Open garage door

Came home last night after midnight to find my garage door open. I am the ONLY user so no one else would have opened it. What would cause the unit to operate on its on??? This is definitely a problem.

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Garadget never autonomously makes decision to operate the door. Incidental commands (e.g during the power failure) are prevented on the hardware level. All door operations are based on the command from the authorized source received through the encrypted channel.

Aside from considering the possibility of the local control with the wall button or wireless remotes, please check the event logs for the integrated systems such as IFTTT or home automation hubs if you use any. Enabling event alerts for opening and timeout alert should keep you notified if door was left open.

I had a sensitive wall button that got more sensitive as the temperature went up to the point that it would trip on its own. I rebuilt the wall switch and the problem disappeared.

There was no one else at home. No one else has the password or mobile phone access. I live alone. It worries me that the garage was up but I have no idea how long. The garage door to the house was not locked so some easily could have been stolen.

How can I prevent this from happening again? I am often traveling and I am worried that this could happen when I am out of town.

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I would recommend enabling the status notification as well as timeout notification. You’ll know when the door opens. If you suspect the unwanted operation has anything to do with Garadget, you can temporarily disconnect the control wires, but still enjoy the status monitoring and alerts.

I get false notifications ALL THE TIME!!! So that worries me as well.

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The false notifications need to be addressed first. Without the reliable state sensor you may be thinking that you’re closing the door while you’re actually opening it.

Possible reasons for sensor fault are:

  • laser going out of alignment (bad adhesion because of dusty or uneven surface, opener vibration etc)
  • interference from the ambient light
  • blocked line of sight (webs, nests, manual release rope)

Please determine the cause of the issue and address accordingly. Please don’t hesitate to contact for help if you have difficulties with the setup.

One thing that may happen (I’ve experienced this) is the app is activated while in your pocket.

Just like you may “pocket dial” someone when the phone is in your pocket, if you don’t close the Garadget App or forget to lock your phone when you put it in your pocket, you could accidentally open your door.

On one occasion if found my garage door open and I noticed the Garadget App was active on my phone when I took the phone out of my pocket.

Please consider a new version of the iOS app with the additional fingerprint or pin code protection. The updated android app is coming soon as well.

This has happened to me, I removed garages from my scenes. garage is on it is on and it works well with ST as well.

If nothing shows in the logs, you might check your wiring - even outside of garadget. If you have bare wire shorting (touching) it would act as a button push. I’ve had this happen, even pre-home automation days. Admittedly that was with an older opener so I don’t know if things have changed to eliminate that issue.

As to the false alerts - I had that issue on windy days but I purchased some extra reflective tape that cut down on the issue drastically. The other thing I’ve done is have a camera set up in the garage so if I get an alert I can just check the camera feed to see if it is legit or not.

Finally, my garage door opener has a vacation mode that locks it out from opening (yes, I could just unplug it as well.) I have to go through the front door when I return, but that’s not usually an issue as I’m generally taking a taxi etc home. You might consider that for some extra peace of mind.

Hope some of these thoughts help, but like suggested I’d say try to fix the false alerts stuff so you can feel more comfortable.

majagu -
Love your integration of camera idea. I’m curious, is this stand-alone where you watch video later or real time with an app to stream?
I am currently planning 1 or 2 cameras around our property and thought outside doors only and forgot inside the garage. Since planning I have not yet fully decided on the model… stream, wireless, etc.

Majagu- Thanks for your suggestions. Very much appreciated.

So I use a program called BlueIris which runs on a computer (windows) and acts as an NVR for all my cameras. It works with a huge variety of cameras, so if you have an always on windows computer, I highly recommend it. There is a free trial and a light version, I believe, if you want to try. I think it ran be $50. It can live stream or playback clips (I have it record when it detects motion) via a webpage, android/iOS apps or the BlueIris client on the recording computer. If you’re looking at more than a camera or two I highly recommend it.

That said, if you only want one or two cameras there are good choices like Arlo or even cheaper foscams/chinese cameras (as cheap as ~$30-40) that can be live streamed.

Please feel free to message with any questions and I can try to answer. Here’s a screenshot of the webpage for most of my cameras. Ignore the mess, I’m in the never ending process of rearranging stuff :slight_smile:

Thanks for all of the advice. I re-centered the beam onto the reflective tape. I also put a camera on the garage as well. I don’t like the camera but it will do what it needs to in the event that the garage door is opened.

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could it be possible that direct sunlight on the outside of the garage door could affect the reflector? it seems that the heat could be causing my false alerts.

Daniel,
Are you getting false alerts only during the day? Is position of the sun a factor in this?

yes, the sun is directly on the door in the early morning (8am-10am) and the temps have been over 90 by 9am.
no false alarms in the evening/night.

The light is likely reason, not the temperature. If lowering the threshold in settings doesn’t help then please try limiting amount of light reaching the sensor. This may require moving the reflective sticker away from the window, or even this low tech solution.

the garage has no windows. and the garage is dark when the door is closed, regardless of the time of day.

last night, after thinking about it, i did reduce the reflector threshold level from 60 to 35. usually, the reflection level reported in the settings screen is in the mid-to-high 90’s.

i verified that the laser beam is positioned in the center of the reflective disk.

we’ll see how today goes with the reflective threshold level reduced.