Those of you who use the MyQ integration for their covers (in my case my garage door) will be familiar with the issues surrounding the changes to the API which, on the face of it, appear to be a deliberate attempt to thwart those of us who don’t use their app. Recently that seems to have ceased ( I have had 3 weeks of trouble-free operation of the integration), but now I may have picked up on a new issue. I have some automations set up using Node Red and lately it seems to take an inordinate amount of time between a physical state change of my garage door and the notification I am receiving of that state change. Ignoring Node Red for a moment, the state change getting to HA in the first place seems to take an inordinately long time. Is anyone else experiencing this issue?
I purchased my garage door having expressly stipulated that it must be functional with HA. The supplier supplied this door motor and app on that basis. I am almost at the point of returning it for a refund based on the fact that it is not fit for purpose and does not meet the specification I was given to understand would apply.
For me I’ve seen that the state isn’t reporting right so not working right. Like I’ve been home for like 3 hours and my door still shows a state of “Closing”. It’s closed. It seems to kind of track changes but they aren’t right or timely.
My states are all correctly identified: “opening” “open” “closing” “closed”, but, the delay is terrible. Sometimes the “opening” and “closing” notifications don’t come through at all, but the other two do, so I have set my automations up to cover that eventuality.
I use person tracking (using the HA app) to open and close the door, but the delays in status change are making the automations problematic.
I recently installed a LiftMaster 8550W and the old method I used to locally control the garage door (GD) became non-functional because 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 home automation whenever possible. Also, the MyQ API changes often which makes the existing Home Assistant integrations 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, although quite involved, allows for a very reliable local control of the garage door opener and the garage door open/close status. It integrates into HA via MQTT and ZWave and allows Alexa voice control as well.
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 real time status of whether the garage door is opened or closed.
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
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.
Power on the Sonoff 4CH Pro and use the HA Garage Door entity you created earlier to toggle its relay to trigger the opening/closing of the garage door.
Include the Ecolink Z-Wave Tilt Sensor into your ZWave network and place it on the upper part of the garage door.
Use Alexa Routines to enable voice commands to open and close the garage door. You will need Alexa integration into HA via the Nabu Casa service or the manual method.
Than you for the very detailed response. My current door motor was quite recently installed as a replacement for the one on the door that the car somehow impacted (the wife still can’t explain that bit…) I had already purchased much of the stuff needed to automate the old door motor, before the “incident” that required the fitting of a new door and motor, and I was going to go down the road that you have just described.
When I got the new door I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to reinvent the wheel, but sadly it seems that I must - so I will use those bits and pieces after all. I am an electronics guy and soldering is not an issue for me. Laziness is the main issue. Thanks, once again.
On Smarththings and Hubitat the driver lets you add a tile sensor (like the Smartthings one) to correctly report the open/closed state and motion. Does anyone know of a way to do that with HA?
Awesome job!
I already have thoze ecolink sensors on my garage.
Would I be able to just get a simpler sonoff relay such as:
or is there a reason you used the 4CH device?
Was excited to get the LiftMaster MyQ compatible opener… until I realized the limitations and how locked out they are on everything… unfortunate…
I used the 4CH because I had one around and it was easier with the built in power supply etc. I’m sure you could modify a Sonoff Basic to do the same. Check on YouTube. I remember some videos on this.
I just did this. Thank you for posting those photos. How you knew where and what to solder, I’ll never know, but I was able to rig up my old Meross controller and ditch MyQ, hopefully forever. Home Assistant and the MyQ API still comes and goes, but now I don’t have to worry anymore.
