Guide: Install & program dry/isolated contact relay switch garage door opener

Other Devices & Integrations Lighting & Load Control
1

Step by step on how how I installed a dry/isolated contact relay switch garage door opener with a tilt sensor, plus auto-close after X minutes open scene for Mi Casa Verde VeraLite

Author’s Note: I live in a 2 story condo on the 2nd floor, and my garage is directly beneath me with 1 story of another condo between us. I installed the Tilt Sensor first and alone, and it has worked perfectly for a couple months, never had an out of range issue. I did the rest of the installation of the dry/isolated relay switch yesterday, and I understand that Z-Wave devices make better mesh transmit/receive access points if they are fully powered, so theoretically this setup could work at a longer range than I’m dealing with. This was a concern of mine going into the project, so I want to let you all know- it works! For me! Your milage may vary.

This is the guide I wish I had a couple months ago, because I would have installed everything sooner if I had something this detailed about how all these pieces work together, and the scene programming wasn’t abundantly clear from the forum posts I found on the subject. The dry / isolated contact switch was a bit daunting to understand without testing or someone giving a clear explanation of what goes where unless you perhaps install garage doors for a living or have an electrical engineering degree. I’m probably average skilled at handy work, willing to try new things and learn new systems and do things for myself rather than pay someone else $60+ a month for a similar automation service.

Project total: ~$260

I’m using:
Mi Casa Verde VeraLite Home Controller ($180)

Linear FS20Z-1 Z-Wave Isolated Contact Fixture Module ($35-$40)

http://www.linearcorp.com/pdf/manuals/FS20Z1_manual.pdf

ECOLINK Z-Wave Garage Door Tilt Sensor (~$40)

Tools / Also needed:
Extension cord you don’t mind cutting that is long enough to reach from the garage door motor vicinity to the same outlet the motor itself is plugged into.
Wire cutter / pliers
Wire nuts
Phillips screwdriver

Optional:
Solder iron, flux, solder
Electrical tape
Wire end contacts
(I like to solder my cords together, looks cleaner and makes for a better long lasting connection.)

Hardware Installation Section

Step 1) Install your Z-Wave Garage Door Tilt Sensor on the top panel of your garage door per manufacturer’s instructions. Don’t forget to clean the area first if you’re using double sided tape.

Step 2) Cut the extension cord’s outlet end off, giving you a plug with 2-3 wires.
Extension Cord Anatomy:
Neutral/White: Fat blade, ribbed side of cord
Hot/Black: Skinny blade, smooth side of cord
Ground: Middle of cord (optional)

Step 3) Connect the white line out of your Z-Wave Contact Module up with the Neutral line out of the extension cord using wire nuts or a solder iron.

Step 4) Connect the black line out of your Z-Wave Contact Module up with the Hot line out of the extension cord using wire nuts or a solder iron.

Step 5) Connect the green cord out of your Z-Wave Contact Module up with the Ground/Middle line out of the extension cord using wire nuts or a solder iron.

Step 6) Inspect your garage door motor wire connections and look for where the wires from your wall switches are terminated. You do not want to use the same terminations that go to your obstruction sensors at the bottom of each side of the door.

Step 7) Connect the blue lines out of your Z-Wave Contact Module up with the same contact terminations that your garage door opener wall switches use; seems common to be ports 1 and 2 based on my own unit and what I’ve seen online.
http://imgur.com/Q8o0TVW

My installation, completed:
http://imgur.com/PKpORyB

Scene Software / Programming Section

This guide is assuming the use of basic UI veralite/cmh/ rather than Advanced veralite/cmh_ui6/

I’ll assume you can add the devices to your control panel per the manufacturer’s instructions. I call mine:
Garage Door Tilt Sensor
GarageOpener (Switch)

Once they are added, these are the scenes I’m personally using in the VeraLite control panel:

Scene 1) Go to My Systems tab, on Scenes menu, click Create Scene.
Choose Event/Notification based scene.
Name: “Garage Door Open”
Device: Garage Door Tilt Sensor
Event: An armed sensor is tripped
Sub event: Device armed is tripped
Personally, I check the box for admin being notified, because I want to know it’s been opened.

Scene 2) Go to My Systems tab, on Scenes menu, click Create Scene.
Choose Event/Notification based scene.
Name: “Garage Door Closed”
Device: Garage Door Tilt Sensor
Event: An armed sensor is tripped
Sub event: Device armed is not tripped
Personally, I check the box for admin being notified, because I want to know it’s been closed.

Scene 3) Go to My Systems tab, on Scenes menu, click Create Scene.
Choose On demand scene.
Name: “Open Garage”
Device: GarageOpener
Action: On
Execute: Immediate

Scene 4) Go to My Systems tab, on Scenes menu, click Create Scene, choose Event/Notification based scene. Next window:
Name: “TurnOffGarage1s” (Scene names can’t be longer than 15 characters)
Device: GarageOpener
Event: A device is turned on or off
Sub event: Device is turned on
Add Action: Device: GarageOpener
Action: Off
Execute: Delay for 01 seconds
This scene is necessary because feeding the garage door motor a constant ON signal prevents other door opening switches from functioning. The motor unit just needs a brief burst of ON to trip their internal switch to open or close the garage door.

Scene 5) Go to My Systems tab, on Scenes menu, click Create Scene, choose Event/Notification based scene. Next window:
Name: “GarageOpen5Mins”
Device: Garage Door Tilt Sensor
Event: A sensor (door window/motion/etc.) is tripped
Sub event: Device is tripped
Add Action: Device: GarageOpener
Action: On
Delay for: 5 Minutes (or 15 or 30 or whatever you’re comfortable with)
This scene will automatically close the garage door after 5 minutes if the Tilt sensor stays tripped for 5 minutes. As soon as the scene is activated, the previous scene, TurnOffGarage1s should also activate.

And that’s it! I can now control my garage door from my phone or web browser, and it will automatically close after being left open for any longer than 5 minutes.

End Notes Section
FS20Z-1 LOAD MUST SHARE THE SAME PROPRIETARY NEUTRAL
Without a guide like I just wrote above, I was concerned about what this mean when it came to wiring in the switch- was I supposed to have a wire going from Blue to 120V neutral? Surely not. What I learned this means is that if you have something more like a light that you’re trying to control, all Neutrals must be tied together, with Hot being the switched/controlled line.

Prior to installing my equipment in my garage, I wired the contact module up to a light bulb for testing and scene programming purposes in my office, which I found very satisfying to know I had everything set exactly the way I wanted before deploying. This is the wiring scheme I used to test everything with:
http://imgur.com/IFWxAFT

2

Kudos on the excellent write up.

I would however strongly caution against Scene 5, the automatic door closure. Automated or unattended operation of a garage door is very dangerous, if not to people then to car finishes.

Instead of automatic closure, I recommend a repeat alert notification when the door is left open. I also recommend a camera be pointed at Z-Wave enabled garage doors.

When you receive a notification that the door has been left open, view it on the camera and then manually initiate closure from your phone, while you watch the camera.

3

[quote=“SirCasey, post:1, topic:181028”]Step by step on how how I installed a dry/isolated contact relay switch garage door opener with a tilt sensor, plus auto-close after X minutes open scene for Mi Casa Verde VeraLite

Author’s Note: I live in a 2 story condo on the 2nd floor, and my garage is directly beneath me with 1 story of another condo between us. I installed the Tilt Sensor first and alone, and it has worked perfectly for a couple months, never had an out of range issue. I did the rest of the installation of the dry/isolated relay switch yesterday, and I understand that Z-Wave devices make better mesh transmit/receive access points if they are fully powered, so theoretically this setup could work at a longer range than I’m dealing with. This was a concern of mine going into the project, so I want to let you all know- it works! For me! Your milage may vary.

This is the guide I wish I had a couple months ago, because I would have installed everything sooner if I had something this detailed about how all these pieces work together, and the scene programming wasn’t abundantly clear from the forum posts I found on the subject. The dry / isolated contact switch was a bit daunting to understand without testing or someone giving a clear explanation of what goes where unless you perhaps install garage doors for a living or have an electrical engineering degree. I’m probably average skilled at handy work, willing to try new things and learn new systems and do things for myself rather than pay someone else $60+ a month for a similar automation service.

Project total: ~$260

I’m using:
Mi Casa Verde VeraLite Home Controller ($180)

Linear FS20Z-1 Z-Wave Isolated Contact Fixture Module ($35-$40)

http://www.linearcorp.com/pdf/manuals/FS20Z1_manual.pdf

ECOLINK Z-Wave Garage Door Tilt Sensor (~$40)

Tools / Also needed:
Extension cord you don’t mind cutting that is long enough to reach from the garage door motor vicinity to the same outlet the motor itself is plugged into.
Wire cutter / pliers
Wire nuts
Phillips screwdriver

Optional:
Solder iron, flux, solder
Electrical tape
Wire end contacts
(I like to solder my cords together, looks cleaner and makes for a better long lasting connection.)

Hardware Installation Section

Step 1) Install your Z-Wave Garage Door Tilt Sensor on the top panel of your garage door per manufacturer’s instructions. Don’t forget to clean the area first if you’re using double sided tape.

Step 2) Cut the extension cord’s outlet end off, giving you a plug with 2-3 wires.
Extension Cord Anatomy:
Neutral/White: Fat blade, ribbed side of cord
Hot/Black: Skinny blade, smooth side of cord
Ground: Middle of cord (optional)

Step 3) Connect the white line out of your Z-Wave Contact Module up with the Neutral line out of the extension cord using wire nuts or a solder iron.

Step 4) Connect the black line out of your Z-Wave Contact Module up with the Hot line out of the extension cord using wire nuts or a solder iron.

Step 5) Connect the green cord out of your Z-Wave Contact Module up with the Ground/Middle line out of the extension cord using wire nuts or a solder iron.

Step 6) Inspect your garage door motor wire connections and look for where the wires from your wall switches are terminated. You do not want to use the same terminations that go to your obstruction sensors at the bottom of each side of the door.

Step 7) Connect the blue lines out of your Z-Wave Contact Module up with the same contact terminations that your garage door opener wall switches use; seems common to be ports 1 and 2 based on my own unit and what I’ve seen online.
http://imgur.com/Q8o0TVW

My installation, completed:
http://imgur.com/PKpORyB

Scene Software / Programming Section

This guide is assuming the use of basic UI veralite/cmh/ rather than Advanced veralite/cmh_ui6/

I’ll assume you can add the devices to your control panel per the manufacturer’s instructions. I call mine:
Garage Door Tilt Sensor
GarageOpener (Switch)

Once they are added, these are the scenes I’m personally using in the VeraLite control panel:

Scene 1) Go to My Systems tab, on Scenes menu, click Create Scene.
Choose Event/Notification based scene.
Name: “Garage Door Open”
Device: Garage Door Tilt Sensor
Event: An armed sensor is tripped
Sub event: Device armed is tripped
Personally, I check the box for admin being notified, because I want to know it’s been opened.

Scene 2) Go to My Systems tab, on Scenes menu, click Create Scene.
Choose Event/Notification based scene.
Name: “Garage Door Closed”
Device: Garage Door Tilt Sensor
Event: An armed sensor is tripped
Sub event: Device armed is not tripped
Personally, I check the box for admin being notified, because I want to know it’s been closed.

Scene 3) Go to My Systems tab, on Scenes menu, click Create Scene.
Choose On demand scene.
Name: “Open Garage”
Device: GarageOpener
Action: On
Execute: Immediate

Scene 4) Go to My Systems tab, on Scenes menu, click Create Scene, choose Event/Notification based scene. Next window:
Name: “TurnOffGarage1s” (Scene names can’t be longer than 15 characters)
Device: GarageOpener
Event: A device is turned on or off
Sub event: Device is turned on
Add Action: Device: GarageOpener
Action: Off
Execute: Delay for 01 seconds
This scene is necessary because feeding the garage door motor a constant ON signal prevents other door opening switches from functioning. The motor unit just needs a brief burst of ON to trip their internal switch to open or close the garage door.

Scene 5) Go to My Systems tab, on Scenes menu, click Create Scene, choose Event/Notification based scene. Next window:
Name: “GarageOpen5Mins”
Device: Garage Door Tilt Sensor
Event: A sensor (door window/motion/etc.) is tripped
Sub event: Device is tripped
Add Action: Device: GarageOpener
Action: On
Delay for: 5 Minutes (or 15 or 30 or whatever you’re comfortable with)
This scene will automatically close the garage door after 5 minutes if the Tilt sensor stays tripped for 5 minutes. As soon as the scene is activated, the previous scene, TurnOffGarage1s should also activate.

And that’s it! I can now control my garage door from my phone or web browser, and it will automatically close after being left open for any longer than 5 minutes.

End Notes Section
FS20Z-1 LOAD MUST SHARE THE SAME PROPRIETARY NEUTRAL
Without a guide like I just wrote above, I was concerned about what this mean when it came to wiring in the switch- was I supposed to have a wire going from Blue to 120V neutral? Surely not. What I learned this means is that if you have something more like a light that you’re trying to control, all Neutrals must be tied together, with Hot being the switched/controlled line.

Prior to installing my equipment in my garage, I wired the contact module up to a light bulb for testing and scene programming purposes in my office, which I found very satisfying to know I had everything set exactly the way I wanted before deploying. This is the wiring scheme I used to test everything with:
http://imgur.com/IFWxAFT[/quote]

Great detailed install notes. FYI, you could just add a delay to the Open scene of a few seconds and then turn off the relay. It eliminates the requirement of the second scene.

You may want to look at the Garage Door plugin to eliminate the scenes and make it look integrated (appear as a single device) on your device desktop. Plus, it will ‘know’ its present state (yes, you see the sensor) and reflect that in the UI and any mobile apps you have.

It appears as a lock on your desktop.

good job.

Plus, what Z-Waver says. I can already see that door coming down on a car pulling in the garage after a short chat with a neighbor in the driveway.

4

+1 on the Garage Door plugin. It’s a must-have.

5

Functionally great but the wiring on the 120VAC side is not NEC compliant. You should really install a metal box and install the Linear module in that much like you would a wall switch. The box could be mounted on the ceiling next to the existing box with a short conduit nipple to make a way to pass the power over to the linear. The dry contact wires can then be spliced to class 2 wiring outside of the box. If you splice the contact wires inside the box you must use 600V UL approved wiring. The Linear pigtails are 600V so if you can get then through a grommet hole then Class 2 wiring is sufficient from that point onwards.

I see there is surface mount conduit (EMT) used on the ceiling and a stub from the ceiling box to the GDO in addition to a whip power cord (gray). Not sure why both would be there. Conduit tends to be a commercial application (except for Illinois).

6

Yikes. Think of the people sleeping a few feet from this handiwork. If they don’t die in the electrical fire they will be crushed by the automatic door closure. I hope a net cam is in part two of the tutorial so we can watch the action.

7

There are a lot of threads on this garage door opening/closing through Vera.
Many use the RTS GDOpener Plug-in which requires a switch to determine open/closed state as input to the plugin. Now we have a new UL standard UL325-2010 (http://www.cepro.com/article/lowes_iris_to_launch_first_ever_ul_compliant_zwave_garage_door_controller/ ) which adds requirements for unattended control of doors:

  1. The feature must be utilized only on an operator equipped with a secondary entrapment protection system such as a photoelectric sensor.
  2. The feature must be activated only when the operator is installed on a sectional door.
  3. The operator must be equipped with an audible and visual warning system indicating a pending motion for 5 seconds before the door starts moving.

What puzzles me most is the lack of discussion of a camera to view the door. I put a camera in just so I could see what state it is in before and after actuation and to be sure it?s safe to operate it.

If you are remote controlling a door spend the extra $40-70 to put a camera in place to monitor it.

8

A camera or alarm should work in all situations. An alarm probably isn’t socially acceptable acceptable in many situations. Personally I probably wouldn’t even bother with a camera under certain conditions.

But remotely operating a garage door without extra safety considerations in multifamily housing? No. Hacking off an extension cord to gain 120v access in multifamily housing? No. Anyone without significant skills to properly connect to an electrical box shouldn’t be doing line voltage project design for other people.

If someone has a larger property and no kids then my belief is that it’s the owners prerogative to hack together a rather unsafe system. Just don’t post it to the internet as an example of good practice.

Oakville garage door accident leaves boy, 9, critical … - CBC
7 days ago - Oakville garage door accident leaves boy, 9, critical … parents were home at the time and describe the incident as an “unfortunate accident.”.

9

SirCasey

Despite some concerns I have about the safety of closing the garage door without eyes on it or the electrical code, I must say great job on explaining your process. Nice work. One thing that you do not explain is whether this system affects the functionality of your wall mounted and car remotes.

Do they still work?

CTZW

10

I have another question for the forum and this may be a dumb one:

What is the difference between using a dry contact like the Linear: http://www.linearcorp.com/pdf/manuals/FS20Z1_manual.pdf you noted and a simple switched half hot z wave outlet (like the http://www.linearcorp.com/pdf/manuals/WO15Z1_manual.pdf ) to control the garage door? Conceptually could one run a 24 v transformer plug from the switched portion of the outlet to the GDO and operate the scene or plug in in the same manner?

Just curious

11

@catchingthezwaves - This setup should not impact the wall mounted button, unless it is one of the new digital ones with lots of accessory features. Most of those digital ones lose their clocks or some settings with this method and one forum member said that their new garage door opener with MyQ digital wall mounted control would not work at all with this method.

You must use a dry contact(no voltage/current just contact closure) for the garage door opener activation.

Utilizing an outlet alone, as you inquired about, would put high voltage AC current into the GDO. Very bad! You can however, use the outlet to turn On and Off a 120VAC relay that switches dry contacts.

12

Good write up. As others have suggested I would use the garage door plugin to eliminate all the scenes.

Also, for about $20 more you could get a MIMOlite. This relay device actually has a power supply so you don’t have to tap into 120V with an extension cord. Also, it has a relay and a binary contact on the same device, so you could cut out the tilt sensor and use a reed switch to detect status instead.

I used the MIMOlite and the tilt sensor in my install and it works great, looks clean, and is electrically safe. About $100 total.

13

Thanks for posting the photos. I’ve used door/window switches for several years on several properties, and I’m considering switching over. It helps to see you have these installed directly on the metal skin of the door. So you don’t have any reception problems doing it that way? And how is battery life?

TIA

14

@all
I was a bit put out at some of the criticism to my guide and it’s taken me a while to get over it. I know you’re trying to be helpful and I suggested and implemented some unsafe practices out of ignorance.

I didn’t know that my soldering and electrical taping an extension cord onto the module would be considered electrically unsafe. Can someone explain the dangers to me, as that’s something I’ve been doing for years with other corded devices?

Perhaps I could have wired into the electrical box directly, but I figured I’m just renting, and I was not going to be here long enough to want to bother with it, wanted something it would be easy to unplug and take with me when I leave.

The automated closing scene has been removed. Something about it was buggy and it would randomly open the garage a few times a week and that was more trouble than it’s worth. Occasionally my garage door still opens randomly for no rhyme or reason, but a lot less frequently than when I had the automated scene in play.

I have added a Foscam to my setup so I can visually check to see if the door is open or closed and the area is clear before closing it remotely.

@DeltaNu1142:
Installed the garage door tilt sensor directly on the door, and if I recall it worked fine from 2 floors away from the Vera unit before I even installed the door opener module. My understanding of Z-Wave is that every unit in the system is a relay for everything else in range, so having something AC powered nearby helps that a lot.

I’ve had the system installed since May and Vera is telling me the garage door tilt sensor is still at 100% battery health, and my front door sensor is at 99%.

I replaced my Z-Wave thermostat batteries a week or so ago, but it’s a lot more of a power hog.

@nomar383
I haven’t had any luck getting the Garage Door app to work on my system.

I liked that having the dry contact module plugged into 120V would provide a fully powered relay since my garage is 2 floors away from my Vera unit.

@catchingthezwaves
Yes, all other buttons and openers continue to work just fine- all I did was add an additional switch to the existing system, like having 2 buttons on either side of the garage for example.

15

OK, good info.

For my NO relays to control garage doors, I’ve always used an appliance module, a small power supply, and an automotive relay. Super easy, super safe. Any 12VDC power supply will work (I may even have a 9VDC on one of them). I pulled my power supplies from cordless landline phones.

16

@SirCasey - Don’t be discourage by a little criticism. It could be worse.

curiousB already explained what would be necessary for your wiring to meet National Electrical Code(NEC) requirements. But at a minimum you should have your 120V connections wire nutted and secured inside of a junction box, not dangling loosely waiting for something to snag them break the connection and zap someone.

You do deserve the lashing you got for using a two pole plug instead of a grounded cord to power the FS20Z-1. And no, running the green wire to the frame of the garage door mount is not legit.

Try the garage door plugin again. It does work with your hardware and it is a great app to have.

I will wager that your mysterious opening is due to a trigger that you forgot about or created by an accidental click. You can search high and low for it, or you can exclude and the include the FS20Z-1. This will cause it to get a new device ID, effectively removing it form all other scenes or automation. Then add the “new” device back to your scenes and it should no longer open the door without explicit commands.

17

Ditto. I’ve been using the Garage Door plugin for several years. I’ve had one mysterious garage door open in that time, and I still don’t know what happened… but it hasn’t happened since.

18

Don’t take it personally. It was a nice gesture summarizing your work to help others save a lot of trial and error. My comments on NEC wiring is because the NEC isn’t about getting it to work it is about keeping it safe.

You can’t use extension cord wire for permanent wiring. Open air connections are banned and unsafe. Everything should be in a junction box. Soldered connections are not as safe as wire nuts (not considered a mechanical connection that survives high temp). When you connect into line wiring there are many rules. I’m not an electrician but know enough to appreciate the details are important.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

19

I have 4 garage doors and an electronic driveway gate.

After some research a MIMOlite mounted on top the garage door motor plugged into the 2nd outlet (one used by the door motor other was empty) and a 5.00 wired door contact was cheaper, safer, easier and cleaner looking.

MIMOlite cost 60.00. Has built in zwave, comes with a wall wort to plug in to power outlet, has a on board relay to open and close door and has a 2 wire sensor input to hook up anything from 1.00 universal contacts to 15.00 stainless steel security door contacts.

Basically it’s 2 devices in one sensor and realy. 2 separate zwave devices cost more.

I also agree with the others the garage door plugin is what I use and it works well, shows up as a lock in vera and can be used with any iphone or android aftermarket app.

20

Hi all,

Old thread but I am looking to automate my GDO using the relay method and a Z-wave appliance module and was curious about the safety comments mentioned in the replies. My opener has a photo sensor safety beam already installed. Is there anything about this set-up that inherently over-rides this safety feature?

Just making sure that I understand the risks involved.

Thanks for the great discussion!

-P