Re: Overhead Door Magnetic Contact

["Robert L Bass" <robertlbass@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> The problem with putting them on the very
> top is that I've seen the bad guys push in on
> the bottom of the door with the front of a
> vehicle and bend the door enough to crawl
> through...

In the 24 years I spend installing and servicing alarms I never ran across a
place where that had been done.  Nonetheless, I don't doubt you.  Perhaps
crooks are getting slicker in your region, Crash.

> I also stopped putting them on the floor because
> the cables get broken by idiot forklift drivers
> (etc). The Sentrol 2315s are a good compromise
> as you can easily place them anywhere on the
> track. Try one...you'll never use anything else...
> they're worth the extra bucks for sure.

Those will do fine.  Bruce Robins, a well-known home automator from the CHA
newsgroup once described how he did it and I thought it was an innovative
solution, though it would also not detect someone pushing in the bottom
panel.  Instead of mounting to the door, he connected the sensor to the
garage door opener and mounted the magnet on the trolley that pulls the door
up and down.  This allowed him to mount the magnetic sensor away from all
the floor hazards and to also use a standard, wide gap contact instead of a
special track mounted unit.

Here's a photo of Bruce's project:
http://image04.webshots.com/4/2/68/26/71026826fHyorq_ph.jpg

--

Regards,
Robert L Bass

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