telljcl Posted August 5, 2015 Posted August 5, 2015 (edited) Replaced a garage door opener (old school, with momentary button on the wall). New Chamberlain unit has a "smart" wall switch with motion sensor and programming buttons. Still just 2 wires going to motor unit, but shorting the wires will not open or close the door. Obviously there is some kind of a data bus on these 2 wires but I really don't want to mount these huge buttons (4 of them) on the wall where I don't really have space. Don't care about motion sense and light buttons etc.. Just want to open and close with the "old" buttons. Anybody know a way to do this? I prefer to keep it as simple as possible and avoid running additional wires. BTW, its a "MyQ enabled" Chamberlain WD832KEV http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00APL6Q0W?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00 Thanks for any insight! Edited August 5, 2015 by telljcl
apnar Posted August 5, 2015 Posted August 5, 2015 You can grab their super simple button: https://www.liftmaster.com/For-Homes/Accessories/Control-Panels/model-883LM If you then want something you can short you can solder to the internal button contacts of that button.
telljcl Posted August 5, 2015 Author Posted August 5, 2015 Looks perfect. Any idea if this will also act as a shorting button ? I'm not sure I want to replace all 4 openers as my 23 year old ones work perfectly (though a little noisier). I did want a quieter one below my bedroom. I would wager these new ones will never last that long. Would like wall buttons to all be the same Thank you!
MustangChris04 Posted August 8, 2015 Posted August 8, 2015 I'd like to know this as well. My current opener is hooked to an IOLinc so I can monitor garage status as well as open/close it. I want to replace the unit with a new belt drive unit, but they come with those fancy "smart" buttons. I don't want to use their WiFi bridge and their app to open my garage. I want to continue using the IOLinc and my issue. If the wires are shorted and that doesn't trigger an opening/closing, then I can't use an IOLinc.
Teken Posted August 8, 2015 Posted August 8, 2015 I have one of the first generation jack shaft 3800 series GDO's. It too came with a fancy wall mounted controller. Unlike others I never went down the road to soldering any remotes. I simply installed the I/O linc wires in parallel at the GDO unit itself. This has been working perfectly fine for six plus years. You might want to give that method a try and could save you some cash! Ideals are peaceful - History is violent
MWareman Posted August 8, 2015 Posted August 8, 2015 I have one of the first generation jack shaft 3800 series GDO's. It too came with a fancy wall mounted controller. Unlike others I never went down the road to soldering any remotes. I simply installed the I/O linc wires in parallel at the GDO unit itself. This has been working perfectly fine for six plus years. You might want to give that method a try and could save you some cash! Ideals are peaceful - History is violent That does not work when you have the fancy door buttons - the GDO stops responding to shorts and the button loses power - meaning its clock gets reset. If you switch out the fancy button for a regular one, the GDO falls back to conventional operation.
Teken Posted August 8, 2015 Posted August 8, 2015 That does not work when you have the fancy door buttons - the GDO stops responding to shorts and the button loses power - meaning its clock gets reset. If you switch out the fancy button for a regular one, the GDO falls back to conventional operation. I have to gather this is on the newer units because up to a certain manufactured year the fancy remote controller worked perfectly fine and it never cut the power to my unit. With the advent of the Internet *My Q* module it seems the reliance on the data bus is more stringent than years past. To be honest I don't know of many people who rely on the clock, temperature, at all. So if the OP can live with the LCD going blank and flashing 12:00 and it allows the I/O to operate. Than, I say have at it its free and it works! Ha . . .
Jimbo.Automates Posted August 9, 2015 Posted August 9, 2015 It also depends on the manufacturer, some, like Genie have a dry contact adapter, which is what I use on mine with an IoLinc. No idea if chamberlain has one.
telljcl Posted August 10, 2015 Author Posted August 10, 2015 (edited) That does not work when you have the fancy door buttons - the GDO stops responding to shorts and the button loses power - meaning its clock gets reset. If you switch out the fancy button for a regular one, the GDO falls back to conventional operation. As far as I know, my new myQ units won't work with a dry contact button period - not even when you don't have a fancy button involved. I tried it. I just ended up using the big fancy buttons that came with it (figured out a way to mount them on the wall that doesn't look too bad and fits in the space). I didn't have ISY control of my doors before though, and still don't - only through myQ - so I'll have to solder to a wireless remote unless somebody above my pay grade figures out how to make the ISY talk to the myQ bridge box. That would be ideal since it knows the current status etc... and maybe you could access the lights in the GDO as devices also. Edited August 10, 2015 by telljcl
MWareman Posted August 10, 2015 Posted August 10, 2015 I wonder if it's model specific then. I ended up buying another remote and soldering wires to its button. These wires (and a mag switch) are wired to my Elk - and the Elk reports to my ISY. Works well enough for me.
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