HOW TO: installing a garage door opener into your 80 (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

in my opinion you should leave it battery powered. hook up the 12v for the button lights, but how often do you have to change that battery?

as for the button label use this as inspiration: :D
Batman-Logo.jpg
 
****downloading bat signal now.....*****

I have to change my remote battery once every two years or there about. As far as any change in range now that its in the dash instead of on the visor:

I put in a fresh battery in the unit I made and the spare remote we have:
• At 25ft. both work fine
• At 50ft. both work fine
• At 75ft. the spare works fine and the new unit may take a few clicks before it reaches the garage
• At 100ft. the spare works only if its a direct shot, the new unit doesn't hit at all

For me this is perfectly fine being as I dont hit the remote until I can physically see the door anyway.

YMMV


Ruadhrigh said:
in my opinion you should leave it battery powered. hook up the 12v for the button lights, but how often do you have to change that battery?

as for the button label use this as inspiration: :D
Click to expand...
 
dang, that's geeky AND cool!
 
:hmm: This has me thinking (doesn't happen often says the wife).

As I have two different doors that I need to open, but don't want to use precious button space in the cruiser for two button, perhaps I could use a factory antenna switch that is already designed as a momentary switch and have one side operate door 1 and the other side operate door 2. If I use a dual-button transmitter, I wouldn't have to worry about the space needed for two circuit boards to be taped/zip-tied under the dash. :hmm:

I'll have to source a switch and give it a try!
 
I can already tell you it will work. I pulled out my antennae switch because I have no plans to ever use that stupid antennae again. When I put the meter to it I could easily find which wires I needed in order to complete the circuit.

I had already checkout out our really old dual button remote from our old house. Its almost the same set up and just as easy to find where to solder in the switch.

The only reason I didn't actually do this first is because we now only have one door and nothing else to open with the second button so I said screw it and bought the hazard switches and played with it.

Its extremely simply though and the board is the same size and it installs the same way.


Miescha said:
:hmm: This has me thinking (doesn't happen often says the wife).

As I have two different doors that I need to open, but don't want to use precious button space in the cruiser for two button, perhaps I could use a factory antenna switch that is already designed as a momentary switch and have one side operate door 1 and the other side operate door 2. If I use a dual-button transmitter, I wouldn't have to worry about the space needed for two circuit boards to be taped/zip-tied under the dash. :hmm:

I'll have to source a switch and give it a try!
Click to expand...
 
Since you're saying the signal is a bit weaker with the board under the dash, I wonder if you couldn't extend the wires and stick the board up in the headliner near the rear view mirror and keep the switch in the dash. Just a thought. Really love the enginuity on this board!
 
You absolutely could!

But I'm not :D

IF the slightly reduced remote does wind up bothering me enough I will look into extending its range. I'm sure there is some type of built in antennae that I can tap into and extend its range.

Arya Ebrahimi said:
Since you're saying the signal is a bit weaker with the board under the dash, I wonder if you couldn't extend the wires and stick the board up in the headliner near the rear view mirror and keep the switch in the dash. Just a thought. Really love the enginuity on this board!
Click to expand...
 
Excellent!

I have the materials needed at home and when I get there this is my evening project!

Great work!
 
Let me know when you figure out where to install the switch for the bullet proof shield, ejector seat and machine guns, Q. - James Bond.

Nice work, Quartermaster.

This looks like a fun project! Nice work.
 
slimbuddha said:
Pretty sweet... I considered getting one of the "homelink" systems from one of the newer model Toyota's and trying to connect it up, but this seems easier.
Click to expand...

Just what I did. In the form of a Scion TC auto-dimming mirror with a three-channel Homelink.

This is really clever tho.

I have used Word and mailing lables to re-label switches.
 
hey Dan, I read how you did the re-labeling but with this there would be a red tinge due to the existing label. I am thinking about getting some more cheapo switches to experiment with.

For this particular one I may just keep it as is to be more stealth but for my planned use for the second one I would want it to be labeled correctly. That FAQ coming soon as well! :grinpimp:

cruiserdan said:
Just what I did. In the form of a Scion TC auto-dimming mirror with a three-channel Homelink.

This is really clever tho.

I have used Word and mailing lables to re-label switches.
Click to expand...
 
This is one of the coolest mods I've seen! Way to think outside the box...I put my remote underneath the armrest using velcro for the same reason you mentioned keeping it out of sight...your idea is waaay more stealth...
 
I relabled 2 defroster switches for lockers, an antenna & hazard switch for my winch, and a rear heater switch for my OBA. All you have to do is carefully stick the edge of a razor blade straight into the edge of the existing symbol plate & slowly pry it out.

On the ones I did, the symbol is painted on the back side. I pushed that side against a piece of emery cloth & sanded it down to the clear plastic. Then I had a local sigh shop print new lables I made up out of the stickers they use to make lighted buisness signs (on clear or white sheet), stuck it to the outside of the plastic, trimmed, and used the thin double sticky tape or a dab of RTV to put it back into the switch.

Only problem I have is they are currently white lights, not green. Need some of those green rubbers:rolleyes:
switch label.JPG
 
Ok small update.

Wife came home today and all of a sudden the remote would only work if you were either inside the garage (to get out) or just outside of it (to get in). I checked the power on the battery, it was under 1.0V. I had thought that maybe the battery cage of the remote was maybe touching metal and thus shorting out and draining the battery. Turns out its not the case. So I tested the second battery that came in the case, 1.3V. Hmm...

So I dig in the trash for the packaging the batteries came in. They had an expire date of April 07. HAHAHAHAHA! So off to get new batteries and all is well again.

I did a little research and I have learned that randomly extending the antenna is a bad idea. Yeah there is the whole FCC thang, but more importantly because the "new" extended antenna will no longer be tuned to the device and thus wont work. Sure you COULD use a SWR meter on it but I would have zero clue how to tune it.
 
That is a cool mod! Gonna have to do it!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

FIDO96
In dash Homelink Garage Door Opener
Replies
5
Views
917
LC4LIFE
LC4LIFE
T
How to tap into factory dash lights?
Replies
18
Views
1K
Rusty Marlin
Rusty Marlin
Willard
Your thoughts on buying a 80 series in 2025
2 3
Replies
51
Views
4K
Willard
Willard
H
How much time do you spend maintaining your 80?
2
Replies
39
Views
4K
Shoredreamer
Shoredreamer

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom