This sub has visitors with a wide range of expertise and interests and use cases. And none of us are mind-readers. Don’t make readers drag the details out of you.
So: some random board with an ESP32 controller chip, and two relays. That’s what we’ve got so far, right?
A URL to a product specification would be too much to ask?
Edit: and ESP32 came from a helpful reader who recognized the reference and chip in the photo.
+1 for helping people help you. It’s also IMO more respectful and avoids forcing emotional labor on someone helping… I had to tamp down my snark while replying which took some non trivial energy
Somehow I got snookered into zooming in and looking at the relay board. It does have flyback diodes so presumably it’s attached to some GPIO. So the next step for OP is to compare spec sheet with the two documentation sources of Rat to see if it’s vaguely possible
Actually for $2 they should just buy it and a programmer and go at it for 2 hours. If it works great if not, buy one of the official boards or fabricate the OS option
(I would add too that offering to use AI to summarize, is not a smart social signal nor necessarily helpful)
Yes, you can use it to simulate a button press. RatGDo (and Konnected Blaq) talk directly to the opener so you can turn on the light, lock it (disable keypad), and perform other functions like partial opening to a precent. If all you want is a button, this will work if you wire it into the wall panel button.
I'm not sure what you're asking. My garage door came with a wall station that has a button to open the door, to control the lights, to lock the garage door to start the learn mode etc.
It does not work like an old one where touching the two switch wires together will open the door. There's a lot more communication going on between the wall button box and the opener.
Is that an 883LMW? If so, I'm a bit shocked it's $3 both because it contains the security+ board, and also the absurd margin it retails for.
Second, ratgdo can do way, way more. I automated at an old house using exactly this button (soldering a relay to the button contacts), but it can only toggle the door and lights. It doesn't know state.
Ratgdo returns a ton of data; current position (% open), light status, lock/unlock, number of openings, whether the motor is running. It has discrete open/close commands (which will do nothing if it's already opened or closed), as well as "go to __%", lights on/off, and a switch for remote lock. It fires events for motion (from wall remote), wall button pressed and obstruction sensor tripped.
I have an automation that locks out the remotes when our home alarm is armed, so eg if someone breaks into a car in the driveway they can't also open the garage.
Ratgdo vs this is like comparing a car to a bicycle.
Why does anyone leave a remote outside? It is why I have been pushing Keychain remotes. Liftmaster lockout is that secure. The new clone remote has me baffled. It doesn't send a rolling code, but instead a 390 and 315, and the board identified it.
China makes all the wall stations but doesn't sell the deluxe station, only the one with the light, and to program, you hold both buttons. $3 and cheaper bulk
I have a Konnected Blaq, and this is the data I get from the device.
So for instance, I can use the motion sensor in my garage and tie it into my alarm system, when I arm vacation mode, I can disable the keypad so that even if someone breaks in through the window they can't open the garage door. I can set the garage to open 5% to let the cat in and out while I'm at work and then close at sunset. I have an automation to turn on all the garage lights when the garage door comes on and not just the one on the opener. And you can see it also tracks cycle counts. It will also send me a message on my phone if the obstruction sensor keeps the door from closing.
That's total cycles on the opener over I think 8 years. I've replaced the springs once (one broke). I lube it a few times a year, and I've replaced the rollers once (metal for nylon). I've replaced the weather stripping twice.
Not bad for a door from the 60's and a self-installed opener.
Always check your cables and bad rollers. look for loose hinges. I suggest a camera to close using wifi. I love your setup. What I would want is a warning screen every 10k to tell them to check the door. This could stop many accidents. Thank you for sharing your setup it is so cool.
you can buy ratgdo and be done with it, or you can roll your own using an ESP32. The latter might be more "fun" but ratgdos are so affordable already that you're saving pennies to end up with a homebrewed soldered mess.
the only benefit I see in doing this is the potential learning experience. There's no cost benefit involved. In fact, your way is several multitudes more expensive if you value your time at or above minimum wage.
I am looking for a hobby to share with my autistic grandson. We used a Raspberry Pi Pico to make backup copies of his games . He thought I was a hero I could fix pin 1 that wasn't soldered correctly.
I’m assuming with the deluxe wall station you would just simulate a button press?
Depending on your ecosystem the ratgdo offers more than open/close control and status. You get a lot of entities to monitor and control in Home Assistant, which is why I went that route.
I am new to home automation. I did heathkit builds years ago. My child years I loved the 175 projects in one RadioShack project box. I have many ways to work around the wall station because I have installed chamberlain for 30 years
How does the locking work? (apologies, I'm too lazy to look at the documentation)
I can readily see how a ratGDO can lock out the wall switch.
Does the ratGDO somehow interpose between radio board and the opening mechanism?
Based on seeing the posts here, it looks like it's practically taking over the full operation. I'm a bit scared of messing with the safety listing contract if we start interposing on the safety sensors (unless they're based on active heartbeating and will fail-safe if the ratGDO borks the sensor signals)
RatGDO essentially emulates the wall controller that comes with a garage door opener. On many newer openers, the two wires that connect the wall control to the opener aren’t just a simple on/off switch - they actually use a data protocol to communicate.
By tapping into that communication line, RatGDO can provide much more functionality than a basic relay wired to the open/close button. Instead of just sending a “toggle” signal, it can issue commands and read information back from the opener.
In my setup, that means:
• I can specify the exact percentage I want the door open (e.g. 30% for ventilation).
• The obstruction sensors are exposed, so I can use them as triggers in automations.
• I can control the opener’s built-in light separately.
• The door’s current status (open, closed, opening, closing) is accurately reported.
With the ESPHome firmware, all of this integrates directly into Home Assistant, giving me far more control and feedback than a traditional relay setup.
It doesn’t lock out the wall switch but it locks out the remotes you leave in your vehicles (I believe that depending on the opener it may not lock out keypads tho)
Thanks for the info. I just noticed the lock button on my wall remote for the first time in 5 years... which completely game changes how I thought it worked (I thought it was a mere 2 wire contact to a momentary switch, now I realize there's an actual brain and probably a flavor of 1-wire + power. Mind... Blown...)
And this makes me WAY more interested in trying RatGDO with my HA setup.
How does the opening % work? Is it based on polling obstruction sensors, or maybe open loop with timing (which should be perfectly fine for this application)
How much is local logic in RatGDO and how much involves hooking out to the HA?
I could be off, but I’m pretty sure It acts as a man in the middle between both the wall controls, and the safety sensors, but it has a pass through so it isn’t actually manipulating the messages between those items just monitoring them. Basically it locks out the remotes the same way the wall control does, but telling the opener to lock itself, by injecting that message into the comms wiring.
Yeah if it's just reading the pings from the sensors I wouldn't mind. There's probably a schematic or functional description in the documentation.
Would you mind sharing the product name / linking the GDO we're modifying here?
If there is a lockout at the wall switch then it's easy to lock out the remotes without interposing on the RF receiver.
(I'm going to walk to my wall switch to see if there's a lock feature I've never used all these years. Lulz)
EDIT: Yep, there's a lock there I've never used. Good to know, since I probably would have locked it with a mis-press and not realized why it wasn't working
Oh well someone linked you the open source hardware github , which gives you the same lecture to contribute . And if you don’t get answers you can look at both the OS github and the original project to confirm board level compatibility
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u/ankole_watusi 17h ago
“This”?