I have four windows that have Truth’s Sentry II Window Opener. I’m trying to integrate them into Home Assistant with ESP-Home and use a NodeMCU.
This is the manual/PDF for Sentry II
Page #17 shows wiring diagram for Open/Close using HPI contact closures.
I’m not a pro, but my understanding is maybe I can use relays controlled by a ESPHOME to open/close? 12V Relay
What I’m struggling with is the Open/Close status. It says the status is reported as a relay and uses 120V 0.5 A On Page #23
Status output function:
• The status output functions as a relay. When the output is
closed (relay contacts closed), the window is fully closed. When
the output is open (relay contacts open), the window is not fully
closed.
• Feedback output (contact closure) maximum ratings:
Rated Load: 0.50 A at 125VAC, 1 A at 24VDC
Minimum Load: 1mA, 5VDC
Max. operating voltage: 125 VAC, 60 VDC
Max. operating current: 1A
Max. switching capacity: 62.50 VA, 30W
How can I use ESPHome/NodeMCU to detect this. Would 120V not fry the device?
TL:DR Looking for confirmation on the Open/Close using 12V relay, as well looking for solutions to monitor open/close status
A 5V relay module will work the best with Node MCU. You can power the relay from the 5V on the Node MCU and it will accept the 3.3V logic output from the GPIO pins.
Looking at the attached installation instructions, you will need 2 relays… And some configuration to handle interlock (to not activate both relays at the same time) and some logic on the open and close actions.
Concerning the feedback output, that appears to just be a relay output contacts. You could connect one connection to GND and the other to an input pin on the Node MCU, using GND (or otherwise known as Low) will require the invert: true option set on the pin configuration of the GPIO binary sensor to used to read this. The specifications listing 125VAC are simply the specifications of the relay used for the feedback output.
You will probably want to use the cover template to make this seamless to Home Assistant. The only concern I have, does the window opener care if the open of close button is held down? If it does, then you can add an automation to the GPIO Switch (relay) that will turn it off shortly after being activated. There by making the relay a momentary switch.
The example of the cover template configuration in the ESPHome documentation does require the use of a Lambda function. Simply replace the top_end_stop within the id(top_end_stop) in the if clause with the id of your binary_sensor for the feedback contact sensing GPIO Binary Sensor.
Really curious to know when you get this working and the configuration you finally create to make it work!