I recently purchased an Ecolink Garage door Tilt sensor for (surprise) my garage door.
I bought it from Amazon. I purchased the Ecolink because I've generally heard good things about their products. Having looked at the inside I can see why.
The board and parts used appear to be of good quality. And I've seen a lot of boards in my lifetime. The tamper switch is a real "click" switch not a push contact. The tilt switch looks gold plated as they advertise. I guess I'll see if it is reliable.
What's most interesting, and the reason for this post, is the set of terminals for presumable an external contact. I know many have use for a contact interface and this adds one more option.
The only negative comment I have is the very small screw holding the unit to the mounting plate. It is very small, I dropped it and it took me 15 minutes to find it. But I will say its secure and likely will survive the vibration of a garage door.
I almost forgot, I paired with my C4 immediately. No issues.
Been using this device since September 2019. Works great until it doesn't.
Several times it stopped working and had to fiddle with it to get it going again. I have also use the Samsung Mult-purpose sensors as garage door sensors. They have never missed a beat and cheaper as well.
First off, sorry to be the bearer of bad news after having already purchased one. I agree the build looks great. I have to fiddle with the tilt sensor (the gold thingy in the middle). I had no problems with the communications. I have been thinking about turning it into a sensor to tell HE when the hydro goes off. There are project on this forum that show how.
Thanks for the information. Had I known the tilt switches were an issue I would have still purchased this device. I like the hardware quality and it seems there signal and communications are fine.
I've already ordered some mercury tilt switches from eBay and I have no issues replacing the device on the board. Cost of 10 switches delivered $2.01
I'll let folks know how I make out as things occur (or don't)
And please do not feel bad about supplying the truth. Even if it turned out bad for me, the next person would benefit from your experience.
No. Also, mercury doesn't really bounce around in the context of a garage door being raised or lowered.
The original z-wave version of the ecolink sensor used a mercury tilt switch. I imagine it was replaced by a metal ball-bearing tilt switch in the zwave+ version for cost .....
I just about guarantee it is this. The change might not have even been because of the US market (I.E. European standards?) , or maybe just for some particular state regulation (California?) and it was easier to just make them all the ball type. The ball bearing one probably costs more if anything.
No, as @aaiyar said the mercury doesn't bounce around. There actually seems to be some hysteresis. Once it hits the 2nd electrode the contact is solid. I would guess the mechanical ball has more bounce than the mercury switch, and so the electronics must have some "debounce" built in.
Mercury really is a fantastic solution for these types of switches. Too bad people doing silly things and not treating it correctly and letting it get out into the environment means the rest of us can't have nice things.
I've had mine for several years and its held up to the Arizona heat in the summers with no issues. I have had about 3 times where it got stuck I just tapped the top and its been fine each time. Its been some time since the last occurrence of getting stuck. Till now, since I mentioned it! lol
I've already been looking a mercury switches. I was surprised to find they can actually be purchased. I'll get some as backup.
