switch or sensor status

Community Playground General Discussions
1

Been looking at garage door open closing stuff (http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php?topic=5106.0) which seems pretty easy. What would be really nice though is if I didn’t have to this and zwave sensor ( http://smarthome-products.com/p-951-hrds1-wireless-doorwindow-sensor.aspx) and could somehow get the signal from the switches already on the garage door.

So, is there a zwave device out there to tell me if a switch is open or closed? I image it would cost the same as the HRDS1 sensor but it seems more elegant to use the switches on the opener. Also there are many other applications (water level, automation , etc.)

PLC (programmable logic controllers http://www.automationdirect.com/adc/Shopping/Catalog/Programmable_Controllers) have this sort of modules. Now if there was a simple way to tie a PLC to a vera – that would be powerful. PLC’s do have ethernet capabilities… I could take over the world with z-wave (at least my back yard)

2

If you open up the HRDS1 sensor, you can see that it has a pair of screw terminals. You can hard-wire your own switch to those terminals, if you find the magnet and reed switch inadequate for the large gaps commonly found in garage doors.

Garage doors are a pain, because they’re exposed to big temperature differentials, are commonly mounted on less-than-precise tracks, and are subjected to harsh vibrations. My wireless Sears garage door sensor has been really reliable, because instead of trying to see if the door is closed it just has a tilt sensor. Installed on the top panel, it signals whenever the door opens more than a few inches. It’s such a reliable design I’m thinking of duplicating it by wiring a tilt switch to my HRDS1 instead of trying to keep that damn magnet lined up across the wide gap.

3

[quote=“jaded, post:2, topic:168077”]If you open up the HRDS1 sensor, you can see that it has a pair of screw terminals. You can hard-wire your own switch to those terminals, if you find the magnet and reed switch inadequate for the large gaps commonly found in garage doors.

Garage doors are a pain, because they’re exposed to big temperature differentials, are commonly mounted on less-than-precise tracks, and are subjected to harsh vibrations. My wireless Sears garage door sensor has been really reliable, because instead of trying to see if the door is closed it just has a tilt sensor. Installed on the top panel, it signals whenever the door opens more than a few inches. It’s such a reliable design I’m thinking of duplicating it by wiring a tilt switch to my HRDS1 instead of trying to keep that damn magnet lined up across the wide gap.[/quote]

This is exactly how I have my three doors set up for sensors. The only downside is that unless you put the sensor on the highest panel (and even if you do, but less so), the sensor won’t show open until the door is up a ways. I can live with that, and didn’t put mine on the highest panel so I wouldn’t have to change the batteries from a ladder. But I just have a micro-tilt switch connected directly to the contacts. Works for me.

–Richard