I bought a MonoPrice Z-Wave plus door? window sensor it has the internal connector for a reed switch, so I ordered the one you suggested and hope it being NC when magnet is near will work with this. I will mount it outside the box and hope for the best.
Thatās perfect, I just pulled a gocontrol/linear door/window sensor apart hoping maybe I could connect an external antenna, but a couple of you dissuaded me as that would change the length, etc and ruin the reception.
However, I remember seeing the external/secondary switch connector inside thereā¦ and indeed that should let me mount a wired door/window sensor inside the mailbox and mount the z-wave transmitter underneath the front! It still has to get around some brick, but at least itās in the open air and I do have outdoor z-wave repeaters so I think this will work. Thanks for the idea!
Wish I had seen this post awhile backā¦lol First I tried the original posts āgarage door sensorā but it would only work intermittently. Now I have a Monoprice motion detector on the back of my box, not wanting to interfere with the mail placement, but it doesnāt seem to āpick upā every opening of the box. It is the same as the garage sensor, it works when I open itā¦but only works about 1/2 the time the USPS does. I guess they are just too fast, or donāt open the box far enough.
Now, when the weather warmsā¦I have a Ecolink Door and Window Sensorā¦wish me luckā¦lol!
FYI: I had the Monoprice motion sensor as an outdoor (under cover) sensor for my driveway = fail Too many false alarms. Now I have a Guardline Driveway sensor, inside receiver wired to a Ecolinkā¦works great. (there is a thread about this)
How did the magnetic reed switch work out for you? I have a Monoprice z-wave tilt sensor which also has the internal connector for a reed switch. I would like to use the tilt sensor outside my metal mail box and use the magnetic reed switch inside the mail box.
ā¦ Iām using a super strong magnet on the door and a reed switch inside.
[/quote]
What type of āsuper strong magnetā are you using, and how did you attach it to the mail box? Is it on the door of the mailbox or on the side wall of the mailbox? I am assuming that the super strong magnet takes the place of the magnet that came with the reed switch?
I attached this to an Ecolink Garage Door Tilt sensor for our mailbox. Works very well. The sensor is in the mailbox and the magnet is on the door. I attached it using hot glue. Been installed all summer in the Florida heat without an issue.
Do you have the Ecolink tilt sensor outside the mailbox? My mail box is metal and therefore I will have to mount it outside. Also, did you do anything to the internal ball switch in the Ecolink? I am confused by how this works. If the Ecolink is stationary, the ball switch will be in either open or closed position (depending on whether the Ecolink is in a vertical or horizontal position). Does the door contacts sensor (the one you have linked to) trigger through a separate (and independent) channel?
The tilt sensor had internal contacts to add the external sensor I listed. The tilt on the door was extremely unreliable. The external sensor only worked with the ball in either the open or closed, not both. I think it was open. I bent the ball switch to keep it in the correct position. I mounted the Ecolink under the bottom of the mailbox. I think I have some pictures. If I can find them Iāll post. The mailbox is close to 40ft from the hub going through one external wall that also contains a 6ft patio doorwall.
I used the tilt sensor because I had one I was no longer using. I didnāt buy it for this project.
Top picture is the sensor mounted under the mailbox. Button picture is the external sensor mounted so it reads the door being opened and closed.
Thank you. The pictures were very helpful. That is exactly what I was planning to do. What is the black stuff used to glue the magnet and sensor to the mail box? and did you use hot glue to glue the tilt sensor to the bottom of the mailbox. Also, did you paint the magnet and sensor black? Most of the sensors I have seen are white and they would stick out like a sore thumb in my mailbox, which is also black like yours.
I used hot glue for the tilt sensor and the sensor and magnet in the mailbox. When I was finished with the glue, I painted everything black. I also used hot glue on any wires just to keep them from flopping around.
Itās nice to know when the door is opened for mail and security. We were away this weekend and on Saturday the mailbox was opened twice. I looked at my camera recordings and saw that the mailbox was opened by someone in a mini van (not the post office). They ended up leaving a business flyer in the mailbox so they werenāt trying to steal anything. I believe that the business broke a federal law with the flyer and will check on that tomorrow.
Good luck with the project. I had about an hour at the mailbox setting up the sensors and painting it up so it looked better and not scary (a box with wires coming out) for the mail carrier.
I use SHM (Custom) to monitor both opening from mailman (0 mins) and anyttime it might get left/blown open (10 mins), it allows many types of notifications including push and texting.custom messages.
1 Like
I do the same thing. 
Finished installing the Mail Box Sensor using a Monoprice Z-Wave tilt sensor today. I used an external reed switch inside the mailbox with the Tilt sensor outside my all-metal mail box. Everything worked perfectly when I tested it. However, I was waiting to get the notification when the mailman delivered my mail, but never got the notification. I tested it again after I picked up the mail and I got the notification almost instantaneously. I reviewed my doorbell cam video and noticed that the mailman was very fast opening the mailbox door, placing the mail in my box and then closing it. I would guess that it took him less than a second between opening and closing the mailbox door. My question is this: What is the reaction time of the tilt-sensor?
My guess is that the sensor, being a battery-operated device is asleep most of the time and requires a minimum time to respond.
Any ideas on why i did not get the notification when everything appears to be functioning properly?
I havenāt noticed that problem. My mail person is pretty quick too. Maybe the mailbox door wasnāt closed all the way when the mail was delivered? I had that happen once and added a rule that notifies me if the mailbox has been left open longer than a minute.
No, it was closed all the way when I picked up the mail. While I had the mailbox out for the sensor installation, I replaced the roller catch for the door and it was snugly closed when I picked up the mail. I will have to experiment by opening and closing the door quickly to see if I will get the notification.
1 Like
Iāve tried that monoprice tilt sensor and had the same issue you wrote about. I could watch and see how fast the mailman opened and closed the door and see that the sensor could not respond as fast as the mailman.
The other issue I ran into with this tilt sensor was it would not stay connected even though I had a strong mesh to support it. I discovered my version of this sensor was only z-wave and not z-wave plus.
Iāve been using this Iris window door sensor for more than a year and it has worked flawlessly through the cold winter and now a hot summer. My mailbox is 60 feet outside the closest of my z-wave repeaters on the inside of my house.
I use Iris plugs that have both z-wave and zigbee radios throughout my house for repeaters.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Iris-Iris-Indoor-Door-And-Window-Sensor/999925302
1 Like
Is you mailbox metallic or non-metallic? Does the iris window/door sensor have the option to connect an external magnetic reed switch? If not, it will not work for me because I have an all-metal mailbox, so I cannot have the sensor inside the mailbox.
I installed the Iris door / window sensor that you linked to and it works great! The response time is very fast and now reliably get notified when the mailman delivers the mail. I have both the Monoprice garage door tilt sensor and the iris sensor now installed in my mail box and today when the mail man delivered the mail, only the iris sensor notified me. Thanks!
1 Like