Has anyone integrated or used the Remotec ZFM-80 to control their garage doors?
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I have. It works very well.
Thanks for the feedback. I have read posts of othe builders hacking solutions with relays and switches and wondered why no one had used this.
Seems like a simple solution.
Yeah, probably a simpler solution than the outlet/relay thing, but also more expensive. I think I got my outlets for around $20 each, then a $10 relay from Radio Shack. The wire I already had laying around.
Plus this wasn’t on the list of compatible things when I build my relay setup. The Evolve relay was, but I think that’s even a little more expensive than this one.
The zfm-80 and the evolve both work but the evolve is a larger form factor. For some reason, the zfm does a much (like twice as much) better job range wise. The zfm is only rated to 15 amps and the evolve is good for 20 if that’s a consideration (it was for me on a well pump motor with a high initial surge current on startup) if you need even more power capacity, look at the elk 9200 with any z-wave switch (non-dimmer) - it comes installed in a nice metal box with feed-through and enough room in the box for a single gang (plastic) box to hold a z-wave outlet - its rated at 60 amps. Fibaro has a really nice ultra mini form factor relay module that has crazy contact ratings (they probably are using something opto-isolated) that’s small enough to fit behind a switch in a box but they’re having all sorts of issues getting their stuff UL and FCC certified for the US. We’ve been on the waiting list to become stocking dealers for over a year but they have some really sexy stuff and more in the pipeline.
So I purchased the ZFM-80 thinking my garage door could be controlled with a simple relay shorting out the lines to open or close it. Once I received it I went to hook it up and realized my Genie 1000 actually is more complicated than just shorting two cables. The two cables run to a controller switch which allows you to do multiple functions which including locking the door, turning on the light, and opening the garage door. This being said does anyone have any recommendations on how I can use the ZFM-80 still to open my garage door? Has anyone else hooked into a Genie garage door?
I have attached additional resources here - http://s34.photobucket.com/user/Dyos/library/Genie%201000
So I finally got the ZFM-80 to work with my garage door after taking apart a remote and soldering the relay connection to the wireless remote. However, the problem here is that my garage only takes a signal from the ZFM-80 when it’s turned on. Given the ZFM-80 has an on and off in order for me to open/close my garage door I have to push the button twice. Once to turn off the ZFM-80 then a second time to turn it on which it appears then sends the connection. So essentially I have to push it two times in order to push the command through. Is everyone else experiencing this same behavior? Is there something I’m doing wrong here? I kind of thought this was a switch that didn’t have an on/off position but rather when you activated it the device would short/close the loop for a brief moment and then disconnect. Anyone have any thoughts?
I think most relays like this work as you described. They aren’t momentary push buttons, but on/offs.
Now, you can chance the device type in the IDE to “Virtual Momentary Push Button” and then SmartThings will automate the process for you. It basically turns the relay (or outlet, or light switch) off the moment it see that it’s been turned on. This works perfectly for most garage door push button situations.
However, it sounds like because of your “non-standard” setup with the Genie 1000 this wouldn’t work for you. You need something that does just the opposite: As soon as it sees the relay turn off, it turns it back on a moment later.
One of the first apps I wrote was “Turn me off quick” designed to turn off a switch/outlet/relay after it was turned on a given number of seconds later. It was very easy to quickly modify this to a new app called “Turn me on quick.” You just pick a switch, then enter the number of seconds you want to wait (probably just 1 for you) and it will turn on a switch right after it’s been turned off. I’ve shared this app so you can see if it you go into the IDE and look at shared apps.
Of course, this is only half the battle. Next step if you want to use any of the existing garage opener apps is that you’ll need to modify the code to turn OFF your relay rather than turn it ON.
@chrisb this is actually exactly what I needed. Thanks for the recommendation! It is working perfectly fine now.
Hey Jeremy and other ZFM-8- users,
I have 2 ZFM-80s I used in my Homeseer system for the garage doors. Never got it to work correctly 100% of the time. Now I’m repurposing these units for use with Smartthings for garage door control.
Trouble I’m having is with including these to the ST controller. I first tried to exclude the ZFMs from my Homeseer system. This is where I’m having trouble. Maybe I blew out the ZFMs trying to get them to work initially.
When I press the button on the front of either ZFM, the blue LED does NOT flash. When I power cycle them, the blue LED flashes on one of the ZFMs. I’ve tried pressing the button right after a power cycle, while the LED is still flashing, but to no avail.
Did you have any trouble adding the ZFMs to the ST hub? On the off chance that they were no longer attached to my Homeseer controller, I tried adding them to ST but nothing. I press + in the Things screen of the ST app, then press the button on the front of the ZFM and nothing. No LED flash on the ZFM and no add to ST.
I checked Homeseer and these 2 ZFMs are still attached to that system. Ugh. Can’t get rid of them. Anyone know if there’s a force delete of a ZFM "from the ZFM itself?
Jim
SOLVED!
I solved my ZFM-80 issue. I had an epiphany today and recalled setting some custom values in the parameters of my 2 ZFM-80 relays via Homeseer. I went into Homeseer and reset the values back to defaults for each of the parameters. Viola! I was then able to Exclude them from Homeseer and Include (+ Add) them into Smartthings 
I Added them, then did 3 things in Smartthings:
- Changed the Device Type to Z-Wave Virtual Momentary Contact Switch
- Installed the Garage Door Opener app for each of 2 doors
- Configured a solution in the Doors & Locks Dashboard for each of 2 doors to alert me via push and SMS if the garage doors are open after 1 minute of being in Night and Away modes
I tested garage door operation of both doors via their App. Both worked, though on close, one door stopped and went back up. Could have been a bind in the track or maybe another ST trigger. I’ll look at the event logs closer next time I mess with this.
Anyway - pretty darned happy at this time Below are some pics:
Jim
@jeremywhittaker do you have any additional details on how you actually connected your ZFM-80 (schematic)? I have the same garage door opener as you and would like to implement a ZFM-80 to open/close.
@huntb I ruined my hard wired Genie switch trying to solder the ZFM-80 to it. After that I found an old remote I had laying around, I programmed that to my garage door opener. I then took that apart and was able to use some conductive glue to adhere the ZFM-80 leads onto it. Little ghetto, I realize, but it works!
@jbeletti (or anyone else who’s wired these into a standard wall-mounted GDO) – can you post pictures of how you connected the wires? I’m not much of an electrician, so was hoping to follow someone else’s map.
Thanks!
@klieber these are very simple to wire. From your current electric wire take the black and white. The black goes to the far left screw(line) The white goes to the second one(neutral). This power the device. The two middle ones it does not matter how you wire them. But think of the two middle ones like this. When you push the button it will briefly complete the circuit or essentially connect these two screws together. On your standard garage door opener you should be able to just disconnect the two wires going to the button. If you’re able to simply touch these together and your garage door opens/closes then that is exactly what you need. You can just wire these into the middle two screws. Do not use the far right screws. They are for an external switch.
Hi Kurt,
Jeremy pretty well covered it. To put a finer point on one part of it though, I ran a piece of 2-conductor wire from those center two screws and connected them to the screws on the back of my wall-mounted garage door opener buttons (on top of the existing 2 wires there that go to the actual opener).
If you need further detail, just ask and I can take pics etc.
Jim
OK, so this has to be run/powered off an existing electrical line to get power? And then connected via separate wires to the GDO? I can’t just install it inline with the GDO wiring itself?
I was somehow hoping it was easier than that, but so be it.
@jbeletti – looks like you installed a two gang box to house the Remotec switches?
Kurt,
Yes, the ZFM-80 requires 110 VAC as do nearly all Z-Wave items. I had a receptacle nearby so I wired off that into a 2-gang plastic, remodel/old-work box. With that power feed, I fed both ZFM-80s.
The Relay outputs of the ZFM wires in parallel with the GDO wires (in most cases). As you can see in my pic, my wall switches for the GDOs were close by, so I fished relay wires to them and connected them to the same screws as the original GDO wires. Viola!
Oh, and I modded a wall-plate by drilling holes in it so I could see the state of the LED light.
Another option that may be better for you is to build up an external box for this gear. Then install it near your GDO motor.
- Use a section of 2-wire cord with a 2-prong plug on it already or a short extension cord and cut off the female end
- Use a gang box (1 or 2 depending on the ZFM count) to house the ZFMs needed
- Using the wire above route it into the gang box and wire it to the L & N screws of all ZFMs. On the 2-prong plug, the blade that is narrow is the Line. The blade with is wide is the Neutral. So Line to L and Neutral to N on the ZFM
- Using a length of 2 conductor wire, connect it to the relay screws of the ZFMs, route the wire out of the gang box
- Attach the relay wires to GDO motor where your wall switches wire into
Hardware install done and pretty simply.
I’m seeing the same thing that @jeremywhittaker reported where I have to push the button twice. My door is an pretty standard, but fairly old, Craftsman with a single button GDO. I’d prefer that the ZFM switch just remain turned on all the time but I haven’t figured out how to do that. Any ideas?
Mike change the device type in ide. See previous post.