New Homelink compatible Garage Door Opener

[paulgab]

I see there have been some discussions regarding adding Homelink compatibility to existing garage door openers, but what about if you are starting with nothing?

I have a 20 year old house with two single roller doors, where one is motorised and the other is manually opened. I'd like to replace the existing hardware and install new hardware on both doors, as I also want to be able to control both doors via my phone.

In 2020 in Australia, is it possible to purchase new roller door hardware that natively supports Homelink out of the box, or do I still need purchase a Homelink add on?

Thanks Paul.

 

[Munka]

I don't know the answer to "possible" but "practically" you will need a homelink addon and a bluetooth addon if you want to use your phone.

There are now some very cheap homelink addons:
HomeLink Receiver – 2 Channel – Tessories

Couldn't find an aussie link but they are out there. My 200Euro one out of Europe works great, but cheaper and locally available alternatives seem the way to go now they are available.

There are lots of Wifi options online too for your phone. But I prefer bluetooth (cannot be hacked through the Internet) and use this one - https://www.amazon.com.au/GarageMate-Garage-Android-Secure-Bluetooth4-0/dp/B01MCV1QZF

Put them in parallel across a standard open/close switch(be careful you don't buy an opener which is deliberately designed to exclude 3rd party accessories). It might be ugly, but its in the garage and it works great.

 

[GrimRe]

I have this:
Tesla HomeLink Compatible Garage/Gate Receiver

works perfectly ... 80% of the time

 

[djayz]

My Marantec garage opener is about 11 years old and yet supports Homelink out of the box. It works virtually flawlessly every single time.

 

[jamesgo]

I believe the question was if you don't have any garage door opener and want to get a new one. That being the case, in the simplest terms, homelink works via RadioFreq and just acts as another remote, so instead of you hitting the remote button, the car does it automatically when it enters a GPS zone (that you define). In Australia most garage doors work on 433.92MHz (just check the frequency used and it should be fine) which is in the Homelink range band. If not just add one of the ditec add-ons as listed above.

So yeah my 15+ year old Merlin just worked. My neighbour hasn't been able to get her modelX to work with a ATA GDO-9 door opener, but that might be more to her getting the programming wrong (once the limits get reduced in Vic i'll go give her a hand and try to get it to work).

 

[Wol747]

Anyone managed to get a Steel-line SD800 to work with Homelink? Spec says 433.93 Mhz.
I'm not entirely sure what's involved in fitting one of the add-ons.

 

[paulp]

If you are buying a new door opener, you need to buy one owned by chamberlain, who own homelink. Merlin branded openers (in australia) are also owned by chamberlain, and seem to work out of the box. Merlin also sell a homelink compatable reciever (geberic brands also available) that will send the homelink signal to a non-compatible door

 

[paulp]

Anyone managed to get a Steel-line SD800 to work with Homelink? Spec says 433.93 Mhz.
I'm not entirely sure what's involved in fitting one of the add-ons.

The add-on module is very easy to fit. You just need the module, a power supply, and connect two wires to the correct terminals of your opener

 

[paulp]

I believe the question was if you don't have any garage door opener and want to get a new one. That being the case, in the simplest terms, homelink works via RadioFreq and just acts as another remote, so instead of you hitting the remote button, the car does it automatically when it enters a GPS zone (that you define). In Australia most garage doors work on 433.92MHz (just check the frequency used and it should be fine) which is in the Homelink range band. If not just add one of the ditec add-ons as listed above.

So yeah my 15+ year old Merlin just worked. My neighbour hasn't been able to get her modelX to work with a ATA GDO-9 door opener, but that might be more to her getting the programming wrong (once the limits get reduced in Vic i'll go give her a hand and try to get it to work).

You first paragraph is not entirely correct. Yes its the right frequency but homelink will jot work on non-chamberlain products without the module. There are no exceptions. Merlin os a chamberlain brand which is why yours worked

 

[Wol747]

The add-on module is very easy to fit. You just need the module, a power supply, and connect two wires to the correct terminals of your opener

Thanks - will investigate.

 

[paulp]

Thanks - will investigate.

Part number is Merlin E8003. There is also an outdoor version. You will need a small transformer as well. I have a box full of assorted transformers so didnt need to buy one. Mine works a gate which had no compatable power, however your door may have a suitable power output terminal to save you the transformer.

 

[paulgab]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I did ring Merlin and asked if their garage doors were HomeLink compatible, and they said no.

I have seen a few retrofit guides that use the Merlin E8003, but didn't know how this was different to what's built into the Merlin doors themselves.

Having two single roller doors, I was looking at getting two Merlin SilentDrive Essential MR655MYQ. Has anyone had any success out of the box with these?

For these add-ons, having two doors would I need two of them?

Thanks

 

[paulp]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I did ring Merlin and asked if their garage doors were HomeLink compatible, and they said no.

I have seen a few retrofit guides that use the Merlin E8003, but didn't know how this was different to what's built into the Merlin doors themselves.

Having two single roller doors, I was looking at getting two Merlin SilentDrive Essential MR655MYQ. Has anyone had any success out of the box with these?

For these add-ons, having two doors would I need two of them?

Thanks

Homelink isnt aupported in australia which is why merlin probably said it wouldn’t work. They are likely unaware that tesla have it. My merlin tiltmaster definately works directly with tesla homelink. Maybe ask them if tiltmaster works, and if they say ‘no’ then you know they havnt really checked.
The E8003 module for doors that dont work has 3 output channels, so 3 doors.

 

[JayTee]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I did ring Merlin and asked if their garage doors were HomeLink compatible, and they said no.

I have seen a few retrofit guides that use the Merlin E8003, but didn't know how this was different to what's built into the Merlin doors themselves.

Having two single roller doors, I was looking at getting two Merlin SilentDrive Essential MR655MYQ. Has anyone had any success out of the box with these?

For these add-ons, having two doors would I need two of them?

Thanks

I fitted a merlin unit 6 months ago, works perfectly with homelink.

 

[blasterkings]

I use The best homekit smart garage door opener - ismartgate and it works great.
And (without holding my breath) I'll wait for Tesla to open up wifi garage api.

 

[Vostok]

If you are buying a new door opener, you need to buy one owned by chamberlain, who own homelink. Merlin branded openers (in australia) are also owned by chamberlain, and seem to work out of the box

Not related to using Homelink, but I use the pilot light socket on my opener to automatically turn the main garage lights on when the door is opened.

I used a 240V-240V AC SPDT relay (like this one with quick connect terminals https://au.element14.com/idec/rj1s-cl-a240/relay-spdt-250vac-30vdc-12a/dp/9535594) and a bayonet light socket adaptor plug (like this one https://www.bunnings.com.au/deta-b22-bayonet-adaptor-plug_p4430371) to do the control. This will work with any opener that has a 240V removable pilot lamp in it.

Run a cable from the adaptor plug to the coil of the relay, and the the contact (switch) side of the relay acts as an override switch for the garage light (i.e. run in parallel with the existing light switch). Remove the pilot lamp from the opener, plug in the bayonet adaptor and you’re done (I have an electrician’s licence so did this myself but any sparky should be able to do it if you provided the hardware). I also ran a cable from the garage lights to a 240V neon indicator light in the kitchen so that I can remotely see whether the garage light is on or not.

A 240V-240V relay is required to provide isolation between the opener and the lights since they are almost certainly on different circuits and even if they were I wouldn’t want to directly connect the two.

It’s really nice for the garage lights to come on automatically when coming home at night, and they turn off automatically after about 5 minutes because it just follows what the pilot light would have otherwise done.

I mention this because many years ago when I had the opener serviced the guy said he’d never seen this done before.

 

[faigeek]

HomeLink Receiver – 2 Channel – Tessories

 

[jinx83]

Anyone managed to get a Steel-line SD800 to work with Homelink? Spec says 433.93 Mhz.
I'm not entirely sure what's involved in fitting one of the add-ons.

I know this is a bit old but did you manage to get it working, as I’m also looking down this path with the same garage opener

 

[evbee]

Not related to using Homelink, but I use the pilot light socket on my opener to automatically turn the main garage lights on when the door is opened.

I used a 240V-240V AC SPDT relay (like this one with quick connect terminals https://au.element14.com/idec/rj1s-cl-a240/relay-spdt-250vac-30vdc-12a/dp/9535594) and a bayonet light socket adaptor plug (like this one https://www.bunnings.com.au/deta-b22-bayonet-adaptor-plug_p4430371) to do the control. This will work with any opener that has a 240V removable pilot lamp in it.

Run a cable from the adaptor plug to the coil of the relay, and the the contact (switch) side of the relay acts as an override switch for the garage light (i.e. run in parallel with the existing light switch). Remove the pilot lamp from the opener, plug in the bayonet adaptor and you’re done (I have an electrician’s licence so did this myself but any sparky should be able to do it if you provided the hardware). I also ran a cable from the garage lights to a 240V neon indicator light in the kitchen so that I can remotely see whether the garage light is on or not.

A 240V-240V relay is required to provide isolation between the opener and the lights since they are almost certainly on different circuits and even if they were I wouldn’t want to directly connect the two.

It’s really nice for the garage lights to come on automatically when coming home at night, and they turn off automatically after about 5 minutes because it just follows what the pilot light would have otherwise done.

I mention this because many years ago when I had the opener serviced the guy said he’d never seen this done before.

I have a motion sensor installed which turns on the garage lights when triggered by moving garage door in low light. No need to do fancy things with the pilot light off your opener.

 

[Wol747]

I know this is a bit old but did you manage to get it working, as I’m also looking down this path with the same garage opener

No, I didn’t bother after I realised the cars have so many bugs in the systems.