sensor for automatic roller door...

[sme]

Hi and thanks to any help.....


Firstly I am a rank amatuer when it comes to circuits/electronics so please
dumb down any advice.... sorry!

I would like to rig up a sensor to my roller door that has a Merlin
automatic garage door opener on it. The sensor would tell me when the door
is up or down.... I was really hoping to have it so that it shows when it
has opened a bit, and about half way , finally when it is opened all the way
up....

Has anyone heard off , seen, or has a circuit/kit like that i would love to
hear about it....

Thanks again.... grrrrr

 

[Mike Harding]

On 19 Jul 2003 16:49:41 -0700, doordoc@prodigy.net (Doordoc) wrote:

"sme" <nospam@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<3f197574@dnews.tpgi.com.au>...
Hi and thanks to any help.....


Firstly I am a rank amatuer when it comes to circuits/electronics so please
dumb down any advice.... sorry!

I would like to rig up a sensor to my roller door that has a Merlin
automatic garage door opener on it. The sensor would tell me when the door
is up or down.... I was really hoping to have it so that it shows when it
has opened a bit, and about half way , finally when it is opened all the way
up....

Has anyone heard off , seen, or has a circuit/kit like that i would love to
hear about it....

Thanks again.... grrrrr

Chamberlain (Mfg of Liftmaster, Craftsman, Sears) makes a "Door
Monitor" that will tell you whether the door is open or not &
does not need any wiring except a 110 VAC outlet.

110VAC mains sockets tend to be a bit scarce in Australia.

Mike Harding

 

[bruce varley]

Don't mean to dampen your enthusiasm, but be careful in regard to safety.
Any moving automated equipment has the potential to cause injury, and if
your modifications change the way the device functions you could create a
hazardous situation for which you could be seriously liable. My tendency
with this sort of equipment is to stick strictly to what the supplier
supplies, even if I can see obvious ways to 'improve' it.
sme <nospam@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:3f197574@dnews.tpgi.com.au...

Hi and thanks to any help.....


Firstly I am a rank amatuer when it comes to circuits/electronics so
please
dumb down any advice.... sorry!

I would like to rig up a sensor to my roller door that has a Merlin
automatic garage door opener on it. The sensor would tell me when the door
is up or down.... I was really hoping to have it so that it shows when it
has opened a bit, and about half way , finally when it is opened all the
way
up....

Has anyone heard off , seen, or has a circuit/kit like that i would love
to
hear about it....

Thanks again.... grrrrr

 

[KLR]

On Sun, 20 Jul 2003 11:35:44 +1000, Mike Harding
<mike_harding1@hotmail.com> wrote:

On 19 Jul 2003 16:49:41 -0700, doordoc@prodigy.net (Doordoc) wrote:

"sme" <nospam@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<3f197574@dnews.tpgi.com.au>...
Hi and thanks to any help.....


Firstly I am a rank amatuer when it comes to circuits/electronics so please
dumb down any advice.... sorry!

I would like to rig up a sensor to my roller door that has a Merlin
automatic garage door opener on it. The sensor would tell me when the door
is up or down.... I was really hoping to have it so that it shows when it
has opened a bit, and about half way , finally when it is opened all the way
up....

Has anyone heard off , seen, or has a circuit/kit like that i would love to
hear about it....

Thanks again.... grrrrr

Chamberlain (Mfg of Liftmaster, Craftsman, Sears) makes a "Door
Monitor" that will tell you whether the door is open or not &
does not need any wiring except a 110 VAC outlet.

110VAC mains sockets tend to be a bit scarce in Australia.

Mike Harding

heheh

that was my first thought too !!

 

[Dee]

In article <3f197574@dnews.tpgi.com.au>, nospam@hotmail.com says...

Hi and thanks to any help.....


Firstly I am a rank amatuer when it comes to circuits/electronics so please
dumb down any advice.... sorry!

I would like to rig up a sensor to my roller door that has a Merlin
automatic garage door opener on it. The sensor would tell me when the door
is up or down.... I was really hoping to have it so that it shows when it
has opened a bit, and about half way , finally when it is opened all the way
up....

Has anyone heard off , seen, or has a circuit/kit like that i would love to
hear about it....

Thanks again.... grrrrr



From one Rank Amateur to another .... I'd mount a multiturn pot on the

shaft that drives the rollerdoor up. supply a steady voltage to this pot
and read the other side with a multimeter, preferably a dial one, and
then the needle could relate to door position .... or something along
that line anyway.
or ....
a large wooden gear on a spring loaded arm that meshes with the roller
door corrugations on the roller (will need to be spring loaded as the
diameter changes) wooden gear hooked to a counter or something along that
line.

There's 2 simple ideas to chew over

 

[Alex Gibson]

"bruce varley" <bxvarley@weqstnet.com.au> wrote in message news:3f1a0985$1@quokka.wn.com.au...

Don't mean to dampen your enthusiasm, but be careful in regard to safety.
Any moving automated equipment has the potential to cause injury, and if
your modifications change the way the device functions you could create a
hazardous situation for which you could be seriously liable. My tendency
with this sort of equipment is to stick strictly to what the supplier
supplies, even if I can see obvious ways to 'improve' it.

He 's only talking about an indicator
not playing with the drive mechanism.



One way like Mike suggested is reed switches.

Another is some hall effect sensors
if the roller doesn't have enough magnetismn to trigger them glue on a
magnet or two.

If you roller has the lower cut out in the trcks for a lower
locking bar could be a good place for the hall effect sensors
especially if it doesn't have a lower locking bar
or if it does see if the sensors can detect the bar itself.

The roller here doesn't have a lower locking bar and has enough space
on the edge of roller between it and the track to attach a small
magnet.

Alex

 

[sme]

thanks mate tht gives me infor that i haven't considered... nor knew
about....


I have been thinking about using reed switches to sense it and possidly a
logic circuit??? ( that was suggested by my friend)... but i have no idea
weather it is possible or how to proceeed so your idea simpliflies it for
me.... thanks


grrrrr


"Dee" <I.H@te.Spam> wrote in message
news:MPG.1984e75aa40a3689989686@news.lexicon.net...

In article <3f197574@dnews.tpgi.com.au>, nospam@hotmail.com says...
Hi and thanks to any help.....


Firstly I am a rank amatuer when it comes to circuits/electronics so
please
dumb down any advice.... sorry!

I would like to rig up a sensor to my roller door that has a Merlin
automatic garage door opener on it. The sensor would tell me when the
door
is up or down.... I was really hoping to have it so that it shows when
it
has opened a bit, and about half way , finally when it is opened all the
way
up....

Has anyone heard off , seen, or has a circuit/kit like that i would love
to
hear about it....

Thanks again.... grrrrr



From one Rank Amateur to another .... I'd mount a multiturn pot on the
shaft that drives the rollerdoor up. supply a steady voltage to this pot
and read the other side with a multimeter, preferably a dial one, and
then the needle could relate to door position .... or something along
that line anyway.
or ....
a large wooden gear on a spring loaded arm that meshes with the roller
door corrugations on the roller (will need to be spring loaded as the
diameter changes) wooden gear hooked to a counter or something along that
line.

There's 2 simple ideas to chew over