It's 2 AM ... do you know where your garage door is?

go4donuts · Sep 21, 2013

I started a thread yesterday about the problem I'm having with my garage door opening mysteriously on it's own in the middle of the night. See:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=216820

This leads to the idea of having some kind of monitor on your garage door so you can be confident that your door is closed and your tools are secure when you are sleeping or at work. I know there are security systems available that you can access remotely with a smart phone, but I don't have a smart phone and I prefer simple, old-school, and low-cost solutions.

I bought a simple, commercially available garage door monitor, brand name CHAMBERLAIN. It's wireless system. You stick a tilt switch sending unit on your garage door which sends a 'door closed or 'door open' signal to a small base station inside the house. Pictures:

The device works, but it falls short of what I want in a garage door monitor.
The base station simply has two small LEDs - a green 'door closed' light, and a red 'door open' light. But there is no 'alarm' aspect to this. You could easily fail to notice the red light on. I keep mine on my bedside table in the hope that I would notice a door open alert as I'm going to bed. But it's not going to wake me up if the door opens in the middle of the night. Or while I'm down in the TV room, absorbed in back-to-back episodes of Dancing With The Stars, some goon could be waltzing out of my garage with his arms around my Makita.

Also, the Chamberlain base station frequently gets 'confused', typical of most electronic devices these days, and needs to be rebooted (unplugged, re-plugged).

I'm considering McGyvering some kind of system that has a larger flashing light or audible alarm when the door is open.

Has anybody else done something like this, or found a good monitor system?

biosurfer1 · Sep 21, 2013

I have that same device, came with my garage door opener. I would give it a C-. It works from time to time but loses the signal a lot (alternating green/red) and it's not far from transmitter. Once I get off my **** and program the controller, I already installed a magnetic switch that I'll have signal an alarm if it goes off. Nice having a the logic controller so I can adjust when it goes off (i.e. only between 10pm and 6am) or whatever else I want it to do.

Having $3000 worth of stuff stolen out of my garage really serves as inspiration to make sure it doesn't happen again!

Architorture · Sep 21, 2013

...when i leave for extended periods of time i disengage the opener and put the slide bolts through the track...pretty fail safe if you are that concerned. my doors are also tied to my security system so they beep when opened or trip the alarm when armed

Anglia Guy · Sep 21, 2013

Just go to Home Depot and get a motion detector/sensor. Point it toward the door and when it moves, it sends a signal which turns on a light and beeps (or does something else to warn you) next to your bed. I have one outside each bedroom window. That way anything that goes by my house at night lets me know. Plus it turns on a light inside that the person outside can see.

softailgarage · Sep 21, 2013

^^^^^THIS^^^^^
Best thing you can do. You dont even have to disengage anything. I take a couple of C-Clamps and run it through the hole in the rail. 1 on each side, 2 if you really want to be sure nobody is gonna get in. I recently replaced the opener with a Craftsman model that scrambles the signal so it changes every time the door is opened. The man doors are both deadbolted, 1 with a latch as well and a "friendly" little warning on the outside face of the door. I also have camera's mounted as well as a full security system.

CFM · Sep 21, 2013

Is the garage close enough to the house to make hardwiring a sensor reasonable? If so, something along the lines of what this guy did might be an option. Instead of the small LED he used, you could connect a larger bulb and/or alarm.

BigCarbs · Sep 21, 2013

Anglia Guy said:
Just go to Home Depot and get a motion detector/sensor. Point it toward the door and when it moves, it sends a signal which turns on a light and beeps (or does something else to warn you) next to your bed. I have one outside each bedroom window. That way anything that goes by my house at night lets me know. Plus it turns on a light inside that the person outside can see.

Details on the motion sensor system? Could you wire it to landscape lighting outside or an audible alarm/ beeping noise outside?

go4donuts · Sep 21, 2013

CFM said:
Is the garage close enough to the house to make hardwiring a sensor reasonable? If so, something along the lines of what this guy did might be an option. Instead of the small LED he used, you could connect a larger bulb and/or alarm.

I was thinking of something along that line. The guy who built the garage was a forward thinker and buried a conduit between garage and house. He ran coax, audio and CAT5 cable, and left a string to pull additional wires.

go4donuts · Sep 21, 2013

Anglia Guy said:
Just go to Home Depot and get a motion detector/sensor. Point it toward the door and when it moves, it sends a signal which turns on a light and beeps (or does something else to warn you) next to your bed. I have one outside each bedroom window. That way anything that goes by my house at night lets me know. Plus it turns on a light inside that the person outside can see.

I've been looking for exactly that for years but haven't seen one. I tried building one myself a few years ago by mating a wireless remote doorbell to an infrared motion sensor. Unfortunately I wasn't good enough at electronics to get it working right. The unfinished project is still in a box in my garage. I'll have to go to HD and look again.

DangerousDan55 · Sep 21, 2013

I had a simular problem years back. After repeated opening events, Finaly late one night our door bell rang. Got up no body there, walked around the house, got to the garage & the door opened all by itself! So I think someone else has the same opener code. I changed my code & the issue Never happened gain. Well, sometimes I or my wife would forget & leave it open. Thats another problem.

Now, HF & NT sells a wireless driveway alert. $19-25. Set the unit to watch the door(s). The set the reciever in the house. It beeps Real Loud!
The reciever can use batteries, or, a little power transformer. Not included. But Radio Shack has them. But use the transformer & plug it into a simple timer. Set it to turn on, say about 7 or 8pm & turn off about 5-6am.

But you would have to turn it off when you are working late night. Other wise the wife will rip the reciever out & beat you with it! It would be alarming on every move you make while working in the garage.

One other thing, I'm not sure how it would work due to the fact it is looking at heat signature changes (IR). But it may trigger any heat changes due to the door opening. But it would defently alarm if a uninvited guest is late night shopping.

I'm glad you brought this issue up, I have an old driveway alert from HF that will try out. After, I finnish my "community service" (speeding ticket)

FarmerPete · Sep 23, 2013

Okay, I'm going to say what no one else is saying...If your garage door is opening up at 2am by itself, did you ever think you should fix that problem instead of throwing money to alert you when it does happen? You do know that garage doors aren't supposed to randomly open right? Why not change your signal channel, or just replace the entire opener? I'm sure you can get a new opener for less than some of these hacks will end up costing you.

bww_mnm · Sep 23, 2013

There has to be a market for a high end, bullet proof sensor for $100 or so. Some kind of programmable thing with alarms for certain time of night, etc.

Rag Roc · Sep 25, 2013

I installed an HD appliance timer on my opener. My truck had gotten broken into in the driveway, and it dawned on me they could have used the remote to get into the garage. Now between midnight and 6am the timer cuts power to the opener.

flytosail · Sep 25, 2013

If you have windows on the front of your garage door, cut the cord to the manual release so that someone can not break the window, pull the cord, and open your door.

On our last house we had a switched outlet for the garage door opener next to the light switch.

jwicker · Sep 25, 2013

I started a project some time ago (yet to finish it), wherein I added a magnetic alarm sensor to my overhead.
Tied that to my hard-wired alarm system.
Acts like any other door with chime or alarm activation (depending on how programmed).
Not a project for the uneducated on alarms, but doable.
Just FYI in case you have ADT or similar. They can mak it work - for a fee of course.
YMMV

jw

Jwestercamp · Sep 25, 2013

why not just get a liftmaster my iq system and then you can check it anywhere you have wifi, open close slic

jasong70 · Sep 25, 2013

My recommendation is to zip tie or safety wire the trolley release.

Most doors can be opened by reaching through the top of the door and hooking the trolley release on your opener, thereby letting it open freely. Google for it, it'll astonish you how easy it is.

The switched outlet is good too, but only if you don't have a rolling code.

When I go away, I park the car against the door. Door is padlocked on the inside with a slide lock.

doesn't mean they can't get in, just that it'll be a pain in the a$$.

I'm also alarmed, which I hope is the biggest deterrent.

megalo · Sep 25, 2013

I reprogrammed my opener last year, only to have the door opening and closing seemingly at will. It happened a few times before I realized my neighbor's door was also opening and closing at the same time. They must have hit their remote just as I was programming the opener.

Al Bundy · Sep 26, 2013

FarmerPete said:
Okay, I'm going to say what no one else is saying...If your garage door is opening up at 2am by itself, did you ever think you should fix that problem instead of throwing money to alert you when it does happen? You do know that garage doors aren't supposed to randomly open right? Why not change your signal channel, or just replace the entire opener? I'm sure you can get a new opener for less than some of these hacks will end up costing you.

^This.

go4donuts · Sep 26, 2013

FarmerPete said:
Okay, I'm going to say what no one else is saying...If your garage door is opening up at 2am by itself, did you ever think you should fix that problem instead of throwing money to alert you when it does happen? You do know that garage doors aren't supposed to randomly open right? Why not change your signal channel, or just replace the entire opener? I'm sure you can get a new opener for less than some of these hacks will end up costing you.

This thread isn't specifically about the problem of my garage door opening by itself (that was the other thread), it's about having a way to know what your garage door is doing when it's out of your sight.

There are multiple reasons why a garage door could be open unintentionally - the opener could have operated autonomously (per the other thread), or you (or someone else in your family) could have left it open and forgot about it, or someone could have broken in to your garage.

My garage door faces a back alley behind my yard - I can't see it from my house and I can't hear any activity going on there. I don't go to my garage every day; in the summer I park my daily driver in the front, so a problem with the garage door could go unnoticed for several days.

There are two kinds of garage owners - those who have discovered their garage door left open all night, and those who will. I think a simple device costing $30 that will alert you about the problem is a good investment in loss prevention and peace of mind.

And since you mentioned it in this thread, as did several other posters in the other thread, I'll explain, as I did before, that changing the signal channel / codes is not possible or necessary because my opener uses the newer 'rolling code' system.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_code

ben98gs · Sep 26, 2013

There was recently an article on lifehacker about this with a few DIY solutions: http://lifehacker.com/challenge-winner-get-better-control-of-your-garage-doo-1331173018

mnwishbone · Sep 26, 2013

One reason garage doors have been opening is because of the following:
As part of the U.S. Department of Defense's new state of the art communication system, the military has taken over the unlicensed frequencies which are mostly used by garage door remote openers, cordless phones, and even baby monitors. But, what's deemed a help for military safety is a headache for civilians.
"Garage door openers operate on 'unlicensed basis' within the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations on radio frequencies, known as FCC Part 15 rules. Because garage door openers operate as FCC Part 15 unlicensed devices, they must accept any interference that may occur from the authorized users of radio frequencies."

Another is someone else has the same frequency and codes you have. Many openers were set to a factory "default" and some people will troll the streets while operating a opener set to default looking for doors that open. If they don't hit it that night they might note it and come back when they think it is safe to do so.

Check your opener - reset the codes it to see if that fixes it and if not it could be the military interference and then you can either use a remote unit that does not compete in the military bands or buy a new garage door opener to eliminate the issue.

Something is causing the issue - not that you could not simply install a garage door slide bolt on the door that would stop it from opening when you are home but what about when you are not home??

nine4gmc · Sep 26, 2013

^ Another reason is, my girl just told me that she still has the opener from her old home and sometimes her kids make her drive by so they can "open the door" :lol_hitti

jshillin · Sep 26, 2013

Mine did the same same a few times and I realized my opener was going bad. Came out one night and I couldn't get it to close. I unplugged it and eventually got it going, but up was then down and down was up... I yanked the old one out about a month ago and installed this: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Chamberl...MyQ-Technology-HD930EV/203951235#.UkTvW4ZQGxs

It has been awesome, it's very quiet and it can be operated by your smart phone where you can also see if the door is up or down.

pendragon1998 · Sep 27, 2013

softailgarage said:
I take a couple of C-Clamps and run it through the hole in the rail. 1 on each side (snip)

On a related note... My rear man door is a piece of ****, and I could probably shoulder it open with little effort. I bought two metal pieces from the fencing section at Lowes and lag bolted them into the studs. Then, I slide a 2x4 section to bar the door. The 2x4 has a screw on the upper part of either side, so it cannot be bumped through. The screw on one side is just resting in a hole, so you can simply lift it out and slide the bar out (takes 1 second).

The bar has a note on it so if someone happened to be in the garage and was trapped by a fire, they wouldn't be confused about how to get free. Now, I'm sure that you could still bust in the door if you wanted to, but the bar should at least require you to destroy the door to do that, which should hopefully wake me up enough to come out and clobber you.

You'll also note that the window is covered with a simple piece of wax paper, taped to block the view into the garage, while still allowing light to enter. I don't want people looking into my garage to see what there is to steal. The jury is still out on whether that just makes it more tempting - lol. I've got the same thing on the main garage door. From the outside, it just looks frosted (if backlit) or dark.

FarmerPete · Sep 30, 2013

The opener I just installed for my Grandma has a feature that it will automatically close the door after a set time period. It's helpful if the issue is forgetting to close it. If you don't want to replace the opener, you can get a third party tool like the Garage Butler to do it for you. The good ones have motion sensors and will leave the door open if there is someone moving around in the garage.

AndyL · Sep 30, 2013

Or you retrofit the liftmaster myq wall station in, add the internet gateway... Seem to recall a setting to alert if the doors open at certain hours....

Dakota00 · Sep 30, 2013

I built my garage door monitoring system about 8yrs ago. I've built a few more monitoring systems for family and friends over the years.

I run my systems off a 12V AC/DC adapter, which is wired to a ball plunger switch used for alarm systems. The ball plunger switch is mounted to the side rail track for the garage door(s). When the door goes up, it comes into contact with the ball plunger completing the circuit that actives a red light inside the house. Telling me the garage door(s) is open.

It's a very cheap, simple but reliable system.
Here's a pic, with one of the garage door's opened. Just below are the switches to open/close the garage doors.
View media item 33796

jwicker · Oct 2, 2013

I have a local garage door co coming out tomorrow to quote the Liftmaster 8550 with MyQ.

I'm guessing around $400 installed.
IF I can sell my 2 year old CMan and all gadgets (3 remotes, keypad, etc) I might go for it.
We will see.

siggy_freud · Oct 2, 2013

Could try putting one of those battery powered car backup beeper gadgets over the red LED so when the for opens it begins to beep. They're meant to stick to a cars reverse light so when you put it in reverse and your backup light comes on they beep to warn people. Loud enough to wake you up I bet.

jwicker · Oct 10, 2013

So - even after posting in this thread.... I did it.
Went in to grab a bite and went to bed with the overhead door wide open.
Found everything intact and nothing missing when I got up at 7.
Later that day (Sunday), I order this Chamberlain Door Monitor from A...zon.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002YX7MM/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Installed in minutes.
So far so good.
Got it for ~$12 after some A..zon discounts.

Likely having the Liftmaster 8550 put in next week if I have saved enough pennies.

go4donuts · Oct 14, 2013

Great idea! I'll have to see if I can find one of those.

jwicker said:
So - even after posting in this thread.... I did it.
Went in to grab a bite and went to bed with the overhead door wide open.
Found everything intact and nothing missing when I got up at 7.
Later that day (Sunday), I order this Chamberlain Door Monitor from A...zon.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002YX7MM/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Installed in minutes.
So far so good.
Got it for ~$12 after some A..zon discounts.

Likely having the Liftmaster 8550 put in next week if I have saved enough pennies.

It's 2 AM ... do you know where your garage door is?

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