Using Monoprice Dual Relay To Open/Close Garage Door

Other Devices & Integrations Door Locks & Sensors
1

Hello,

I’m trying to use a Monoprice dual relay (model 11990) to open/close my garage door. I have 2 garage doors and would like to wire it up near the control panels so I can use a single relay for both doors. The black and white wires from the relay are connected to a 110v plug which is plugged into a GFCI outlet, and I had no problems powering up and pairing the relay. I have also isolated the 2 wires coming from the garage opener that control open/close, and confirmed this by touching them together and seeing the door open. Based on the attached diagram for the manual, here is what I tried to connect:

black: hot to 110v outlet plug
white: neutral to 110v outlet plug
red: one side of garage door switch wire
blue other side of garage door switch wire

The relay red and blue wires were directly connected to the garage door wires (no open/close switch) and then I turned on the switch in vera, it tripped my GFCI outlet. I’ve tried a few combinations and haven’t gotten it to work. What am I missing?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I have installed tilt sensors and a camera, this is the last piece I need to get it all set up…

2

You are using the wrong type of device for the purpose.

Although the Monoprice 11990 is marketed as a “dual relay”, it is actually better described as a “dual switch”. It switches a single 110v Line input (The black wire) onto two separate load outputs (The red and yellow wires). Both of those outputs are 110VAC. The green and blue wires are 110VAC inputs that the device uses for manual control of the switches.

Most garage door openers uses 12VDC on the control button wire and, as you found out, detect a short on the wire pair as an open/close command. The way you wired the device to the opener, you put 110VAC into the 12VDC opener circuit, possibly damaging the opener, and shorted the switched output to the switch control input, causing the device to overload.

The type of device you want to use is a “dry-contact relay”.

3

That makes sense. I will get an appropriate relay and hook it to the “relay” I already have so I can open/close the door. Thanks!