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Remotely controlling garage door

Sugar
Having an Impact

Remotely controlling garage door

Firstly, if I am asking this in completely wrong forum, apologies, and please ignore my question. 

 

I have Merlin Model M-230T installed in my garage door. It looks like an older model. 

Since I have noticed that my garage door opens automatically ( without me pressing the garage remote button) now and then, sometime in the middle of the night and sometime in the middle of the day, I am a little bit worried about security.  

What could be the reason ( if anybody has experienced this situation before)?

What I am wanting to do is, have a spare security camera, which I can install and access the video from anywhere. I am hoping this camera will notify me of the movement of doors ( I am going to check this weekend.) 

What I  like to also do is, I like to control ( opening and closing ) of this garage remotely, which means from different places, different cities. 

 

At the moment, this garage motor ( machine) is directly and always powered ON, and pressing the remote button is one and only option s to open the garage door. I have been researching in ebay, amazon, bunnings, etc and yes I can find wi-fi controlled (remote) power outlets but this does not look like going to solve my problem because in my case, it is remote controls that controls the movement of the garage door. 

Thanks for reading and any advice will be appreciated. 

 

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Sugar
Having an Impact

Re: Remotely controlling garage door

@Mitoski , I believe the actual ( original) garage remote controller still works although we connect this kit, am I right ?

Mitoski
Getting Established

Re: Remotely controlling garage door

@Sugar  yes you are still able to connect the Meross garage opener as well as Having the original remote connected. @MitchellMc Does the grid connect version work with original remote as well?

macduff89
Growing in Experience

Re: Remotely controlling garage door

@Sugar I originally bought the Meross controller from Amazon due to the Apple compatibility, and if it had worked I would have been able to open the garage door from Carplay. However I didn't realise you need a compatible hub device such as a recent Apple TV or HomePod to access it remotely. You can still use the Meross app remotely though.

However I since changed to the Grid Connect model as I have a lot of other Grid Connect devices and it was more convenient to use a single app.

Both devices work essentially the same way, as long as your door opener has two switch terminals which open the door when shorted together. 

I have a roller door, not a panel door, and it's difficult to access the door control panel. As a work around, I soldered the control wires across the button on my spare remote. Of course this means I have one less remote to use, but it should work with almost 100% of garage doors.

Either of these can give you notifications via the app when your garage door is opened by ghosts or when left open for a long time.

Photo showing original setup with Meross:

Screenshot 2022-06-15 214935.png

EricL
Bunnings Team Member
Bunnings Team Member

Re: Remotely controlling garage door

Hi @macduff89

 

Thank you very much for sharing that ingenious workaround for compatibility. Hardwiring your remote guarantees that the garage door will close. I'm with you on the single app use. So many devices today use so many apps that it brings you back to the time when you had so many remotes to control your multi-media set-up. When you consider that the price of a garage remote is not that much, it definitely becomes a worthwhile option.

 

Again, thanks for sharing that solution to garage remote compatibility.

 

Eric

 

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EricL
Bunnings Team Member
Bunnings Team Member

Re: Remotely controlling garage door

Hi @Mitoski

 

If you look at the recent post by @macduff89 in this discussion you'll see the elegant solution that was applied to guarantee remote compatibility. But technically speaking the Orion Grid Connect Smart Garage Door Controller With Sensor operates independently of the remote. It sends all of its notifications to the app on your phone, whether you left it open, it opened accidentally or you need to open it remotely from another location. This particular device needs to be hardwired to the garage controller and does not possess a wireless signalling device for the garage opener. 

 

Eric

 

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