I do set it as a contact sensor. With any tilt sensor, I find it’s not helpful to get too greedy when trying to sense open state. I put the sensor as high up on the door as possible, and don’t calibrate open except once it’s fully rotated.
I haven’t noticed an appreciable difference in response time compared to the ecolink it replaced.
If you have concerns about the door actually stopping at some point when the first panel isn’t yet rotated, I’m not sure what to recommend. I haven’t had an issue with that but also have an outdoor camera that I could check to see the door if there was any concern, so I have peace of mind about it.
I have used plastic food storage containers many times around my house. The Container Store has them in many different sizes and the soft plastic is easy to drill into.
How can I do this with a ZEN17? The differences in terminals between ZEN16 and ZEN17 is confusing the heck out of me... I have a MyQ GDO, likely with Security 2.0+ because it's only 2 years old. I have a wall switch w/ light button and 2 remote openers. Any way I can prevent sacrificing one of my remotes?
I've found a ton of info on this topic in this forum, but only in pieces (people either use the ZEN16 or they have different GDO's, or they don't have to deal with Security 2.0+), and I'm really struggling to figure out exactly what I need for my situation...
I don't have any extra security stuff on my GDO, so I can't help with those considerations, but beyond the obvious of 3-vs-2 relays, the main difference between the Z16 and Z17 is that the sensor inputs on teh Z17 can optionally be used separately from the relays on the Z17 -- on the Z16, they're always married together.
That was key for me, since I wanted to use dumb wired reed sensors for door position in my garage door setup. I can't do that with the Z16 but I can with the Z17.
The Z16 has been around longer than the Z17, so there's more info "out there" about it -- in general, any how-to guidance you find for the Z16 applies well to the Z17 too since they're pretty darn similar for most of the common use cases.
You can use this to deal with Security 2.0+ GDOs, and avoid sacrificing your remotes. Also, since it is powered from the GDO, there's no issue with remote batteries needing to be replaced.
This is one of the posts I saw but just haven't been able to make sense of, so maybe we can hash it out right now.
If I put bell wire from my wall-mounted Liftmaster button (w/ light button) to my ZEN17 S1/C terminals, then bell wire from R1NO/R1C to the GDO, will that work with Security 2.0+?
Please show us a picture of your "wall-mounted Liftmaster button (w/ light button)". If it looks looks like a really old doorbell button, then maybe you can.
Otherwise, the option above from @aaiyar is probably your best bet.
I think the wires going to my wall switch are coming straight from the breaker bc they don't look like the ones going into the GDO. The ones going into the GDO look more like the ones attached to the photo eyes.
So does this mean my wall switch is sending a wireless signal to the GDO? If so, then how would I incorporate my ZEN17 in this whole setup? I thought the wall switch ran wires directly to the GDO, but this is obviously all way over my head even though I feel like it shouldn't be.
I know I can use the Liftmaster switch from Garadget, but I'd like to do this with what I have already if possible, but I'm still open to that route.
That very last pic (eye sensor) is a headscratcher - the "loose" wires coming in from the frame sure do look like the loose wires attached to your wall switch but that makes no sense to me... If you take the cover off that ivory box there, what does the inside of that look like?
I've never seen anything like that before (ha, not that my experience is very vast!)
ETA2 -- Does the other eye sensor have those extra wires and a junction box like that too? Well, I guess they're not extra per se - it's still just 2 wires going somewhere -- I'm just confused what the purpose of that box is
I feel the same way. There must be something going on in that box. It doesnt make sense that its just the joining of those two wires.
I picked up a used remote off of marketplace and just sacrificed that to make life easier. the entire setup sits inside my house and I didn't have to mess with the GDO wiring at all. Its been working great. Also controls more than one door.
Well I’ll be darned- it looks like an RJ11 port on the side of that box beside the photo eye… And yes- the photo eye on the other side is the exact same setup- ivory box and all. No idea what this is for.
Also, @hydro311 the wires going into the crack between the garage door and the frame seem like the ones connected to the GDO, not the AWG bell wire attached to the wall switch.
My guess is that your house was pre-wired for the GDO with the RED and WHITE wires to each of three locations (two sensors + 1 button). The installer of the GDO used those white boxes to contain the splice to the wires that came with the Liftmaster GDO hardware. My guess is that tucked up into your ceiling, above the GDO, the wiring from your wall button are spliced to the wires going to the GDO unit.
Yeah I read your DIY post many many times lol but what hangs me up is the difference between your Zen16 and my Zen17 (which I know has already been explained to me, but electrical concepts just seem to elude me) has been stumping me.
And the nice long write up from Zooz on their website for the zen16 is great, but I wish they’d do one for the zen17 too.
You've gotta be right since there's only two 2-wire cables at the GDO - one cable is for the switch, but the other sensor cable must be a pigtail coming from a junction box somewhere where it connects to the 2 sensor cables (1 from each eye sensor).
It sure would just be nice to have access to those junction boxes, but I fear they're drywalled over.
I can't say I've gone thru that guide with a fine-tooth comb looking for differences, but as far as I can tell, everything in that guide would be applicable to Z17 too. I referenced that guide a lot to sanity-check my wiring & setup when I did my Zen17 -- I don't recall any missed/different info.
