Re: Garage Door Opener keypad recommendations

[George <no.geodosch.spam@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, 13 Nov 2010 10:09:12 -0600, George thoughfully wrote:

> I'm looking for recommendations on a garage door opener keypad.  I
> normally use a wireless remote / homelink to operate the door, but I
want
> a keypad as a backup, so that someone cannot be locked out of the house.
>
> My requirements seem simple, but I've had no luck with finding a unit
> that meets them:
>
> 1. Wired - it will activate the door by triggering the manual pushbutton
> circuit
>
> 2. No batteries - it must be A/C powered.  If it has a back-up battery,
> for in case of power failure, that's fine, but I don't want the unit to
> fail because the battery died.
>
> 3. The relay must be separate from the outdoor keypad.  This would
> prevent someone from simply ripping the keypad off the wall and shorting
> the wires going to it.
>
> 4. It must be reliable
>
> A unit exists that meets all of the above requirements except one: a
> Genie KEP-1.  I've got one of these.  In fact, I've had 2, and they have
> both died.  The first one lasted many years, but it eventually stopped


> On Sun, 14 Nov 2010 16:04:56 -0500, Josepi thoughfully wrote:
>
>> Get a standard, secure, wireless, keypad, battery operated unit,
>> available almost every hardware store that links via rolling code
>> passwords each usage. They come with every garage door opener that
>> isn't bottom end quality and work very reliably.
>>
>> Change the battery every couple of years so it works reliably without
>> any voltage spikes from the dirty grid power in your home.
>>
>>
> Thanks for all the replies.  It looks like I'll end-up going with a
> wireless unit after all, since it doesn't appear there are many other
> choices.  I guess for the batteries, I could always wire-in an AC
> adapter.
>
>> If the OP is really worried about being locked out, he could put a key
>> inside a false rock for a few dollars. The false rock is available at
>> Amazon, as is the keypad.
>
> I don't believe in hide-a-keys, false rocks, etc.  They're too obvious
> of a hiding place, and where I live someone could spend a long time
> turning over rocks, or checking the usual hiding places, without being
> noticed.
>
>> He could also install two wireless garage door openers. They are cheap
>> enough, and having two virtually gurantess the batteries will be good
>> in one of them.
>
> Actually not a bad idea! :)
>
> On Mon, 15 Nov 2010 17:09:11 -0500, Josepi thoughfully wrote:
>
>> He could also go in another door and release the drive lock and then
>> open the garage door manually.
>
> On Tue, 16 Nov 2010 09:26:59 -0600, Bill Fuhrmann thoughfully wrote:
>
>> Actually, he is just trying to find a reasonable ability to have a
>> reliable way in, IN CASE SOMEONE DOESN'T HAVE A KEY HANDY.  If he
>> doesn't have the house key handy, he is also not likely to have the
>> opener key handy.
>
> Yes, it's the locked outdoors without a key scenario, so going in
> another door would not be an option in that case.  It's also good so
> that if I need to let someone get into my house when I'm away, I can
> always talk them through getting in with a keypad, so they wouldn't need
> to have been given a key ahead of time.

Update: I ended-up building my own keypad and wiring it to the KEP-1
control box via a 7-conductor cable.  I found a 3x4 matrix keypad online,
and created a mounting box for it.  The keypad is supposed to be
weatherproof, but the box I made uses an outdoor outlet cover, so it
should be doubly protected from the elements.  So now I've got something
that meets my original requirements, even if I did have to create half of
it to get there. :)