Grid Connect tips, tricks and help

[CSParnell]

Hi all,

I thought it may he good to have a feed where we could share any tips and tricks to do with any of the Grid Connect Range being Arlec, Deta, Verve, Orion.

I am learning from trial and error and really just accident so sharing with others and sharing back we may be able to create some good learning information for us all.

Please post below starting with what the trick is as the title then how to do so as the body of information.

Carl 

[GreenHouse]

Yes, it's a real pain ! ! !

As I understand it, when you 'reconnect' a device, Grid Connect assigns it a unique new 'Virtual ID'  - You can see its Virtual ID in 'Device Information'.

The name YOU assign to the device is just a 'handle' or 'pointer' to the Virtual ID.

Internally, the Grid Connect App uses the Virtual ID, NOT the name you assign.

It would be nice if there was some sort of 'swap device' facility that would enable you to assign the old 'Virtual ID'  to the 'reconnect' device.

Fortunately, I've only had one device 'blow up' so far. As you say, 'removing' the old device and pairing a matching new device with the same name did not re-slot the new device into all my scenes and automations.  I had to manually add the new device into each and every slot with all the required matching on/ff etc configurations.  A very annoying, time consuming and scary process ! ! !

There are SO MANY enhancement requests I'd like to see, and this is just one of them.

[GreenHouse]

PANEL LIFT DOOR SMART CONTROL – PART 1

I finally worked out I could turn my old Gliderol (GTS Optima) into a ‘Smart Door’! All I needed was a 7-32 Volt 2 channel Smart Switch (AliExpress or Temu), a short length of 4 core alarm cable (Jaycar) and two very simple Grid Connect Scenes.

I setup the two Grid Connect Scenes and bench tested them. (As an option, just for fun, I also setup two Google Home automations for voice control – Obviously “Open and Close Sesame” 😀) I then connected the Smart Switch as per the wiring diagram, placed it on top of the Gliderol motor unit and connected the 4 wires to the (powered off) Gliderol circuit board. I then powered the Gliderol back on and tested the Gliderol remotes.  All good!  I then tested the Grid Connect Scenes and the Google Home “Open and Close Sesame” voice commands.  Everything worked perfectly – I was super pleased !

Note:

1. It dose not matter which way round you connect the 12V supply to the 2 channel Smart Switch as it can accept AC or DC (It has a bridge rectifier on this voltage input.)

2. Set the 2 channel Smart Switch to ‘Button Switch’ in ‘Settings’, with a time delay of 1 second. In this way, it acts like a ‘door bell’ switch. When Grid Connect turns the relay ON, the smart switch automatically switches it OFF after 1 second.

3. Also under ‘Settings’, set the ‘Interlock’ so that only one of the relays is permitted to switch on at a time.

Flushed with this success, I decided to service the door with WD40 Silicon spray (as I do every 6 months or so).

THEN . . . I noticed the cog in the belt tensioning block, over time, had developed a huge crack ! ! ! As I live in a retirement village, I contacted our maintenance office and they thought it best to replace the whole Gliderol assembly and not fix the broken part!

NOW . . . I have a brand new Merlin panel lift door assembly which does NOT have the same control functionality as the old unit 😕.

To be continued . . .

[EricL]

Hi @GreenHouse 

Thanks for sharing that first part of the story on your garage opener. I love that you can now use voice commands open/close sesame. I'm surprised that the entire motor assembly was replaced surely there is a replacement gear available.

But since the whole thing has been replaced, I'm looking forward to reading part 2 of the Panel Lift Door Smart Control saga! 

Just a friendly reminder to our members. If you are planning to do some electrical work at home? Remember, electrical projects can be tricky and dangerous if not handled properly. For your safety, it's best to hire a registered electrician. They have the training and expertise to get the job done safely and correctly.

Thanks for sharing this excellent project.

Eric

[CSParnell]

@GreenHouse Unfortunately I have learnt over the past few years less is more.

Less devices is more happiness.

I have just removed over 90% of my devices throughout the house due to going to put the house on the market but circumstances changed and man it's a breath of fresh air not having to deal with devices dropping off line and notification. 

Nothing against the Grid Connect/ Tuya product it does what it does but it has its limitations it is a domestic product and that's their market. 

What I did keep is the following:

Garage door opener (love this best retrofit device ever)

PIR sensor (Deta ) wired to normal downlights in eves out front of house

LEDS behind TV and under cabinet in media room (mood lighting)

Man Cave door sensor to turn on shed lights

A few smart plugs in the Man Shed for various like turning on the Kombi Bar.

That's it, from over 80 devices installed it is a nice cull. 

[EmJr]

Even worse when it's not a new device; just the same one after being reconnected to the router.

It's counterintuitive that it would automatically keep the user-assigned name but assign a new virtual ID. Treating it like a whole new device I could understand, but remembering some bits while forgetting the part which actually lets it work seems almost deliberately petty.

[GreenHouse]

Totally agree! I was shocked when I first discovered this.

This problem would have devastating consequences if you have a large installation with many inter-related Scenes and Automations with all sorts of special conditions, timings and settings etc. To have carefully placed devices effectively removed from all your carefully crafted Scenes and Automations, which then forces you to re-integrate them back into all the various Scenes and Automations, is scary, time consuming and enough to make a grown man cry!

The slow and clumsy graphical nature of the Grid Connect App doesn’t make it any easier. It’s OK for small Scenes and Automations, BUT for large complicated Scenes and Automations, I would rather have a more traditional ‘text based programming language’ interface which would allow you to see all of the Scene or Automation at one time and give you the ability scroll around and cut and past devices etc.

Would also be GREAT if you could copy a Scene or Automation (with a different name) as a backup, just in case you stuff something up while testing the coding in the development phase.

This would also allow you to quickly code Scenes & Automations based on an existing Scene or Automation, where there are only a few changes in the code.  This would save you from having to re-assemble the whole code again - BUT now I'm dreaming ! ! !

[GreenHouse]

@CSParnell

W O W ! ! !

However, I know what you mean.

I only have 25 or 30 devices and sometimes I think Grid Connect is controlling me, NOT the other way around. (My wife certainly thinks I'm possessed by Grid Connect and all my devices.)

The advantage of living in a retirement village, as we do, is that the house is smallish and we are not really allowed to change or add things.

A small house means that any device is not more than a few metres from the router or hub - very few 'drop outs'.

Not being allowed to make too many changes (and a less than interested wife) has limited the number of installed devices.  Never the less, I have at least one device in every single room of our 3 bedroom house.  (Mind you, I have a few extra devices in my 'smart spares box' that may well be added.)

Even with only 25 or 30 devices, I find the App programming can be overwhelming.  With the various conditions and timings etc and Automations calling Scenes and Scenes enabling Automations which conditionally run and then disable themselves etc, it can do your head in.

I do like programming, BUT sometimes it's nice to have a break.

The only thing I can say is that programming the Grid Connect App has given me an appreciation of the programming SpaceX and Boeing etc do in launching rockets (well, maybe NOT Boeing 😉).  At my old work, I wrote many very large programs but, in a way, it was simple.  The Program starts with a number of inputs, some processing occurs and then you get a result.  With 'live' programming, where input conditions continuously change (eg time of day, movement, lighting levels, switches etc), it IS a lot to think about.

I do hope you can now sit back and enjoy your less complicated life.

All the best and thanks for your help and advice ! ! !

[GreenHouse]

Grid Connect App On Your Windows PC - REVISITED:

Some time ago, I posted I was using BlueStacks 4 to run the Grid Connect App on my PC.

I find using the Grid Connect App on my phone or tablet a little clumsy and I far prefer using the Grid Connect App on my PC.

BlueStacks 4 was OK; but I've found it didn't like some of the new Grid Connect devices.

Recently I installed the latest version of BluesStacks 5 and it works much better with the Grid Connect App.

BlueStacks 5 is a free Android Phone Emulator and I've found it safe to use, although, you get a lot more adds on the side - you can just ignore them.

AND, as a bonus, you can run other Android Apps on your PC.

Below is a screen shots of my Windows 10 computer running BlueStacks 5 and the Grid Connect App . . .

[GreenHouse]

PANEL LIFT DOOR SMART CONTROL – PART 2

Now that I have a new Merlin panel lift door, it’s time to work out how to turn it into a ‘Smart Door’.

In short, as a minimum, all I need is:

• A 2 channel Smart Switch.

• An Arlec Contact Sensor.

• A tiny bit of wiring and . . .

• A few Scenes & Automations

Firstly, Bunnings Team Member @EricL is correct. Although this is not dangerous (only 5V DC) and you don’t need a licence, it could be considered a little tricky. I wouldn’t recommend implementing this unless you have a working knowledge of electronics, can read circuit diagrams, understand programming and are a bit of a handyman.

Your installation WILL be different and you have to get EVERYTHING correct for it to function correctly.

The new Merlin panel lift door works great (quieter with a brighter light than the old Gliderol) BUT . . .

1. It doesn’t ‘beep’ when the door operates like the old one (which we liked).

2. The main control board only has one pair of terminals for ‘single button operation’.  Momentarily linking these terminals ‘opens’ the door if it’s ‘closed’ OR ‘closes’ the door if it’s ‘open’. 🤔

My minimum requirement is to incorporate remote functionality to confidently ‘open’ the door when I want it open and ‘close’ the door when I want it closed.

(Optionally, I wanted to incorporate a ‘beeper’ when the door is in motion and a ‘buzzer’ when a ‘smart command’ is issued. I actually implement both of these options, BUT I won’t cover them here, because it will make the post too long.)

Note: The following solution should work for ANY door controller which supports single button (Up/Down) operation on its control board.

(In fact, this solution would’ve worked for my old Gliderol controller, because it did support single button Up/Down operation as well as separate Up and Down controls.)

The Problem: If you simply wire a smart switch to link the ‘single button operation’ terminals, you won’t know if the door is being opened or closed.

To achieve the minimum requirement, all that’s required is a 2 Channel Smart Switch ($14.00), a Grid Connect ‘Contact Sensor’ SGS04HA mounted on a small plastic spacer box (Jaycar), and a few other sundry items.

Door Position Sensor:

A door position sensor is required to mark the door in the ‘closed’ position. Basically, just a SGS04HA Contact Sensor and magnet!

With the door in the ‘closed’ position, I used double sided tape to mount the SGS04HA Contact Sensor approximately 700mm above floor level on the side frame of the panel door. I attached its matching magnet to the side of a book case which, conveniently, happened to be there. As an alternative, a small bracket and magnet could be attached to the fixed roller side frame of the door. See photos.  (The reason for installing the Contact Sensor on the moving door and the magnet on the fixed frame is to facilitate the implementation of a ‘Door in Motion’ beep – just one extra magnet and one automation required.  However, the Contact Sensor and its magnet can be installed the other way around, if you like, if a ‘Door in Motion’ beep is NOT required.)

Hint: Gaffer tape above items in place and physically test door up/down operation prior to permanently fixing anything. In this way, rather than causing any damage, the items will just fall off if there are clearance issues.

Smart Switch and Door Scenes and Automations:

The power supply within the Merlin control box was not suitable and so I decided to use a separate 5V USB charger.

The 2 Channel Smart Switch can be powered from a 5V USB charger, BUT you have to file the case of the Smart Switch a little to accommodate a micro USB plug. 😆

I made a couple of minor tweaks to the Grid Connect Scenes for the previous door control.

In addition, I created three very simple Grid Connect Automations to control the separate ‘Open’ and ‘Close’ functions.

These Scenes and accompanying Automations test the current state of the SGS04HA Contact Sensor, even if it hasn’t changed.  It’s my way of implementing a ‘conditional’ Scene. This logic may appear a little strange, but it works!

The two Google Home Automations for voice control (“Open and Close Sesame”) remained the same.

Installation and Testing:

I then bench tested everything for several days just to make sure things worked correctly. I placed the Smart Switch on top of the Merlin motor unit, connected the 2 wires to the ‘push button’ terminals (1&2) in the control panel (Double checked connections!) and plugged in the 5V USB charger. I then tested the Grid Connect Scenes and the Google Home “Open and Close Sesame” voice commands etc.

It worked! 👍 😀 The door goes Up and Down as required and if a ‘Down’ command is issued and the door is already down, it does nothing etc – Just what I wanted! Tested for a few days – No problems.

Please advise if you wish to know how I incorporate a ‘beep’ when the door is in motion and a ‘buzzer’ when a ‘smart command’ is issued.

Considerations:

1. The “Open and Close Sesame” voice commands are a possible security risk if a Google Mini is within earshot of someone outside.

2. Depending on your door type, issuing a ‘Door Open’ command while the door is in motion (Up or Down) may ‘Pause’ the door motion. This can cause confusion and therefore I wouldn’t do this when away from home.

3. As and alternative to all of the above, you could explore an ‘off the shelf’:

     “Tuya WiFi Switch Garage Door Controller Smart Door Opener

        Works with Alexa Google Home Smart Life Tuya APP Control No Hub Require.”

   I think they're around $20.00.  However, I know nothing about them.

Door Controller and Door Position SensorSmart Switch ConnectionsSmart Switch InstallationSchematicsSmart Switch Device ConfigurationTap to Trigger Door Open / Close Scenes

Door Open and Door Close Automations

Disable Door Open & Door Close Automation and Initial Enable Status

[GreenHouse]

Grid Connect Beeper – Revisited:

One of my previous posts covered a “Grid Connect Buzzer” (More of a ‘Beeper’).

(Sometimes I find it handy to have audible feedback when some event occurs.)

I’ve had another idea as to how it can be achieved a little easier and cheaper.

All you will need is a 3-16VDC Mini Piezo Beeper 3-16V (Jaycar Cat No: AB3462) and a Tuya One Channel Wifi Smart Switch with case. (TYWRA-RF).

Total cost around $18.00.  (It took me, a 71 year old git, less then half an hour to put together.) Refer photos.

Also, I had another thought on the configuration of the Smart Switch and its Automation.

If you configure the ‘Inching’ mode of the Smart Switch, all you have to do is turn it ON and it will automatically turn OFF after the set time – say 1sec. Refer screen shots.