Quick and Easy Garage Door Opener Out of NES Buttons
by Gunther45 in Workshop > Home Improvement
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Quick and Easy Garage Door Opener Out of NES Buttons
So I move into my new place and start the task of fixing almost everything.
I always wanted a Garage and my new house has a large 2 car ( actually 2 1/2 car garage ). But first the doors were very hard to open and could only be open manually.
This was fixed just by lubricating the wheels on the track and ripping open the motor and lubricating the gears. I also lubricated the ACME rod that it travels on. OK fixed it now can open from the buttons.
Problem is , just like almost everything in the house it is all rigged one way or another.
The Door on the right opened from a large 2 button unit with only one button working that was hardwired into the motor on the right.
The Door on the left was opened from a Single button wireless receiver that is hardwired into the motor on the right.
( Before I continue I have to comment about this so called wireless receiver. I orginally though they rigged it but it is actually supposed to be hardwired in. Now I saw a wire hanging so figured it was a receiver but without a transmitter impossible to test. My issue is that to trigger the garage door you only need to jumper the connection but the button on this unit will only work if the unit is plugged in. Now I understand if you wanted to use the wireless function but there is no reason to need to be plugged in to complete a circuit if it is hardwired in . So I say it was poorly designed but it was probably late 70's early 80's)
OK , So To open the left door I go to the back of the garage on the left side and push one button to open the other door I walk to the front of the garage between the doors and hit another. Now I don't want people thinking I am lazy but there is no way I was going to keep on doing that!
So, on the back of almost every garage door motor there should be 2 screws were you wire a controller to. You are just bridging the connection for a second to trigger a relay inside. I tested it with a piece of wire just to make sure this was correct as anyone who reads my instructables knows I just wing things!
So I looked around for Momentary switches around my spare parts and found I had several from button panels from old NES units. I think I got them years ago for 5 for $1 from Electronic Surplus. Now there are 2 buttons used on the old NES. POWER this is an ON/OFF and not used for this application and the RESET which is a momentary switch (perfect for this app).
Now if you look at the picture you will notice each button says power the buttons are the same config on both buttons so just pull off the face plate and put it on the other button. it should be noted you need 2 units for this project but you can only buy 5 for $1 so you are still 3 ahead of the game.
The buuttons also come in a bracket. Remove the power button and put swap it with another reset button. You can cute the excess metal off the bracket if you wish but definitely utilize the bracket for mounting the buttons.
The rest is just finding an enclosure or bracket to mount it. I used distribution bars ( is that what they are called ) to keep it neater and not a bunch of wires everywhere.
So I ran the wire and tacked it up good and neat and ran it to the back of the garage where I normally enter the house. this went onto the dist. bar and the buttons connected to that as well. I also got another of the old craftsman receiver units from ebay for $3 so they are both tied into each corresponding motor as well. Remember you are just bridging the circuit so I could mount buttons everywhere. I also got a 2 door universal opener and programed them to the 2 receivers.
I now can open both doors from one control station and use my universal to open either door.
I will eventually get a door door reciever and build a proper enclosure with 2 nice buttons and everything hidden inside but for now it works and the NES buttons add a little geek to the project!
I always wanted a Garage and my new house has a large 2 car ( actually 2 1/2 car garage ). But first the doors were very hard to open and could only be open manually.
This was fixed just by lubricating the wheels on the track and ripping open the motor and lubricating the gears. I also lubricated the ACME rod that it travels on. OK fixed it now can open from the buttons.
Problem is , just like almost everything in the house it is all rigged one way or another.
The Door on the right opened from a large 2 button unit with only one button working that was hardwired into the motor on the right.
The Door on the left was opened from a Single button wireless receiver that is hardwired into the motor on the right.
( Before I continue I have to comment about this so called wireless receiver. I orginally though they rigged it but it is actually supposed to be hardwired in. Now I saw a wire hanging so figured it was a receiver but without a transmitter impossible to test. My issue is that to trigger the garage door you only need to jumper the connection but the button on this unit will only work if the unit is plugged in. Now I understand if you wanted to use the wireless function but there is no reason to need to be plugged in to complete a circuit if it is hardwired in . So I say it was poorly designed but it was probably late 70's early 80's)
OK , So To open the left door I go to the back of the garage on the left side and push one button to open the other door I walk to the front of the garage between the doors and hit another. Now I don't want people thinking I am lazy but there is no way I was going to keep on doing that!
So, on the back of almost every garage door motor there should be 2 screws were you wire a controller to. You are just bridging the connection for a second to trigger a relay inside. I tested it with a piece of wire just to make sure this was correct as anyone who reads my instructables knows I just wing things!
So I looked around for Momentary switches around my spare parts and found I had several from button panels from old NES units. I think I got them years ago for 5 for $1 from Electronic Surplus. Now there are 2 buttons used on the old NES. POWER this is an ON/OFF and not used for this application and the RESET which is a momentary switch (perfect for this app).
Now if you look at the picture you will notice each button says power the buttons are the same config on both buttons so just pull off the face plate and put it on the other button. it should be noted you need 2 units for this project but you can only buy 5 for $1 so you are still 3 ahead of the game.
The buuttons also come in a bracket. Remove the power button and put swap it with another reset button. You can cute the excess metal off the bracket if you wish but definitely utilize the bracket for mounting the buttons.
The rest is just finding an enclosure or bracket to mount it. I used distribution bars ( is that what they are called ) to keep it neater and not a bunch of wires everywhere.
So I ran the wire and tacked it up good and neat and ran it to the back of the garage where I normally enter the house. this went onto the dist. bar and the buttons connected to that as well. I also got another of the old craftsman receiver units from ebay for $3 so they are both tied into each corresponding motor as well. Remember you are just bridging the circuit so I could mount buttons everywhere. I also got a 2 door universal opener and programed them to the 2 receivers.
I now can open both doors from one control station and use my universal to open either door.
I will eventually get a door door reciever and build a proper enclosure with 2 nice buttons and everything hidden inside but for now it works and the NES buttons add a little geek to the project!