I couldn’t find much info searching around the internet about whether Coolaroo outdoor blinds can be run through the Broadlink RM Pro and hence Home Assistant. So I went out on a limb and bought one with the thought of testing and returning if unsuccessful.
Well, good news, they work quite well - the 433MHz RF commands train into the Broadlink quite easily, and using the Broadlink Manager windows software I was able to learn the RF codes for use in Home Assistant.
They do have one idiosyncracy, which is a bit dumb really - there are 3 buttons on the remote: Up, Down and Stop. The blind is 2.4m long, and if you don’t have a 2.4m drop you can program in what Coolaroo call an “additional stop”. The dumb part is that you access this programmed stop by pressing and holding the Stop button for 3 seconds. Even with the programmed stop configured, pressing the Down button on the remote still results in your blind in a coiled mess on the floor. Further, learning this long press of Stop into Home Assistant was more than just repeating a short Stop command, you have to learn the long press of Stop, which is in some way different
I’m from Australia, I bought the product at Bunnings, and the product is the Coolaroo Exterior Blind Solar Motorised, model number 490904, Bunnings I/N 0047639.
My DOOYA motors off Ali Express sound similar. Are you sure that with yours you don’t set three points? With mine, you set/teach it a “bottom stop”, a “top stop” , and a “mid” stop. Down button goes to bottom. Up goes to top. Long press stop goes to mid. For me, to mimick a long press, I just repeat the send code in a script about 5 times. Actually for most of my commands I put in a repeat after 10 seconds as I was having some reliability issues.
Yes I am interested to hear how the are going, they are pretty cheap compared to most of the alternatives. There is very little in the way of reviews of them that I can find.
the Broadlink/HA control of this device has been rock solid once set up, very little lag, if any, and operates 100% of the time with no missed commands.
the battery/solar charging of the device has been up to requirements, and it has never not functioned due to lack of battery charge.
the material seems not to have weathered despite being used to block hot westerly afternoon sun on a daily basis.
the one complaint I have is that the roller slips its position over time, partly because of how I use it. Because I want the blinds to operate automatically, I don’t use the bungee tie downs as suggested by the manufacturer. Instead I installed some guide wires that run parallel to the blind, and have the keyrings on the ends of the bottom tub running along these guide wires. The slip occurs when the blind is down in strong wind, as it acts like a sailing spinnaker and I guess gives way under the load. After a bad day it can move 80-100mm. This means that with some regularity I have to go out and reset the top and bottom positions. You could say ‘well don’t use it in strong wind’ but part of my use case is to protect an indoor/outdoor deck with soft furnishings from being drenched by sideways rain, so I’m between a rock and a hard place.
This last point is annoying and casts a bit of a shadow over the product, but I accept that is largely due to my application for it. For someone who doesn’t have to use the blind in strong wind I wouldn’t have any hesitations to recommend it.
Yes mine slips terribly too. We are using the pull down hooks but agree it is a terrible solution on something that is meant to be remotely controlled, but regardless, it also causes the movement to slip. Eventually ours was stopping about half way down the window. They definitely need a better solution, although overall the product is very good. I might investigate the giude wire option, as along with messing up the stop points, the slipping means that after a day or so if there is any wind, it is no longer help down firmly.
I know it has been a while, but do you have some photos of the guide wire setup and where you got the parts from and details of them?
FYI my blind has died. I called Gale and their support was excellent, sent out a new remote same day and when that didnt help said to take the blind back to Bunnings, but to leave the solar panel and mounting brackets in place so it is easy to replace.