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Saving the Garage Door Opener?
>Original Poster: "Coiler" <mycroft-at-access1-dot-net>
>
>I'm trying to find a way to move back into the garage. But there is this
>pesky little door opener in the way. And my wife has been fairly
>understanding of my purchasing of all the hardware for the coil, but
>draws the line at my removing the door opener. Since my door and
>operating hardware are all metal, I thought I might be able to protect
>the system in this manner, someone please tell me if I am all wet.
>
>1) Attach runners to my RF ground.
>2) Build a 'faraday cage' of aluminum mesh around door opener unit
> itself, with a door for the antenna to hang down for normal operation,
> to be lifted up inside the cage during coil runs. Attach this cage to
> RF ground.
>3) Yank the plug during the runs
>4) Ground the door via clamp.
>
>Do I stand a chance? I already know that running the coil in the next
>bay over (I have a 3-car) confuses the obstruction sensor to the point
>where it shuts down, requiring me to unplug the door opener to reset.
>Thanks
>Michael Baumann
>Coiler, Homebrewer, Nerd. mycroft-at-access1-dot-net
I believe the most important thing is disconnecting all wires which enter
or exit the opener enclosure. This means unplugging the power cord and
coiling it up as closely as possible to the box (assuming it's out of
strike range) AND disconnecting the control wires to the sensors and
switch. I even stuff the little bit of antenna wire hanging out back
into the box. Any wires which stick out of the box will capacitively
couple to your TC, even one bay over. It's a pain to do and undo all
this each time I run my toy, but I do enjoy my garage-coiling priv's,
which would likely expire if I took out the opener! I also unplug my TV
cable, computer and all peripherals and disconnect the modem connections.
Regards, Gary Lau
Waltham, MA USA