So in my search for a SmartThings doorbell I ran across this woefully under described item on ebay last night and have messaged the seller for more info hopefully I get a response. If it works with SmartThings it would appear to be the dream device most people looking for, except for the steep price.
Looking at it closer, is it a modified window/door sensor???
Edit 2 Quick search makes me think it’s a schlage sensor, quickly made comparison below:
Talking to myself here, but I got confirmation from the seller that these are modified schlage window sensors as I suspected. While a little pricy I commend them for filling a gap in the z-wave ecosystem for a plug-n-play solution!
Funny I saw this same item on Ebay yesterday. I have one of the Schlage window sensors now and I thought the same thing. Too bad somebody doesn’t hack that darn Lowes Iris doorbell! It’s $20 and looks like exactly the ticket. I would buy a handful of those things just for quick and dirty physical controllers all over the house.
@bazfum - Did you ever get this to work? I’d like to do the same thing. I want to use existing doorbell and I want a push notification whenever the doorbell button is pressed and to trigger other events.
@sgonsalves not yet. When I started tracing the wires all out I found that they are not neat, and the rats nest is right over a huge pile of unorganized items in the basement that would have to be moved before I could work on it. Whenever I do get a chance to test I’ll report back here. I’m pretty sure the MIMOlite will do the job, its just figuring out the right wiring.
To overcome that problem connect a relay…connect the coil in parallel to the bell and then the Normally Open and Common contacts to the Z-Wave module. If I remember correctly a doorbell transformer is like 16 VAC so make sure the relay coil is rated for the correct voltage.
When wiring up this d vice where should the transformer load go? It looks like my doorbell has all the Reds tied together and all the whites are wired into the transformer? My first attempt at wiring this up fried the switch wiring it the way you’ve outlined.
Has anyone gotten this to work with the Remotec Z-Wave ZFM-80? I have one but I’m a little unsure about this sort of thing and am afraid of frying it like Keo did. I understand hooking it up to line voltage to power it, but then what do I hook up to the “external switch” leads? Do I split the wires coming from the doorbell switch itself and use those?
My goal is to leave my existing doorbell hardware in place, and simply be notified when it rings.
@rogersmj - What I’ve determined is that I need a relay switch to trigger the input on the device. I have to order new hardware before I can try it, so it’s going to be at least a week. Once I get it working I can share pics and wiring diagrams. Hopefully I don’t fry a 3rd one. (Yes, it’s happened 2 times)
Have you had any luck?
I actually found this to be one of the easiest things I’ve installed and works some of the most consistent of anything on the hub. I just soldered a 12v relay to the dry contacts of an Everspring door sensor and the low voltage contacts off the transformer of a standard doorbell. Doorbell connects, trips relay, that closes the circuit on the door sensor and then I have an alert pop up on my phone. That way if I’m mowing the back lawn and the wife is out and somebody drops by, or if I’m at work and have a delivery, anything, I know.
You should write up a detailed tutorial on this. Very cool.
@malthus86 - Does your Doorbell operate off of DC? The link to the Relays shows 12V DC relays. Mine operates off of AC, so I’d either have to find an AC relay or also add a rectifier.
Doorbells have a transformer which turns AC to DC. They don’t actually power anything for any real length of time, they just close a circuit quickly causing an electromagnet to knock into a chime so they need DC. The relay is wired after the transformer so the circuit closes powers the chime and the relay for the Zwave sensor trips, closing the circuit and SmartThings shows Closed. I actually wrote a custom device type so instead of always showing an open door, it shows green and No Guests. Doorbell is pressed and it flashes orange with Ding Dong! and sends an alert Ding Dong! to our phones.
Newer digital doorbells might be more tricky but I know if I was designing one I’d have dry contacts for wiring into pre-existing systems for houses with multiple chimes. But I’m just guessing there.
The simplest approach I’ve seen, which is what I implemented.
connect the external reed switch, then tape it to the doorbell coil.
It was literally a 5 minute job, for under 30 bucks.
Is there anyway I could ask for photo of your setup? I understand the parts, I am just not fully picturing your setup.
sure, check back around 4PM PST, I’ll add a picture to the above post.
A connection diagram would also be very useful.
If only I have waited a month for this thread … burnt a Everspring sensor last month after connecting it without a relay 
well that’s the beauty of this setup, nothing connects electrically to the doorbell.
there’s two spare screw terminals (and only two) inside the monoprice sensor. These connect to the reed switch leads, of which there’s only two. The reed switch is nothing more than your typical dumb magnetic door/window contact. The doorbell coil develops a magnetic flux field when the button is pushed, this is what makes it go ding dong. The reed switch is placed near the doorbells solenoid coil, so when the coil fires, the reed contact is closed.
I am assuming that the reed switch goes at either end of the solenoid - can we please get a photograph of this if possible?
