Garage door opener?

[boomer]

I know I could but then I wouldn't be promoting and interesting and stimulating discussion

in other words your an attention seeking whore..?? i see most of your posts are duplicates. You should be banished.

[nudedaytona]

in other words your an attention seeking whore..?? i see most of your posts are duplicates. You should be banished.

The pasted earlier in this thread shows that the last garage door discussion was in 2005. Its about time for an update don't you think.

[HungusMaximist]

I've got it attached on my belt, it sits in a neoprene cell fone holder with a belt loop. It's rather risky that it could fall off if I go hard on the bike, but it actually sits quite securely in it.

I reckon if you can do somesort of a sizing mod on the opener which turns it into a small thing like the size of a alarm remote that would be better, and then attach it to your key rings.

But I agree, it's a friggin hassle them being bulkly.

[imdying]

I've got a merlin one... it's modified with a small relay inside it (like a tiny tiny little one), and has a 2 pin plug with a screw retainer (cheap as chips for both from DSE or wherever). 12v on those pins makes the 'button push'... so you can hook it up to anything... headlight flasher, horn, another button, anything you like

[nudedaytona]

I've got a merlin one... it's modified with a small relay inside it (like a tiny tiny little one), and has a 2 pin plug with a screw retainer (cheap as chips for both from DSE or wherever). 12v on those pins makes the 'button push'... so you can hook it up to anything... headlight flasher, horn, another button, anything you like

I like the idea of hooking up to the horn - then it would be like "Everyone! - I'm HOME!!"

[imdying]

Heh... now here's a trip...

You can put another relay into your starter line... tripped from the alternator current. When the motor is running, the starter works the garage door opener, when the motor isn't running, it works the starter.

Not that practical imho, but can use the standard button I guess.

I was going to use the flasher light, but there's no way to (reliably) separate that from the high beam, as they're actually joined by a piece of sheet metal. The only way to do it would be to take that piece of metal out, and replace it with diodes that can handle about 15A (so 3 5A zener diodes would be fine). That'd let the current flow from the button to the high beam circuit, but not back the other way (in other words, high beam wouldn't make the door opener run all the time )

Just more thoughts.

[Ocean1]

I was going to use the flasher light, but there's no way to (reliably) separate that from the high beam,

How would an indicator work? (the one you use to turn into your driveway?)

What's the range of those Merlin remotes? I've never really tested mine.

[vifferman]

Is that the original opener that you got when you got the garage? How did you get it on your bike?

We have three (3) openers for the gargre - one for each car, and one for the bike, plus two other alarm remotes that are hooked into the gargre door motor via a relay on the alarm and the manual switch for the motor.
The Merlin remote for the bike is velcroed under the front of the fairing, and uses a cheap switch wired across the terminals for the remote's button. The switch is mounted in what was a blanking plate in the switch block for a headlight park/on/off switch used for that switchblock in some markets on some bikes.
I'm thinking I'll go back to my original (complicated) idea though and hook the switch into the headlight flasher, which is easier to use than the thumb-operated switch on the right switchblock (too many other things to do with my right hand, like cornering, braking, throttle control, rude gestures at pedestrians, waving to the neighbours, etc.)

I was going to use the flasher light, but there's no way to (reliably) separate that from the high beam, as they're actually joined by a piece of sheet metal. The only way to do it would be to take that piece of metal out, and replace it with diodes that can handle about 15A (so 3 5A zener diodes would be fine). That'd let the current flow from the button to the high beam circuit, but not back the other way (in other words, high beam wouldn't make the door opener run all the time )

I was going to do that, or else run a small timer circuit I've got that allows for one timed event per ignition on cycle, so it will allow the headlight flasher to trip say a 2-second pulse of the door opener.

What's the range of those Merlin remotes? I've never really tested mine.

In the car (with special heat-reducing glass), about 5m (has to be parked right in front of the gargre to work (which is tricky, because there's a pedestrian island outside our house, and our driveway is all of maybe 3m long). On the bike, I've got it to work from about 60m away, which is enough that the door (sectional tilt) is about halfway up by the time I get to it. I've only whacked my helmet on the bottom of it once, but the whiplash soon learned me...

[imdying]

How would an indicator work? (the one you use to turn into your driveway?)

What's the range of those Merlin remotes? I've never really tested mine.

Indicator could work, but you'd need a small logic circuit. I lied, my remote is an APD. Old one must've been Merlin... doesn't matter though, functionally they're all similar.

I was going to do that, or else run a small timer circuit I've got that allows for one timed event per ignition on cycle, so it will allow the headlight flasher to trip say a 2-second pulse of the door opener.

Yeah, could do... with complication comes reduced reliability would be the only comment I'd make. For the amount of times that the flasher circuit has to pass current, it would probably be fine to cut it and add diodes. Then again, not everything is like the Suzuki switch gear, many probably just have a wire to snip... Diodes are cheap as chips, and auto electrician will have grunty ones.



For others less leccy inclined, to pick which diodes you want (they've all got a current rating):

Wattage of bulbs on high beam / voltage of bike (use 11v to be safe, as current draw goes up when voltage goes down)

So for me that's (65W x 2 bulbs) / 11V = 11.8A

So your flasher circuit is probably never going to pass more than 12A of current, so lets say 15A to be safe.

You can then either use 3 5A diodes in parallel, or two 10A, or 1 10 and a 5, or whatever. Cut the wire that connects the output from the flasher switch to the output of the hi/lo switches hi portion, and reconnect it using the diodes (stripe at the hi/lo switch end). Then take a feed from the flasher switch side, to one of the coil pins on your relay, and earth the other coil pin out. Connect the switch side of the relay across the remote, and you're done!

Here's a pic

[vifferman]

... with complication comes reduced reliability

That's why I went with the switch, for the "K.I.S.S." principle. (Of course, the "remote in the pocket" thang is the simplest, and was used for several years. However, it suffers from accidental operation (bend over to check the tyre pressures and the door goes up/down) and from sometimes being a bit "fumbly" if the wrong way round. It also has a very low Kewlness Factor.

So I still have a hankering to make the headlight flasher work as a trigger, as I like the 'stealth' factor (and Kewlness Factor) and because a switch operated by my left forefinger is much more user-friendly than a right thumb operated one.

[imdying]

So I still have a hankering to make the headlight flasher work as a trigger, as I like the 'stealth' factor (and Kewlness Factor) and because a switch operated by my left forefinger is much more user-friendly than a right thumb operated one.

Do iiit! I just wired in a 2 pin plug so that I can move it between bikes

[vifferman]

Do iiit! I just wired in a 2 pin plug so that I can move it between bikes

Yeah, I got one of those.
But not the second bike.

[imdying]

Me either yet

[imdying]

That diagram is actually incorrect, the relay on the right isn't actually required. Not sure why I put that there... must've been thinking about the starter switch mod.

[swbarnett]

Mine is the standard Merlin size (about the size of a large cell phone). It sits in the side pocket of my jacket in such a way that I can activate it just by hitting the pocket with a gloved hand.