When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I have found these two door sensors that actually appear to be the same exact unit looks wise although one has better reviews than the other but a little higher price. The nice thing about these is that they have a connection hidden inside for an external sensor to be used. This would allow me to get a waterproof exterior sensor and run it into a sealed electrical box and put the Z wave part inside there.
So all the parts for my gate switch setup showed up yesterday. I got to work on it today and with a little trial and error I think I have made a pretty weather proof gate sensor. Obviously time will tell how well it holds up to the elements.
I had chose to go with the cheaper door sensor since they both had the wire inputs anyways.
I went with the more expensive sensor since it appeared to have a finish on it instead of being bare metal. Who knows if this will help it hold up better or not.
When everything showed up it turned out the box was smaller than I thought it was. I ended up having to modify the sensor to fit into the box. Hopefully over time that doesn't cause me issues.
Base of the box
Rubber grommet to seal the hole I needed to drill into the box for the external sensor wires.
Remote Sensor Receiver
Grommet installed
Test fit off cable. It is a tight fit with this size of grommet but it fits.
I didn't need all the bracket so a little use of my air cutoff wheel and it was a bit smaller.
Doing some initial testing I found that the magnets it had were so strong I had to move the magnet further back. This was the second location I tested it and it still could open close to 2ft before it triggered the sensor as being open.
I finally moved it out this far.
With it set at that location you could only open the gate about 6in before it would trigger being open. I don't even think a kid can squeeze through at this point without it triggering.
Up until this point I was still using the sensor in its original enclosure for being used inside. I needed to trip up the original setup to fit it in the weather proof box that was smaller than I expected. So here is one end.
And the other. One thing to point out here. There is a tiny momentary switch located next to the LED light. This is typically pressed by a pin on the inside of the lid. The sensor will not function without this being pressed down. I ended up using electrical tape to have this pressed down. Hopefully the tape won't stretch to much that it comes undone.
Now it fit
The box installed on the inside of the fence all wired up.
The lid comes with a tiny strip of rubber you have to insert for the seal.
I ran the cable under the middle support of the fence. It is exposed from the front a little but is below eye level of most people so won't be visible to most.
The box all sealed up mounted on the inside of the fence.
^ I didn't know they had terminals on the inside of some of those switches, nice! I'm going to have to do something like this for my gate. Do you know if the wire/conduit can be extended more than the 2 feet that they give you? I've got double 4 ft gates and would like to put it in the center so I'd need longer wire.
^ I didn't know they had terminals on the inside of some of those switches, nice! I'm going to have to do something like this for my gate. Do you know if the wire/conduit can be extended more than the 2 feet that they give you? I've got double 4 ft gates and would like to put it in the center so I'd need longer wire.
The two I posted in my thread before I started this project are the only two sensors so far I have seen with terminals like that. I do not believe that you could securely extend the metal conduit that comes on the sensor. The end that is in the sensor itself is completely sealed and glued shut so you would have to pry it open to get at it which I think would compromise it.
Does your gate actualyl open all at once though? My gate is probably 7-8ft wide. However, the second part of the gate has a metal bar that goes into the ground keeping it shut and you can't open it till you open the first half of the gate either. I am not sure that you would need to put it in the middle to do it.
I could have put mine in the middle as well and that would have probably made it more accurate and to show it was open sooner. However, my wood gate is warped and the middle of the doors don't line up absolutely perfect so I figured doing it by the hinge itself was better.
I can't speak for that switch but I can't imagine you couldn't extend it. As for the terminals, they're awesome. I use one z wave open/close and a cheap external switch tied into it for windows that are next to each other and ran 6 feet of wire to the other end of a few sliding doors (open on both sides) so one switch covers the whole door.
Originally Posted by atomlinks
^ I didn't know they had terminals on the inside of some of those switches, nice! I'm going to have to do something like this for my gate. Do you know if the wire/conduit can be extended more than the 2 feet that they give you? I've got double 4 ft gates and would like to put it in the center so I'd need longer wire.
I mean you could extende the wires easily but not the metal conduit keep it sealed is what I was refering too. If it is a wooden gate he hast he could get a small waterproof electrical box and join two pieces of metal conduit inside of it. I found they make some really small ones when looking for the one I used.
Here are a few pics of my gate which opens similar to yours. The one side has to open a little bit, then the other side can swing fully open. I was initially thinking that if the wires could be extended, I might be able to run it through the polyethylene panel to hide the wires. I'm now thinking that is probably not the best idea to drill a bunch of holes in the panel after looking at it :-(
I have 2 rods on both sides, just open it up from the inside to get the mower out to the front yard. I'm more concerned with sending our small kids out to play and they somehow get it open and end up playing in the street or something and get hit by a car... :-)
Maybe I could bury the conduit and cable and have the other piece under the gate where the one side needs to open first. That's probably too far out there though :-) It's good to know there are other options with these sensors that have the terminals on them.
1StGenCL, you are saying that you can have 2 contact devices hooked up to the one sensor? Or you can use the zwave sensor's contact as well as the terminals to another contact?
Atom links - Your gate looks close enough that you could just mount a recessed sensor in the center. I drilled a hole in my gate, slid the sensor in and siliconed it up good, then screwed the magnet in on the other side. We get some terrible rains and it has been great for probably 6 months, only downside is that I didn't drill a clean hole so you can see the original white of the vinyl fence. I'm going to add fence in the back and will paint the brown sensor and white fence the correct color so it blends in but no one notices this and since it is Z wave plus, it has great range.
I use the z wave sensor as one open close sensor and then add another NON z wave open/close ($2 or so) for the other side. I have two windows right next to each other so the wire run is only two inches and not real noticeable but both are "secured" with one Z wave. Downside, you can't tell which one is opened but I don't really care since they are pretty much the same window.
Thanks for the pictures! Is the gap or distance in the 2nd picture in the closed position? I was thinking they had to almost be touching to work, but if the sensor and magnet are about an inch away and considered closed that would work great.
I had no idea you could get the non-zwave door/window switches that cheap that would work on those terminals. That should save me some dough b/c most of our windows are right next to each other esp. in the sunroom. Thanks!
Yeah seeing your gate pictured now that recessed sensor is definitely what I would use. I didn't have the ability to use that since my wood fence is warped and they wouldn't line up. Those recessed are what I ordered for my 4 exterior doors to the house.
Thanks guys, Is there a certain brand that you are using or just use any brand as long as it says zwave plus? I saw a monoprice for $23 with the brown and white plates. I'm thinking about getting a couple of those. One for the gate and another for exterior door.
Yup, that's the closed position, I can measure it tomorrow. That is a Monoprice, actually and you don't need the plus but you get better range (I'm assuming you need it for a gate) and better battery life. Monoprice will note it as the plus and they are pretty close in price, I paid $18 during a sale.
As for the extended cheap sensors, you need to make sure that the get the right kind. I forget what they are called now but basically, some set the Z wave off in the open position and some in the closed position. I'm drinking and getting confused
In other news, those close up pics make it look awful, I need to redo it ha
Nice, I just ordered one of the monoprice recessed to try out. Will test it out and put it in the exterior door that gets more use and see if I can find a couple more on sale to use on the gate. The hub is on the opposite end of the house so hopefully the plus will be good. Thanks again.
So I got my door sensors and installed them. 3 of the 4 locations are working. The 4th location I think is too far away from my next zwave repeating device. I believe only GE Primary switches repeat and not the GE addon switches. So I either need to add another switch near where the sensor is or get a range extender for my Zwave network. I find this odd though cause I have another door sensor only 15ft away from this one and it works just fine. Also my outside gate sensor is even further away and it works really well. Not sure what the deal is with this one sensor placement. Hoping I can get it working though.
Another completely different issue I have started having the other day is with my Google Homes. They just completely stop working at times. This only started about a week or two ago. When you say "Ok Google" they just respond with "Something went please try again later". With this happening more frequently the last 3-4 days it has shown me how reliant we have already become in just a few months on being able to control the lights with voice commands and not always need to walk over to the exact switch. The worst is the loss of commands that turn on multiple lights at one time.
Last edited by CCColtsicehockey; 03-01-2017 at 08:42 AM.
Tried the repair while I was home over lunch and it did not work. The sensor still shows up in my list but it just stays showing as closed regardless if I open the door or not still. I don't know if it matters but the sensor is in the side of the door about 1.5-2ft off the ground in an exterior door to my garage.
Received the recessed monoprice a couple of days ago. Tested before installing and it paired up nicely. Going to install it in an exterior door but not sure if I should put the longer piece in the jamb or in the door itself. The directions look like they want you to install it in the door @ the top and put the magnet in the jamb(or the by the header). Repeated slamming of the door i would think you would want the sensor piece on the part that doesn't move so I'm thinking about putting it in the jamb and the magnet in the door. What do you guys do?
I put the sensor in the door on mine and the magnet in the jam. My doors also have such a tight clearance at the top of the jam I could not install them there so I had to install them on the side. Right now I see them everytime I look at the door but that is probably cause I just installed them not long ago. I would imagine I won't see them after a while.
Thanks, I haven't installed it yet but I will put the sensor in the door as well. I need to find my forstner bit set first :-) I also just ordered the Aeon Labs Siren (Gen 5) Hopefully I don't get any false alarms in the middle of the night... Well the same for real alarms in the middle of the night ha..
So GE Z-Wave switches are on sale at Lowe's right now. Dimmers are only $32.99 and Regular Rocker switches are $27.99. I just used some cash back gift cards and finished most of my first floor I wanted to complete except my master bathroom. Have 3 dimmers, 4 rockers, and 3 addons coming. Will be nice to finally have all my outside lights setup so I can put them on timers.
Also check slickdeal if you don't know about generating Lowe's coupons.
I saw that deal from Slickdeals but I just bought a bunch of dimmers from Lowes, will they match the price ha
For the Monoprice sensors, make sure to change your device to Z wave plus in the Smartthings IDE for better connections and for it to read open/close.
CCC - Did yours pair correctly? I was struggling with some of the dimmers and found that I did a network repair and while it didn't work right away, the next day everyone worked great. I read, afterwards, that many experience this and they suggest waiting a day after the repair.
I saw that deal from Slickdeals but I just bought a bunch of dimmers from Lowes, will they match the price ha
For the Monoprice sensors, make sure to change your device to Z wave plus in the Smartthings IDE for better connections and for it to read open/close.
CCC - Did yours pair correctly? I was struggling with some of the dimmers and found that I did a network repair and while it didn't work right away, the next day everyone worked great. I read, afterwards, that many experience this and they suggest waiting a day after the repair.
Hmmm didn't know that about the Monoprice sensors and changing them to Zwave plus in the IDE. I will have to take a look at that. Maybe that will fix my problem with the one on my outside garage door that still doesn't work. If that doesn't fix it the new switches I am putting in should help extend the network far enough because my laundry room and garage are about to get 5 switches installed so the network should be very strong out there.
I currently only have 2 dimmers and when I paired them I had a problem with one but it resolved it self after about 30min. It was also the first switch I installed too so it could have been user error for sure. The second one I installed I didn't have any issues. I will be putting in 3 more dimmer next weekend. So I will report back if I have any issues with those.
can you remind me again which z-wave controller you are using? i just stepped it up to the schlage connect for my front door an need me some ZZZss now...
Google Home is getting a ton of new functionality in the next few months. Looking forward to finally being able to set calendar events and reminders....it's about damn time.
Also, question for those using ST. Can you set it up such that zigbee and z wave devices interact with each other? By that I mean if I were to create a security system with zigbee contact sensors and motion detectors and a zwave siren, can they still interact? I understand they won't share the mesh network together but will a broken signal from the contact sensor still trigger the alarm?
Also looking forward to those new features that Google Home is getting.
As far as the zigabee and zwave interaction I am pretty sure it will work just fine. I believe anything you have integrated into ST can trigger anything else.
I ordered my ST stuff yesterday so it should be here today. I got the hub, 4 contact sensors, water leak, 2 motion, siren/strobe, and an electronic door lock for the garage entry. Looking forward to installing this stuff and then spending more money on more components in the future.
Glad to see this thread still going, anyone having issues with ST? My devices, mostly GE switches, have been disconnected for weeks. They come back every now and then but disappear again, almost like when the 2nd gen ST hub first launched.
That being said, picked up an Ecobee4 for the Alexa integration and I'm excited to get it going (waiting on a new AC unit for our master bedroom before installing); anyone have one? Also, picked up a Kevo for $50 but then realized I'm an idiot and found it only functions on bluetooth, so much for a good deal.
Nope no issues for me. I don't run zwave/zigbee for my switches though, I run Wemo. When I buy more, I'll switch since Wemo is a lot more expensive.
I have to get my garage door stuff wired in and the siren going over the next few days. Does anyone use their ST system as an alarm? How do you set it up to alarm with a delay or something like that so I can open the door and disarm it in the same way that a normal alarm system works?
I use Smart Home Monitor with a siren hooked up. It has been pretty good but the delay is annoying because there isn't one. I was hoping I could use my wall mounted tablet as a keypad but so far, no luck. I know SmartTiles (Action Tiles now, I believe) is working on it but nothing yet. We setup a routine for Good night that turns off all lights, locks all doors, drops the AC, and sets the alarm with one button push and the alarm automatically disarms at sunrise. If we leave earlier, we just go in our phone and disarm. I could use the tablet to arm and disarm but with no pin protection or delay, anyone could do it.
We've had construction crews here so I haven't armed it much during the day but if we do, we arm after we lock via our phones. I've used the keypad mounted door lock to lock and arm and then have it disarm when you unlock via the keypad but if you open the door too quick, the alarm will go off. The other problem is setting the alarm via the keypad door lock when someone is still in the house so I set it up to only arm if there were no phones in the house but that has been spotty at best. That being said, I setup another routine to unlock the door and disarm so we will do that in the drive but I'm looking at geofencing to disarm and arm as well.
The iPhone widget is pretty handy, just swipe right from the lock screen and there your routines are. There is also another "Alarm" app that has a delay within ST but I can't remember the name. It came out before Smart Home Monitor but I haven't seen much about it lately.
Glad to see this thread still going, anyone having issues with ST? My devices, mostly GE switches, have been disconnected for weeks. They come back every now and then but disappear again, almost like when the 2nd gen ST hub first launched.
That being said, picked up an Ecobee4 for the Alexa integration and I'm excited to get it going (waiting on a new AC unit for our master bedroom before installing); anyone have one? Also, picked up a Kevo for $50 but then realized I'm an idiot and found it only functions on bluetooth, so much for a good deal.
I have only had one issue with a GE switch. A little over a month ago I had one stop communicating with my ST hub. It still shows up and is showing as always trying to turn on. I can use the switch manually on the wall but not from anything else. I can't get it to remove from ST hub either. I have not spent a tone of time on it though yet. Tried to do one exclude and also a network repiar and neither have worked so far.
I have an Ecobee3 on my first and second floor units. They work great. They are the same minus the Alexa integration which I don't really need with Google Home.
Originally Posted by SamDoe1
Nope no issues for me. I don't run zwave/zigbee for my switches though, I run Wemo. When I buy more, I'll switch since Wemo is a lot more expensive.
I have to get my garage door stuff wired in and the siren going over the next few days. Does anyone use their ST system as an alarm? How do you set it up to alarm with a delay or something like that so I can open the door and disarm it in the same way that a normal alarm system works?
You remind me I have to get my garage door stuff I need to wire up. Really can't wait to be able to look at my phone and see if it is closed. I also have 8 more switches to install but I have been slacking lately as I have no idea what breakers a bunch of them are on now and most of them are 3 ways as well and I have already found two different 3 way wiring styles in my house. Hoping I don't find more.
02-15-2017, 07:10 AM
