I am having a problem with new device. The door stops working with the opener light blinking even with the wall switch. I have read that others have had the same problem with over head door model 555. I put a meter on it while in the nonworking mode and it shows a short. It remains a short even with the power removed. The relay will return to the normally open state in a few minutes. Can you tell me if the relays or analog or are they solid state?
Yes, if the peak current exceeds 500mA, the relay can get stuck. So far this happened on two really old openers, and I’ve added external 10A relays for both customers. The electro-mechanical reed relay inside Garadged is one like in this datasheet:
Littelfuse_Reed_Relays_HE3600_Datasheet.pdf-876890.pdf (379.1 KB)
Thanks for quick reply. I really like this item and look forward to us getting the kinks ironed out. I am in the process of trying many combinations of the settings but it sounds like I may need the external relay you spoke of. I tried a relay off setting of 4 and had no problems for almost 2 days. Is it going to destroy the reed relay contacts if I continue to use while playing with different combo of settings? Thanks again and thanks for coming up with it.
The excessive current may damage the relay, but don’t worry about it: if you decide to use a different relay or external relay module, the old relay will not matter. If you’re up for the project, I can provide all the details, otherwise you can ship it back and I’ll add the external relay module for you.
I think I would be up to the modification myself as long as there is no surface mount technology involved. I bought it from newegg and did not know about your site. Do I purchase the relay from the eBay link you provided or do you have them?
I have few around, but eBay is where I get those relay modules.
It’s pretty simple project. Some basic soldering is involved, but no surface mount.
Usually I wouldn’t want to open a warranted item but I like it enough and I think you have the expertise to get it to be reliable. If you could send instructions and/or pics/schematic I will go ahead and order the relay.
I have found that when the relay sticks (contacts shorted) that you have to disconnect power to the garadget for it to reset to normal open state. I thought it was overheating the contacts which would cause them to stick, and then when cooled off would open again. Having to remove power would indicate a circuitry problem (possibly grounding) wouldn’t it? Have the ones you ave added relays to experienced any more problems? I will wait to order the relay until I see the installation instructions. Thanks
Here’s the connections for the external relay module:
There were no further problem reports from customers who had external relay module added to their Garadgets.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about the mod.
My garage door is very old. 30 plus years. Triggering circuit as 24vac. Way too much current for the small relay in the Garadget unit. I spoke with Denis and he told me about the relay module and sent me a link to where I could get one for less than $1. I did the mod on the Garadget unit but wired the white wire to the third pin after cutting the trace to that pin. Then used three plug in cables to connect my relay module. Everything is working great. Even wrote some Tasker profiles to control things. Here’s a pic of the final install.
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