Garage Door

[mmknox]

Hi,

 

So I've replaced ALL of my old X10 gear with Insteon and am having a lot of fun (probably at my family's expense) learning about the Insteon gear and ISY controller. I'm left trying to noodle through what I need to do to get my garage door set up.

 

Let me quickly explain what I had done in X10, because it is what I'm trying to replicate...

 

I used a PowerFlash and Universal in the garage on a set of magnetic contacts and the door opener respectively. In the house I had a Leviton keypad (similar to the Insteon KPL) by the front door. The switches were on/off rocker toggles and had a red LED to indicate "On".

 

My old Enerlogic controller used basic-like programming language, and with several X10 addresses, flags and ON or OFF or NEUTRAL states, I had what was likely horribly inefficient code that would:

 

With an "ON" command: Open the door if closed; do nothing if door already open;

 

With an "OFF" command: Close the door if open, do nothing if door already closed;

 

Turn the keypad LED ON if door open, and OFF if door closed, regardless of keypress. (The LED would go On, then OFF then ON again opening a closed door and the reverse when closing an open door). The LED would respond accordingly even if the door was opened from the car's remote.

 

I have (but have not yet installed) an I/OLinc to connect to the door contacts and opener in the garage, and I have two 8-buttom KPLs in the house each with a "Garage Door" label on one of the buttons. (In my old setup, I only had one kepad inside).

 

I debated assigning two buttons (Door Open and Door Close) to be similar to my old Leviton's On/Off rocker, but decided on one button.

 

I am assuming I will have to program the button to issue only ON commands when pressed (as opposed to the alternating ON/OFF as is the default) and then put some programming in the ISY to tie it all together.

 

What I'm not sure of is whether or not to tie components together in "scenes" or treat each as discrete components. The concept of "scenes" didn't exist in my old X10 world.

 

In the end, I would like the KPL lights to be on when the door is open and off when closed, and have the button activate the opener just like the button in the car.

 

If anyone has done this (or similar), I would be very interested in knowing how.

 

Mike

[oberkc]

My suggestion is to start with the wiki. Your desire is a pretty common one. It is also a capability I have incorporated into my own system. Here is the link:

 

http://www.universal-devices.com/mwiki/index.php?title=ISY-99i/ISY-26_INSTEON:Garage_Door_Kit

 

It is based on a keypad, which I believe to be the best insteon device to control a garage door.

 

Yes, it involves "scene". One makes the keypad button a controller of the IOlinc. In a second scene, the keypad button a responder to the relay.

 

Check it out and see if it makes any sense.

[oberkc]

My suggestion is to start with the wiki. Your desire is a pretty common one. It is also a capability I have incorporated into my own system. Here is the link:

 

http://www.universal-devices.com/mwiki/index.php?title=ISY-99i/ISY-26_INSTEON:Garage_Door_Kit

 

It is based on a keypad, which I believe to be the best insteon device to control a garage door.

 

Yes, it involves "scene". One makes the keypad button a controller of the IOlinc. In a second scene, the keypad button a responder to the relay.

 

Check it out and see if it makes any sense.

[mmknox]

Thanks... I'll check that out!

[mmknox]

That Wiki article is *exactly* what I'm trying to do... thanks.

 

I have a dumb question about the door sensor. The Wiki article assumes the sensor is the one in the garage kit with wires for both NO and NC operation. I have an existing 2-wire sensor, but I'm not sure if NO or NC refers to its state when the magnet is engaged or when the magnet and sensor are apart!

 

I've looked at numerous door/window sensors on-line and there is no straight answer. Some just say NO or NC, others say things like NO (NC with magnet engaged) and so forth.

 

So in the context of the Wiki article and the Garage Door Kit sensor, are the NO and NC states with or without the magnet engaged?

[oskrypuch]

NO and NC refers to the state with the magnet NOT engaged.

 

And of course NC means electrons are flowing, the opposite to a plumbing valve.

 

* Orest

[oberkc]

I have an existing 2-wire sensor, but I'm not sure if NO or NC refers to its state when the magnet is engaged or when the magnet and sensor are apart!

 

I believe it doesn't matter. I think the IOLinc has terminals for both possibilities, so you simply connect your existing sensor to the terminals that work for you.

[LeeG]

The I/O Linc has a Trigger Reverse option that can be set using the ISY. This reverses the On/Off state the Sensor normally indicates so if the magnetic switch you have is giving the opposite effect to what you want/need simply set the Trigger Reverse option.

[mmknox]

It's true that it doesn't matter if the contacts are NO or NC, but the Wiki article suggests that the "Trigger Off" checkbox that you have to set with NO contacts gets re-set back off if the IOLinc loses power, and recommends NC contacts to get around this.

 

I'll check mine with my multimeter this weekend, but I'm pretty sure mine are NO.

 

I'll test it out, because the IOLinc manual says all the settings are saved in non-volitile memory, so I'm not sure why the Wiki author says otherwise. If it does re-set, I'll just replace the contacts with NC ones.

 

Thanks for everyone's help!

[LeeG]

At 2.8.16 the Sensor option is labeled Trigger Reverse. When unchecked, default, the Sensor is Off when the Sensor is NOT connected to GND, On when connected to GND. With Trigger Reverse checked, the Sensor reflects the opposite state. The Sensor is On when NOT connected to GND and Off when connected to GND.

 

My I/O Linc does NOT lose the Trigger Reverse option when power is removed. Perhaps the original author of the Wiki article had an earlier I/O Linc.

 

Note that when the Trigger Reverse option is changed, the Sensor must be cycle On/Off for it to get in sync with the new Trigger Reverse setting.

 

As you say, you can always use the opposite type of magnetic switch. You can see what the opposite type switch will produce by changing the Trigger Reverse option temporarily until the new switch is installed.

[sanders2222]

LeeG wrote:

e that when the Trigger Reverse option is changed, the Sensor must be cycle On/Off for it to get in sync with the new Trigger Reverse setting.

I did not know you could reverse the trigger from the ISY. Thanks for the tip.

[mmknox]

Everything working fine, and my I/O Linc does NOT lose settings when power is lost. Must have been older I/O Linc firmware that is referenced in the wiki.