So I have moved and now I have a problem with my Gadgeteer garage door opener. My new garage door opener is a new Liftmaster with MyQ, but the button on the wall has a microchip uses a data connection with lots of functions to the garage door opener control board instead of just being a 2-conductor button. I have checked the wires coming in and I don’t see a 2-point switch I can tap onto. That leaves me considering soldering to one of the remote controls and using the simple switch, but I thought I’d check all the smart individuals here to see if I can get any better ideas than using a remote control.
Thankfully the builder left one of them against a light-bulb and it melted the soft rubber so they got another remote to replace it but I have the melted one I can mess with as a spare. I do have cat-5 cables right above the garage door openers that go to my wiring closet, so I do have 8 conductors I can utilize or I can add RJ45 plugs to the end and have Ethernet with PoE.
I considered a servo, but getting an appropriate servo, getting it solidly mounted, and not obstructing the ability to physically push the button are a bit problematic. Plus, there is no way the wife would let me do that (the real problem).
Yea…wives - can’t live without 'em, can’t hack with 'em. Inside that wall mounted box there is a switch that has contacts. Where there is a switch with contacts there is an opportunity for a hack.
Yes, it is the big one. There are two buttons inside that get pressed and they are connected to a multi-layer circuit board and it looks like the buttons do not go all the way through to the backside of the circuit board.
can you press just one of the buttons and see if the door actuates? I suspect they’re both connected so that either of them being pressed will give you the actuation. Then all you need is a very fine soldering job to tag out the wires - if you want examples of how to do that watch some of Ben Heck’s shos where he mods xbox controllers, you’ll see the approach; then connect them to whatever you’re going to actuate it with. Done. Next?
Either one does activate it, but I can’t run wires from the button side of the circuit board (no room without cutting the plastic and since they don’t go through the board I can’t connect them on the back, I think I will just solder to the remote instead. My house has 2 garages so it will be easier to modify the one 3 button remote than the 2 smart control panels. Maybe I’ll even power the remote by USB instead of button batteries.
no, you just have to solder wires onto two of the legs on the topside of the buttons. it’ll mean the wires will be on the top of the board but you should be able to find a way to route them underneath if you need to.
Do you really need to go underneath? I assume there’s going to be FEZ on the wall too. Why not just place it right next to the remote and drill & run the wire straight across?
There are 4 terminals, 2 for the safety override and 2 for the smart panel. I tried putting a short between every combination and none of them caused the door to move. That was my hope. I have emailed Liftmaster to see if they will tell me how to “add a second button for the overhead door”, so maybe there are a couple of other terminals hidden somewhere, but no response yet. I couldn’t find any and none were noted in the manual for the opener.
