ADC New App Features & Rollout

Hey John - if you're just slightly handy you can build a really simple garage door opener/closer that not only allows you to control the door remotely but also know if it's open or closed. After getting my awesome system from Frontpoint I came to realize that they did not offer a garage door opener - only a sensor - which is nice but only solves half the issue - knowing if the door is open or closed. So given that fact the z-wave garage door opener gap became a bit more of an urgent issue recently when a neighbor called and told me that my garage door had been left open all day. With this project in combination with the aforementioned garage door sensor from Frontpoint I'll be able to keep myself apprised of such oversights in the future and be able to take care of it from anywhere in the world! REQUIRED MATERIALS: Z-wave plug-in appliance switch (I used a GE 15-Amp Z-Wave Duplex Outlet Lowes $34.99) 120v relay (I used Radio Shack model #275-217, $4) Project Enclosure (I used Radio Shack model 270-1801, $3) Two prong standard power cord (Mine was cut off a dead computer power supply) Approx. 3' of 2-conductor wire (any small gauge, 20-26AWG, will do) Solder/Solder Iron Double-sided foam tape Frontpoint Z-wave garage door sensor installed to send open/close notify ONLY and not to alarm. INSTALL Z-WAVE OUTLET IN CEILING First, replace the outlet in the ceiling where your garage door opener connects for power with the GE Z-Wave outlet. Make sure you shut off your breaker before doing this work to ensure there is no power at the site when replacing the outlet. Plug the garage door opener into the NON Z-Wave plug. You’ll save the Z-Wave controlled plug for later. Next, once the mew outlet is installed correctly, energize the breaker and add the z-wave appliance module to your z-wave controller. Go into the web site and name it “Garage Door Opener”. You can test the functionality of the new outlet with your mobile phone app – when it is off the blue light is lit, when it is on the light is off. You can toggle this back and forth to make sure it works. BUILDING THE CONTROLLER Now, take the small project box and drill two small holes in the side of the box and used an x-acto knife to cut the holes into an oval shaped like the power cord so it would fit with precision. The power cord was cut short enough to eliminate excess wire dangling from the final assembly but long enough to keep the wire from being too tight. Feed the power cord through the hole, then split the strands (or strip back the jacket of you use a jacketed cord) about 1" from the end. Strip the conductors about 1/4" and tin with solder. Solder the conductors across the relay coil. (If you're unfamiliar with relays, don't worry about polarity. As this is AC and coils are not polarized you can connect in any order.) These are the largest pair of pins and are UNMARKED. Again, polarity does not matter. Next, drill a small hole in the lid of the box and feed through your smaller remote wire. As with the power cord, split the conductors about 1", strip 1/4" and tin. Solder across the Normally Open (NO) contacts. This relay has two sets of contacts and it doesn't matter which one you use. They are numbered. I used pins #3 and #5 – you can also use #4 and #6. Depending on the type of connections your garage door opener uses you'll likely want to prepare the other end of the remote wires at this point. Split the conductors back about 3", strip back about 1/2" and tin the wire ends to facilitate connection to your garage door opener terminals. Connect the wires to your garage door terminals for the open/close switch in parallel so they can work together. Consult your garage door opener's user manual to determine which terminals on the opener are connected to your opener's button on the wall. Connect your switch's wires in parallel to the remote wall button. Be aware that most openers have additional wires for bump and optical safety sensors so don't mix them up. Use a piece of double-sided foam tape to adhere the relay to the bottom of the box and another piece of foam tape to adhere the box to the z-wave appliance switch or to some other convenient location. Finally, plug the two prong power cord from the relay box into the Z-Wave outlet. Now, when your z-wave appliance switch is turned on the relay will energize, close the circuit and your garage door opener will act as if you're holding the wall button. When you turn it off it'll appear as if you've released the wall button. TURNING OFF THE RELAY AND NOTIFYING YOU OF OPEN OR CLOSED DOOR I mentioned earlier, the Frontpoint garage door sensor. Since when you energize the Z-Wave outlet noted above it turns ON you really need an automated way to turn it off so the relay shuts down i.e. opens the circuit as if you let go of the button. Install the garage door sensor as Frontpoint recommends. Have them set it up as an open/close notify sensor and NOT to alarm when open. Next go into your empower light control, go to rules and set up two simple rules. Rule #1 when Garage Door Sensor shows OPEN shut OFF Garage Door Opener. Rule #2 when Garage Door Sensor shows CLOSE shut OFF Garage Door Outlet. Be sure to save that. Now each time you turn ON the Garage Door Opener with your mobile app when the garage door sensor shows open the relay will power off – when it shows closed the relay will power off once again. With the sensor now installed you can also see the status of the door. I have other rules setup that tell me if the door has been let open for more than 30 minutes. I can see open/close status from anywhere and if I need to let someone in remotely, boom, I just energize the Z-Wave outlet called “Garage Door Opener” and it turns on the relay, the door sensor gets to a certain point, and the relay shuts down. This works both with open and close flawlessly. This works beautifully and for less than $50 and about one hours work. Good luck and enjoy!!! Disclaimer: I accept no responsibility for any damages to persons or property caused by following this suggested technical approach. Please use caution any time you handle soldering irons, interact with high voltages and climb ladders! Be sure to shut OFF any breakers related to any outlet or switch you might be installing.