a step-down transformer or the 575 V heater variant — confirm the available service before ordering.
Confirm battery backup requirement. The internal intelligent charger and three 7 Ah 36 VDC sealed batteries fit inside the case, but they add weight and require ventilation space. If the spec calls for battery backup, the case ships with the charger and battery tray installed; omitting it saves cost but cannot be added later without a case swap.
What every GDI operator shares
- One operator, every common voltage. A single GDI unit connects to 115, 208, 230, 460 or 575 VAC, single or three phase, 50/60 Hz. You are not ordering a voltage-specific part number, which matters when a building’s service turns out to be different from what the drawings said.
- Sealed, maintenance-free GearMotor. Sealed stainless-steel bearings, no belts, no mechanical limit switches, no hydraulic cylinders to service.
- Electronically set open and close limits. Nothing mechanical to drift out of adjustment after a few thousand cycles.
- Soft start and soft stop, with open and close speeds set independently and adjustable on site.
- Battery backup capability as an add-on, so the door or gate still runs through an outage or a brownout.
- 24 VDC 1.5 A and 24 VAC 1 A available for external devices — loop detectors, photo eyes, card readers.
- UL/ULC listed, with field-upgradable Opto-Block, NEMA 4 photo-eye UL-325 packages, and a thermostat-controlled heater (115–575 VAC) orderable at any time.
Download the GDI spec sheet
The manufacturer sheet for this operator is hosted here so you can send it straight to a consultant, an electrician or a property manager without hunting for it:
Authorized GDI dealer in Metro Vancouver
CCGDS is an authorized GDI dealer. That matters for two practical reasons on a commercial site. First, we order the operator as the correct configuration the first time — enclosure rating, shaft size, arm length, accessories — instead of discovering a mismatch on install day. Second, when a unit needs parts years later, we are working from the same spec sheet the factory published rather than guessing at a substitute.
Specifications on this page are taken from GDI’s published sheet for this model. GDI states it reserves the right to modify contents without prior notification, so we confirm the current configuration with the factory at order time.
Installation, service and repair across the Lower Mainland
We install, service and repair GDI operators in Richmond, Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey, Delta, New Westminster, Coquitlam, Langley and North Vancouver. Typical work on this family of units includes commissioning and limit setup on a new install, diagnosing a control-panel or input fault, replacing worn drive components on the door or gate side, and adding accessories such as photo eyes, loop detectors or battery backup to an operator already in service.
Call (604) 206-5727 to talk through an application, get a unit specified for your opening, or book service on an operator you already have.