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Linear Access Control Installation: The Denton Owner’s Guide
If you’re in Denton with a Linear access control component that’s dead in the driveway, we can usually install the replacement same week, and never later than we told you on the phone. Most Linear keypad, receiver, and card reader swap-outs run between $260 and $540 installed, depending on which part failed and how much of the old wiring is still worth keeping. The typical call goes like this: the gate opened fine for years, then one morning the keypad beeped but nothing budged, or the remote worked only if you tapped it a certain way. By the time we get there, somebody’s usually been locking and unlocking from the truck window for a week.
Key Takeaways:
- Linear access control parts differ by series, not just by “keypad” or “receiver” - the wrong one fits but won’t talk.
- Most failures are wiring and weathering first, board failure second. We replace the actual bad part, not the whole cabinet.
- We quote the installed price before we start, and we honor it at the door.
Which Linear Models This Applies To
Linear built several access control families, and Denton driveways have a fair share of all of them. The most common ones we replace parts for are the Linear AccessBase 2000 series (the 2320 keypad and its weather hood), the older AE-100 and AE-200 telephone entry units, and the Multi-Code megacode receivers that a lot of gates in the Denton area were paired with in the 2000s. Then there’s the big one: the Linear AK-11 digital keypad and its weatherproof cousin, the AK-11W. If your gate has a gray plastic keypad with four screws and a beep you’ve learned to ignore, it’s probably one of those.
Here’s where it gets into the weeds, and it matters. Linear keypads came in 12-volt and 24-volt versions. They look identical. A 24-volt unit on a 12-volt gate board will light up and beep, but it won’t send the code the operator understands. The model sticker on the back (or the inside of the case) tells you what you need to know. We also work with OEM Linear parts where they still exist, but honestly, for the older AE series and AK series, a quality aftermarket that matches the voltage and the wiring configuration often outlasts what’s left in original stock from the mid-2000s. Either way, we match the part to the board, not just the hole pattern.
Signs Your Linear Access Control Installation Is Failing
- The keypad beeps but the gate won’t move. That’s almost always a relay contact that’s burned out inside the keypad, not a gate motor problem. The keypad still has power, so it beeps; it just can’t throw the switch to tell the operator to open. Easy to misdiagnose if you replace the opener first.
- The remote works only when you’re six inches from the receiver. On the Linear receivers, the antenna is a thin wire that often got pinched or corroded at the terminal. Signal loss is gradual until one day it’s gone. We bring a new antenna stub and a whole receiver if needed, on the truck.
- The code resets to a default or forgets the code entirely. That’s the memory chip losing its grip, usually after a few Denton freeze-thaw cycles or a power flicker. The chip itself doesn’t fail often; the solder joints around it do. It’s a ten-minute fix if you know which joints to reflow.
- The keypad face works sometimes, usually after pressing hard. A worn keypad membrane. The cover still keeps out rain, but the buttons underneath are done. We see this a lot on south-facing gates in Denton that take the full summer sun.
- You hear a faint hum or buzz out at the keypad. On an old Linear unit, that’s a capacitor getting ready to let go. It’s quiet enough that people think it’s the gate motor. It isn’t. The hum is in the keypad housing, and it’s a sign the board has six weeks left, maybe less.
Replacement Cost & What’s Included
In Denton, a typical Linear keypad replacement with a quality direct-fit part runs about $180 to $330 installed. A receiver swap is $175 to $260, depending on whether we’re reusing the existing housing or starting fresh. If you have a full telephone entry system that’s seen better days, figure $600 to $1,400, because that’s a different animal: a new board, new keypad face, new wiring sometimes, and we’ll test every relay before we leave. We don’t quote one number on the phone and another at the door. The price we give you before we start is the price on the invoice at the end.
What’s included: the part, the labor to match it to your existing Linear system, weather-sealing so the next Denton rain doesn’t find its way in, and our wiring cleanup. If the old install left a rat’s nest behind, we fix that as part of the job. If we touch it, it’s covered under our 90-Day Done Right Promise. If we installed the wrong thing, that’s on us, not on you to prove.
DIY or Call Us?
Access control wiring is low voltage; that’s the good news. You won’t find 120 volts at the keypad. But there’s a caveat from the guy who has been fixing gates since 2001: low voltage won’t shock you, but an incorrect swap can fry the board in your gate operator. Match the voltage wrong and a $200 keypad replacement becomes a $900 circuit-board replacement. That’s the expensive mistake, not the shock.
If you want to try something before calling, check the obvious: the keypad for cracks or sun fade, the wiring terminals for green corrosion, and whether the breaker to the gate outlet is even on. Those are safe, five-minute checks. But if the beep works and the gate doesn’t - that’s internal. That’s the relay. That’s not a homeowner test. Call us at (940) 394-8744 and we’ll talk through it. If we can’t fix it over the phone, we’ll come out. And if we can, you don’t pay for a trip.
FAQs
In the Denton climate, plan on 7 to 10 years for a good-quality Linear keypad or receiver housed in a weather-sealed enclosure. The extreme records are under six if it faces full western sun and takes every summer storm. We’ve pulled 14-year-old units out of shaded, well-ventilated boxes. Location matters more than age. If yours is fading and cracking, acting weird after weather, or just not working reliably, call (940) 394-8744 and we’ll tell you if it’s fixable or ready for a proper swap.
Often, yes. We reflow solder joints, replace relays, clean corrosion, and swap out failed keypad membranes on Linear units all the time. Hal Gatewood will open the housing and show you exactly what’s burned, broken, or weathered before we talk about replacement. If the board is fryable by a power surge or the chip is cooked, we’ll tell you straight and quote a replacement. But we don’t replace what we can repair. Give us a call at (940) 394-8744 and we’ll talk through the symptoms first - you may not even need a service call.
Most single-part swaps (keypad, receiver, external photoelectric eyes) take 45 minutes to two hours, depending on how much wiring we need to clean up and whether the weather seal needs rebuilding. A full telephone entry unit is a half-day, because we test everything before we leave. We give you an honest time window before we show up, not a four-hour “sometime” guess. Call (940) 394-8744 to get on the schedule.
We keep common Linear-compatible keypads, receivers, remotes, and relay boards on the truck. That’s the point of being a gate company and not a general handyman. If it’s an oddball or a niche unit - an old AE series that predates Bill Clinton’s second term - we may need a day to source the exact match. But we’ll tell you that before we drive over, not after we open it. We also stock parts for LiftMaster, Mighty Mule, and Ghost Controls, because most Denton driveways have more than one brand somewhere on the property.
We’re Gatewood Fence & Gate, an independent service company in Denton. We’re not affiliated with Linear, Nortek, or whoever owns the name this year. We just know how their stuff works, what fails, and how to fix it without selling you what you don’t need. Leave your gate better than I found it - anything less and I haven’t done my job.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner, Gatewood Fence & Gate at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Denton and nearby areas.





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