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I want to use two of my zones to control two of my openers. My thought was to tie one of the grounds in with the negative wire on the wall-mounted opener and then the positive wire would be zone #8 for instance. I should be able then open that zone for about a second and close it to replicate the push of one of the buttons manually. Does this sound right to everyone? Seems pretty simple to me so I just want to make sure I’m not missing something here. I had been struggling with a Raspberry Pi for a while trying to create a stand alone solution incorporating my security cameras for position monitoring but I just don’t have the time to continue this project anymore and just want to have something working ion the meantime.
Thoughts?
That requires some in-depth knowledge about how your garage door opener works, and I suspect the sprinkler zones are not suitable for switching garage doors, at least not without replacing the triac with transistors. The reason is that I assume (this is just a guess) garage door openers operate in DC, and sprinkler valves work in AC. The triac on OpenSprinkler can switch on and off AC voltage but not DC voltage. Of course, if your garage door opener works in AC then it’s likely this can work. If it’s DC, you need to replace the corresponding triac with a NPN transistor (such as 2N3904 for small current, or MPSA14 for high current), or N-Channel MOSFET (such as BS170). Then it can switch DC voltage.
Do note that all current versions of OpenSprinkler have a built-in relay, and it’s included particularly for switching devices like garage door openers. Although the software hasn’t been upgraded to provide built-in support for the relay, it has been tested and is functional. You just have to customize the code a bit to suit your need.
I have a notional design to accomplish this, see attached. I am not planning to use for now the rain sensor, so I will be using it to detect if the garage is open or close. Running the once program for 2 secs for the specific station should activate the relay no different than pressing the close/open button. The only potential problem is if the door is left open and a sprinkler program is about to run, but in my case, I water at night so the likelihood of this coincidence is low.
Well, hardware wise it works, ie when the door is open the rain sensor indicates is on, when the door is close no rain. With the door close, ie no rain, going to run program once and setting the station for 2-3 seconds closes the relay. Here is now the problem: if rain has been detected, ie garage door is open, this inhibits the “run once program” to turn on any station. This kind of doesn’t make sense, I should be able to run any program once/manually regardless of the rain sensor, ex: to check valves/sprinkler heads even after the rain has stopped, a firmware change will be required. 🙁 :-(.
Which firmware are you using? Firmware 2.0.5 and 2.0.6 have changed the way rain delay / sensing works, and they both bypass rain delay sensing for manual operation and run-once program.
Just chequed via PC web, version 2.04. hmmmm, I just bought this unit 2-3 wks ago, I expected the newer SW installed. This will be my 1st on how to update firmware on this unit. I will report the outcome. Thanks!
Success!…Re-programmed it, then I use the Run Once running the station for 2 secs and works fine…The only drawback is that the phone app do not have a sensor status indication, so I have to use the webapp. For now this works, my next update will be analyzing the circuitry to see how can a separate sensor be added/programmed.
biaggi, question: How exactly did you end up wiring your garage door opener? I too am trying to run a station to my garage door wall console. I have a very basic Overhead Door set-up and don’t know which wires in my 18/2 wire need to go where. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Pictures are excellent if you have them!
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