MQTT Garage Door Control for LiftMaster & MyQ GD Openers

[prsmith777]

Wanted to say thanks for this post.

Have four garage doors, so using all four channels of the Sonoff 4chPro. Stuck four LiftMaster 883LMs inside an old ADIO box. Already had tilt sensors on doors for status. Wrote a script to flash garage lights and announce garage doors closing 10 seconds prior to closing.

[taylormia]

Flashing light or siren are acceptable..

Actually, the rule says you need both

https://www.federalregister.gov/docu...door-operators

[dbmet]

Somebody else on the board disclosed a regulation that when auto control of the garage door is used there need to be notification of the pending automatic action. Flashing light or siren are acceptable. I did not do this in my implementation, but that would be a good use for another output channel that the 4CH provides. The Sonoff basic approach would utilize another GPIO, but then one needs the electronics to do what a relay could do to activate the annunciation.

Thats a good idea. Maybe I can just flash a smart light in the garage. This maybe getting more involved than I wanted lol.

[Michael McSharry]

Somebody else on the board disclosed a regulation that when auto control of the garage door is used there need to be notification of the pending automatic action. Flashing light or siren are acceptable. I did not do this in my implementation, but that would be a good use for another output channel that the 4CH provides. The Sonoff basic approach would utilize another GPIO, but then one needs the electronics to do what a relay could do to activate the annunciation.

[taylormia]

The Sonoff 1CH should work fine too: https://www.itead.cc/sonoff-re5v1c.html
Also, most ESP8266 or ESP8285 based relays that are supported by Tasmota should work. See: https://github.com/arendst/Tasmota/w...ported-devices

I chose the 4CH Pro since I didn't have to find a case or mcgyver a power supply connection to the device and the reduced hassle was worth the extra cost.

[Pete]

You can utilize a Sonoff Basic V1.0 hardware modifying per MCS MQTT documentation.

Here added a temperature sensor and used wired reed switches on the garage door.

So I have the SonOff basic module pressing the button, sensors for open / close door plus a temperature sensor.

No need here for additional ZWave sensors.

[dbmet]

I recently installed a LiftMaster 8550W and the old method I used to locally control the garage door (GD) became non-functional since the new Security 2.0 compatible 8550W uses codes sent from the wall or portable remote to trigger the opening/closing. The built in MyQ WiFi function relies on a cloud connection to trigger the device and I prefer to avoid the cloud for HA whenever possible. Also, the MyQ API changes often which make the existing HS3 plugins not as reliable as I would like. My biggest concern going this route was my lack of soldering skills - which I soon realized was not a big deal after a couple of practice runs.
The setup described here allows for a very reliable local control of the garage door opener and the garage door open/close status. It integrates into HS3 via MQTT and ZWave and allows Alexa voice control as well.

The following components are used:
- Sonoff 4CH Pro with Tasmota fimware: https://www.amazon.com/Sonoff-4CH-Pr.../dp/B072M4CRD9 ; https://github.com/arendst/Sonoff-Tasmota
- 882LM Wall Remote: https://www.amazon.com/LiftMaster-88.../dp/B00AZL8MO0
- Ecolink Z-Wave Plus Tilt Sensor: https://www.amazon.com/Ecolink-Intel.../dp/B01MRZB0NT
- Soldering Kit: https://www.amazon.com/Tabiger-Solde.../dp/B074W3W55T
- mcsMQTT Plugin for HS3

The Sonoff 4CH Pro is used as the relay to trigger the connected 882LM Wall Remote which sends a signal to the 8550W to open or close the garage door. The Ecolink Z-Wave Tilt Sensor shows a realtime status of whether the garage door is opend or closed.

Here's a diagram of the setup:



Procedure:

1. Configure Sonoff 4CH Pro DIP switches for Inching Mode and 1000 ms delay. The steps to do this are described in the Sonoff 4CH Pro Wiki here:

https://www.itead.cc/wiki/Sonoff_4CH_Pro


2. Flash Sonoff 4CH Pro with Tasmota and configure MQTT.
The SonOTA over the air flashing method does not work with the newer 4 CH Pro firmware - so flashing with a serial connection is the way to go.

Here's the Tasmota Wiki page on flashing the 4CH Pro:
https://github.com/arendst/Sonoff-Ta...CH-and-4CH-Pro

Here's a doc with the detail on configuring Tasmota and MQTT on the Sonoff 4CH Pro:
https://github.com/taylormia/guides/...MQTT-HowTo.pdf


3. Configure the mcsMQTT HS3 plugin to create a control device for the 4CH Pro. The process is described here:
https://github.com/taylormia/guides/...MQTT-HowTo.pdf


4. Solder the two legs of the button on the 882LM Wall Remote circuit board as shown below to 22 AWG or 24 AWG wires. Use the 22 AWG if the cable run is going to be longer. Here are pics of the 882LM circuit board showing the button legs to solder.






5. Connect the wires from the 882LM button legs to the NO and COM terminals of any one of the 4CH Pro relays.






6. Connect the RED/WHITE contact onthe 882LM to the RED/WHITE terminals of the 8550W GDO.






7. Power on the Sonoff 4CH Pro and use the HS3 Garage Door control device to toggle its relay to trigger the opening/closing of the garage door.


8. Include the Ecolink Z-Wave Tilt Sensor into your Zwave network and place it on the upper part of the garage door. The opening and closing of the door will show an Opened or Closed status on the sensor's HS3 device.




9. Here are the HS3 Garage Door Devices:




10. Use Alexa Routines to enable voice commands to open and close the garage door. You will need the HomeSeer Smarthome Skill enabled and your Garage Door MQTT device discovered.

Reference Website Credits not mentioned above:
https://www.007systems.com/blog--how...ike-the-vera#/
https://forums.stringify.com/t/linea...workaround/302

Thanks for this tutorial.. I wonder if there is a lesser Sonoff that I could use to do this with since I dont really need 4 channels..

[Pete]

What has helped me a bunch with soldering SonOff / MagicHome controllers is a lamp with a magnifying glass on it on my workbench and a small soldering iron tip.

The lamp I utilize today is probably 50 years old now and uses a florescent circular bulb.



Have a look see at the MagicHome controller mods with a digital on/off dimmer pot with Michaels firmware. He has two versions. One to add a temperature/humidity sensor and one to utilize the IR remote control. I am currently using these for new under kitchen cabinet LED lamps and recently added one over the kitchen cabinets.

Using MQTT you can remote control these with Homeseer and manually control them with the modifications.

Here the GDO button and sensors are also wired to the OmniPro panel.

So added more sensors for door for said MQTT endeavor.

[taylormia]

Here did similiar using a Sonoff WiFi basic and added a temperature sensor.

Pete, I have seen your implementation earlier in another post somewhere. It and other posts inspired me to try soldering to find the solution in my post. Thanks!

[taylormia]

taylormia,

I've had a z-wave tilt sensor on my door for a long time and in the last two weeks, I just took the same direction as you. I used a 9V wall-wart, a Sonoff SV and this switch from amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Did some soldering as you, put it all in a small black box and used MQTT to put it on Homeseer.... Works great....

-Stan

Nice job! Yes, any of the MyQ remotes will work with the correct button legs soldered to accept a trigger from a HA relay device such as the Sonoff, Wemos DI Mini, NodeMCU etc.

[taylormia]

those buttons built into the car it’s a tech called homelink that allows you to pair your car to the garage door opener. I know there’s a way to use it and have the buttons trigger HA(on the list) but never researched if it could go the other way a ha device that is paired to the opener. It would see it as another remote control.

I'm familiar with Homelink but am not familiar with Homelink triggering HA. As far as a HA device that is paired with a GDO...since the MyQ protocol is proprietary - only the remotes that are MyQ compatible i.e. those made by the Chamberlain Group or car remotes with the newer version of Homelink can directly trigger a MyQ / Security 2.0 GDO. That's why we need to use one of these MyQ remotes with our HA device/relay to trigger the newer Liftmaster/Chamberlain GDOs.

[kideon]

[QUOTE=taylormia;n1302535]

The 880LM Wall Remote with LCD shown below is the one I have. I opened it up this morning and tested. When the lower two button legs for SW2 or SW3 are bridged or shorted as shown below, the GDO triggers to open and close the GD. These would be the legs to solder wires that connect to the relay you would use. In my case, the Sonoff 4CH Pro from my post.








I don't understand this question. Could you elaborate?[/QUOTE

those buttons built into the car it’s a tech called homelink that allows you to pair your car to the garage door opener. I know there’s a way to use it and have the buttons trigger HA(on the list) but never researched if it could go the other way a ha device that is paired to the opener. It would see it as another remote control.

[taylormia]

Wondering if this would work with the smart button (lcd display). Have debated taking it apart and wiring to the physical button terminals.

The 880LM Wall Remote with LCD shown below is the one I have. I opened it up this morning and tested. When the lower two button legs for SW2 or SW3 as shown below, are bridged or shorted, the GDO triggers to open and close the GD. These would be the legs to solder wires that connect to the relay you would use. In my case, the Sonoff 4CH Pro from my post.

Another question with homelink is there a way to just trigger it like another remote would? My car can so that if I get around to setting it up

I don't understand this question. Could you elaborate?

[kideon]

Wondering if this would work with the smart button (lcd display). Have debated taking it apart and wiring to the physical button terminals. Another question with homelink is there a way to just trigger it like another remote would? My car can so that if I get around to setting it up

[Pete]

Here did similiar using a Sonoff WiFi basic and added a temperature sensor.

Used the little mini small footprint 883LM Liftmaster button (same wiring), two reed switches wired to garage door (up level and down level) and one 1-wire temperature sensor.

883LM Liftmaster button modes. NOTE: Do not forget to program digital button. This is a mini version of the larger button. The side switch is for the lighting.


2 - SonOff WiFi basic modes with temperature add

Used terminals on case here:



3 - wired two magnetic contact switches to terminals on SonOff basic.

xxx