howartp wrote:Good to hear of someone using them successfully - I had one on our Venetian blinds but wasn't happy with it so its sat around doing nothing at moment.
Might try again on different window.
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Hi all - took me a little while but I finally got around to drawing this out
I use an add a motor. The one I use is this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Add-Motor-AD80-Drapery-Existing/dp/B003YVJ472but I also tried a couple of others but this one seems to be the most reliable. They cost about £50 in the UK...
These devices are very simple. When a curtain cord is wrapped around them the device will pull the cord in one direction until it reaches a point (which you can define) and switches off. If the plug is turn off and then on again the motor will pull on the cord but in the opposite direction until it reaches another point that you set. So by turning the device on and off using Indigo the curtains will open or close.
To make sure that the curtains only Open when they are closed (and vice versa) I maintain a flag in indigo called [CurtainNameOpen] which is set to True or False. I have two action groups which either Open a Curtain or Close a Curtain with a condition that determines if the Curtain is already open or closed using the flag I mentioned. I've created some action groups that open all of the curtains or close all of them and even check is my daughter is at home so it doesn't open her curtains in the morning when I get up (:D)
It's important to use Curtain Cord not string because it's strong and doesn't stretch too much over time. Something like this. It's easily available.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3mm-BLACK-WHITE-ROMAN-BLIND-LIGHT-PULL-CORD/121319939267?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D33958%26meid%3D51f790dd70064be5ae739d536681d8b3%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D390679355344This works with a curtain rod and rings only. You need create a continuous loop that goes from the motor, over the curtain rod bracket, along to the other end, around that bracket back to the first bracket, over the top of that and then back to the motor. Once you've done that you need to cut the cord and attach it to the curtain rings as shown in the diagram below. I tend to attach it to the second curtain ring in at each side because that closes them better.
Note that one curtain ring is attached to one side of the loop and the other to the other side. This is VERY important otherwise it won't work as both curtains will be travelling in the same direction. By tieing in this way they move in opposite directions.
- Cord diagram for automatic curtain opener
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Now you can run it around the motor and control it using a simple z wave plug. I suggest that you make sure that the cord runs freely (and works) before adding the motor.
On one of my windows I had an issue with the cord constantly sticking as it went around the bracket. To solve this issue I bought three mini pully brackets, attached them to the wall and range the cord through these (two pullies on the lefthand side for the two cords and one on the righthand side)
These were what I used...
- Mini pulleys
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There's quite a few on ebay...
Good luck if you try this
Mike