Programming a BFT gate remote in New Zealand
The Door Hero is not connected with BFT. The steps here come from BFT's own manuals. BFT's website has a New Zealand country page showing gate openers, garage door automation, remotes and accessories, with an office address in Albany, Auckland and a locator for its points of sale.
On BFT's MERAK BT A control board the radio receiver is built in, so your remotes are stored on that board. So the board model is the first thing to find, and the remote comes second.
Not every door specialist works on BFT motors. Name the make when you send the job, so whoever takes it knows what they are walking into.
Which BFT board and remote do you have?
BFT's MERAK BT A manual, document D814459, covers the control board fitted to its Deimos Ultra BT B 400 and 600 and to its Ares models. Its receiver runs on 433.92 MHz with rolling codes and has room for 128 remotes, or 2048 once an expansion kit goes in.
The Deimos BT A400 is another motor, and its manual is not in BFT's public technical downloads. If that is yours, check the manual for your model and leave the MERAK steps alone.
BFT's remotes page lists the MITTO COOL C2 and C4, the MITTO STYLE C4, the MITTO B RCB04 and the KLEIO B RCA04 and RCA02. The range sold in New Zealand may not match that list, so check the manual that came with your motor before you buy a spare.
Adding a BFT remote from one that already works
Confirm the board is at protection level 0
BFT's MERAK BT A manual gives this method for protection level 0, the default. If someone has changed that setting, check the manual for your board before going further.
Stand near the control panel with both remotes
The manual says this is done near the control panel. Have the remote that already opens the gate in one hand and the new one in the other.
On the working remote, press the hidden button, then a normal one
The manual calls the normal buttons T1 to T4. Press the hidden button first, then any one of them.
Within 10 seconds, do the same on the new remote
Press its hidden button, then the normal button you want it to use. The receiver drops out of programming after 10 seconds, so don't pause between the two remotes.
Test from where you can see the gateway
Press the new button with the whole gate in view and nobody in its path.
Adding a remote at the BFT control board
The MERAK BT A board has three keys: +, minus and OK. BFT's manual says holding + for more than 5 seconds adds a remote on the 1st radio channel, and holding minus for more than 5 seconds adds one on the 2nd.
For what each radio channel does on your gate, and what to press on the remote after that, check the MERAK BT A manual for your board. If you can't reach the board, or would rather not open the motor, the copying method above or a door specialist is the way to go.
Clearing a lost or stolen BFT remote
BFT's MERAK BT A manual gives three ways to take remotes out. Holding + and minus together for more than 5 seconds is what it calls the transmitter cancellation command. Its radio menu has a "canc all" option that deletes every saved remote, and a factory reset wipes them all too.
After a full clear, each remote you still want has to go back in, so have them all with you first. Read the manual's radio menu section before you use any of these, and see the opener reset guide for resets in general.
BFT's own battery warning
BFT's MITTO COOL manual warns of a chemical burn hazard. It says to keep batteries away from children, that one can cause severe or fatal injuries in 2 hours or less if swallowed or placed inside any part of the body, and to get urgent medical attention if that may have happened. KidsHealth tells New Zealand parents to go straight to the nearest hospital emergency department, and to call 111 in an emergency.
Which battery a BFT remote takes
BFT's page for the MITTO COOL C4 gives one 3V CR2032 battery, a 433 MHz rolling code and four buttons that can handle up to 8 channels. The MITTO B RCB04 R1 SUNRISE, which BFT marks as phase out, has four channels on 433 MHz, runs on 12 V from one type 23 A battery, and has its range given as 50/100 m.
Put a fresh battery in before you reprogram anything, because a flat battery and a lost code look the same from the driveway. BFT's MITTO COOL manual shows copying one remote to another in drawings only, so follow the pictures in your own copy for that model. Our remote and button battery guide has more on keeping cells away from children.
When the BFT remote is not the problem
If no remote and no other control will move the gate, look past the remotes. The gate motor not working guide runs through power, beams and batteries, and electric gate repairs explains the repair job. For other makes, start at the general remote programming guide or the electric gates section.
A new power point or new wiring at the gate is prescribed electrical work. The EWRB says only registered and licensed electrical workers can do or supervise it, and that they must give you a Certificate of Compliance for fixed wiring.
What to tell the door specialist
- That the motor is a BFT, and its model if you can read it: Deimos Ultra BT B 400 or 600, Ares, Deimos BT A400 or something else
- Which remote you have, such as a MITTO COOL or a MITTO B
- Whether any remote still opens the gate
- How many remotes you want working, and whether one has gone missing
- Whether the gate moves at all from a keypad or other control
What you can do, and what to leave
You can
- Fit a fresh battery of the type your remote takes
- Copy a new remote from a working one with the MERAK BT A steps
- Read the motor's model off its label and find that manual
- Keep spare remotes and loose batteries out of children's reach
Leave to a door specialist
- A board whose protection level has been changed
- Clearing every stored remote when you have no manual
- A gate that won't move for any control
- Any new power supply or wiring at the gate, by a licensed electrician
What we would do
Photograph the label on the gate motor and the back of your remote before you start. BFT's names sit close together, such as the Deimos Ultra BT B and the Deimos BT A400, and that photo settles which manual and which steps are yours. It also answers the first question any door specialist will ask.