Prerequisites to using the Garage Door Plugin:
- A Door Sensor that detects when the Door is Closed.
- Some type of Switch device … that when toggled causes your door to move.
Has anyone looked at leveraging this controller: [url=http://aeotec.com/z-wave-in-wall-switches/928-micro-motor-controller-manual-instructions.html]http://aeotec.com/z-wave-in-wall-switches/928-micro-motor-controller-manual-instructions.html[/url]
My thinking by looking at this, is I could put this in the gang box with one of the outlets in the ceiling by the opener and splice off a live line to give it power. I would then run the bell wires to the openers from the Motor 1 and Motor 2 leads (Live/Neutral). Or perhaps its a matter of running the bell wire to one of the motor leads and one of the motor switch leads. I’m not entirely sure I truly understand the nature of the controller, but feel like this could potentially work if the right mastermind is involved. 
The thought here is I can save myself lots of wires, parts, etc, and simply go straight with a small controller that could also hopefully reduce the power consumption for adding this capability in, keep the moving parts to a minimum, etc. Am I too far off the beaten path here? If not, I think I may just be going with the simplicity of the RadioShack module, along with some wall outlet subs, and the window/door sensors to detect open/close status.
So, I got everything wired up without a hitch. Only one problem: I’m having trouble pairing the Intermatic receptacle I purchased with the Veralite. I unplug the Vera to the garage to pair with the receptacle. After a successful pair, I plug the Veralite back into my router. After logging into U15, I see the “Appliance Module” I just added however it gives an error code, “Unable to get any information on node”. If I try to send a command to the receptacle, it replies with “transmit failed with code: 1”. I did some research and realized that this might be an issue due to the receptacle being out of range however, it is only 20 feet away at most (although separated by two walls). All of my other switches/dimmers/door lock are working just fine so I know the issue is isolated to the receptacle. I will try and replace the Intermatic receptacle with a GE receptacle and maybe use the Intermatic as a relay somewhere in between. I will report back when I get it sorted. Any other suggestions are very welcomed. Thanks!
Might be a distance problem as well … You might need to do a heal so that it can find the node via multiple hops.
Thanks Richard,
I tried a full power inclusion by hooking up a long Ethernet wire to the Veralite from my router and taking it into the garage close to the receptacle. Seems like this pairing method did the trick as it has been working ever since. If any more problems arise, I will definitely try the heal.
Seems like I have the first part of this task completed (z wave receptacle via relay to garage door opener) and working great! Only problem I have now is that in UI5, Vera is seeing my garage door like an appliance that can be turned on and off. Will implementing the door sensor along with the your plugin solve this issue? So instead of it saying “on/off” it will say “open/close”? Also could you refer to me a good sensor to purchase and directions to get the plugin working with my setup? Thanks in advance!
When done you will have 3 Vera Devices:
- A Binary Switch …when this toggles it will cause the door to move.
- A Door Sensor … indicates if the door is closed.
- The Garage Door Plugin (Lock) … You open or close this.
Hi Azula, adding a sensor will make the plugin function as a lock (I.e., you either open or close it). I use 2 of the Schlage door sensors. They’re on sale at Amazon right now so they can be had for less than $30. Others have used the Everspring or Aeotec sensors. My Schlage sensors have worked perfectly from day 1.
Thanks for the heads up Richard and AVS. I ordered the Schlage door sensor and plan on getting it installed some time this week. Will report back with results!
AVS, could you share your method of install on the garage? Where did on the door did you install it?
Solved my question below, How to connect to a newer panel style buton with multiple buttons:
http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,10093.msg132245.html#msg132245
I have the relay connected and vera is reading it. When I use the garage door app via the home buddy widget from a scene to open the door I see my new chamberlain signal light click on then off and the door does not open. I’m wondering if the garage door app needs some timer delay so that the signal is sent long enough to trigger the door. I have the blue wire soldered to a spare piece of garage door wire “red/white and white” then twisted together and put into the motor unit red/white push tab tiny receptacle just like you twist together the safety sensors in their receptacles.
Anyone have an idea why it is not triggering the door to open, but does send a signal of some sort?
I have the sensor and relay device numbers in the garage door app under advanced, but that is it.
If I go straight to the relay via home buddy I can here the relay click when I hit on NO DOOR movement and the wired chamberlain button will not work as expected. I hit off and hear a click and the garage door button works again about 3 seconds later.
My vera is almost directly above the relay bc my garage is under my office. The relay is also about 15 feet away from a flawlessly working zwave light switch and 10 feet away from the garage door sensor which is about 10 feet from that flawless z wave light switch so coverage should be great.
I have it wired like this which is what I have read everywhere else too , but this has pics encase you are wondering: The link has a cus word so here is google to it:
https://www.google.com/search?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bornsupercharged.com%%2Fcontrolling-overhead-garage-door-with-z-wave%2F&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#q=http:%2F%2Fwww.bornsupercharged.com%2C+controlling-overhead-garage-door-with-z-wave%2F&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aofficial
Mine is soldered and heat shrinked but here is the general idea:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-vorkemELKEo/T2zuEjqxg6I/AAAAAAAAICI/pVkqBH7rdrg/w500-h375-k/IMG_4430.JPG"
FYI - my garage door Chamberlain WD832KEV: Amazon.com
[quote=“JFerg, post:157, topic:166907”]It would seem to me that that the easiest way to fix this would be to use the zwave relay to short the switch contacts on a spare wireless remote. This gets around the problem of screwing up your liftmaster control wires (which deliver power to the control panel and several signals back to the lift motor) You could put the relay almost anywhere with convenient power.
Also - I haven’t futzed around with it yet, but you could probably put a medium sized capacitor between the remote switch and the relay to force the action to be momentary, and never stuck “on”, so you would never permanently disrupt door operation.[/quote]
I tried to do this but it won’t work. Shorting the wall switch will open and close the door but it resets the wall unit, even with an RC circuit. I put an oscilloscope on the wires and saw there was a serial data stream with heartbeat messages and different messages when you push the various keys on the keypad. So no simple RC circuit across the wires to open and close without resetting the wall unit. You have to either live with the wall unit being reset (switching across R & W wires), or use the relay to switch a small wireless remote, or solder wires to the switch contacts in the wall unit (but for me the wall unit isn’t where I have the relay so not a good solution in my case).
See attached circuit if you want more detail…
just set this up on my own door using the radio shack 120v relay, a radio shack project enclosure, and a GE z-wave appliance module. i have a scene that powers the z-wave outlet immediately, then sends off commands at 1s, 3s, and 5s delays. i’ve also seen some people say they have it set up with a trigger…does this mean you don’t actually use a scene at all? just power on the appliance module thru vera and let the scene turn it back off a few seconds later? is this the preferred way of doing it, and if so why? what makes that way better than the scene to turn on then turn off a few seconds later? i want to make sure i’m doing this in the best way possible…
also of note, i have a dsc tilt switch on the garage door to monitor its state…
[quote=“crackers8199”]just set this up on my own door using the radio shack 120v relay, a radio shack project enclosure, and a GE z-wave appliance module. i have a scene that powers the z-wave outlet immediately, then sends off commands at 1s, 3s, and 5s delays. i’ve also seen some people say they have it set up with a trigger…does this mean you don’t actually use a scene at all? just power on the appliance module thru vera and let the scene turn it back off a few seconds later? is this the preferred way of doing it, and if so why? what makes that way better than the scene to turn on then turn off a few seconds later? i want to make sure i’m doing this in the best way possible…
also of note, i have a dsc tilt switch on the garage door to monitor its state…[/quote]
Have you looked into the garage door plugin ? It creates another device that functions like a door lock and it also will display the state of the garage door. In my opinion it is the most elegant solution… it has been mentioned a number of times in his thread
[quote=“baxy_AU”][quote=“crackers8199”]just set this up on my own door using the radio shack 120v relay, a radio shack project enclosure, and a GE z-wave appliance module. i have a scene that powers the z-wave outlet immediately, then sends off commands at 1s, 3s, and 5s delays. i’ve also seen some people say they have it set up with a trigger…does this mean you don’t actually use a scene at all? just power on the appliance module thru vera and let the scene turn it back off a few seconds later? is this the preferred way of doing it, and if so why? what makes that way better than the scene to turn on then turn off a few seconds later? i want to make sure i’m doing this in the best way possible…
also of note, i have a dsc tilt switch on the garage door to monitor its state…[/quote]
Have you looked into the garage door plugin ? It creates another device that functions like a door lock and it also will display the state of the garage door. In my opinion it is the most elegant solution… it has been mentioned a number of times in his thread[/quote]
I haven’t looked at it yet, wasn’t sure if I could use it with the tilt switch…thought I needed one of those sensors actually designed for an overhead door. Wasn’t sure if there was a difference…
Does the plugin handle the pulsing of the outlet too?
you can use that sensor and it provides a nice pulse to assure the door opens.
great Richard work, that simple little tool.
Actually @Woody wrote the code … I just packaged it up, cleaned up the setup, and made it available in the App store (With his permission).
I’ve been using a remotec contact relay and a schlage door sensor. Both are tied into the garage door plugin and work very well. I also have one of those garage door opener wall units with a lcd and various buttons for light, lock, program, etc. I just took the back off the wall unit and soldered some wires to the switch contacts on the back of the board. I hooked those wires up to the remotec and it closes the circuit just as I had pressed the actual button. No resets or anything, and the whole system has worked flawlessly. I also have a scene that turns the remotec off after a second just in case. I believe the garage door opener plugin has worked in turning the remotec off everytime, but I’ve never had any problems with it being left on so it must be working. I think the only thing that would make my setup better is the Mimolite unit that has an internal setting to have a momentary contact time, as opposed to constant on and off. That would get rid of the need for a scene or the garage door plugin to turn the switch off.
Gday all, Not sure if anyone else has had this problem but I have connected everything up and have tested it out and all is working direct from UI5 in vera. My problem is when I go to add it to SQremote on my Iphone it will not control the Garage door app. I can control the appliance module individually and have not problem and the sensor sends back the status when added individually. any ideas??
This app is brilliant - thank you!
I was mid-post when I realized what my own issue was. For other newbies, make sure when configuring the DoorSensorDevNum and DoorSwitchDevNumber values that you’re using the “ID” of the associated devices and not the “ALTID” which shows higher on the list, and is a similarly unsurprising integer value.
Now tomorrow I’ll configure the second door in no time at all.
Hello,
Is the GC100 patch still needed? If so, can someone please send it to me? I have installed the Garage Door Plugin on my Vera 3 using the ip2cc module. Things work fine, but the relay is latching, and not toggling off. Am I doing something incorrectly?
Cheers,
Bruce
Itach ip2cc with Vera 3 and GarageDoor Plugin
yes the patch is still needed for the gc100 to return proper status. Send me a message with your email address and I will forward it to you.