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Old 05-12-15, 01:29 PM   #1
gasstingy
Journeyman EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Arab, AL
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Default Battery Operated DC Garage Door Opener Anyone?

My never-ending garage workshop project needs a garage door opener (GDO). It has a 12'w x 8't insulated four section overhead door. It could be argued that the tension isn't set correctly, but we want the door to be easier to open. Therefore, a garage door opener.

I Googled it and came up with a couple of YouTube videos where people did a nice hack on standard GDO. Then I used the search feature to look for any hacked openers on this site that I could attempt to duplicate. I found none.

Back to the hacked versions then. There were two different trains of thought on the subject and both had their merits.

First one I looked at was a standard GDO that someone plugged into a small inverter and powered it from a 12v battery. This one featured a small sealed battery charged from a 15w {I think} solar panel and a small charge controller. The inverter was hard wired to the battery and the standard GDO simply plugged into the inverter and everything operated normally.

Second one was also a standard GDO that came with built-in Battery Backup. This person added a new bigger battery than the one provided with the opener, in series with the small original battery that came with the GDO from the factory. To keep it as a 12v model, he just left the AC part unplugged. He had a solar panel setup similar to the first guy to keep the battery charged. Except for the mismatched battery setup part of this one, it seemed the easier route.

BTW, if you actually know of a simple 12v DC GDO, by all means chime in, that would be my first choice!

Questions / Comments? I'm needing to do something to make the wife happy and haven't decided which way to go yet. {I suspect I'll be on a ladder this evening with my Kill-A-Watt meter to see how much power my 9'x8' door takes to open.}

Mark

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