Door Sensor Placement Issue

jon102034050

Active Member
Hey guys - I'm in the process of setting up an Elk m1 at my folks place. I've opted for wireless sensors in a few places that are pretty difficult to get wires to but am struggling to figure out where to place a door sensor to their garage.  There are a couple issues that I'm dealing with here, the frame of the door is steel and the walls around it are concrete block.  Wiring to this place would be pretty difficult, so I elected to go with a wireless sensor.  Unfortunately, the door frame sticks out .5in over the door itself, so the elk wireless sensor doesn't even see the door as closed because it's so deep.  Do I shim the door sensor and raise it up?  Do I select a different type of door sensor?  I'm really not sure where to go with this.  
 
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I don't know why shimming the magnet wouldn't work, but I think I'd go with the plunger as Travis4710 said. Drill a small hole and use a step drill to enlarge it to the correct diameter.
 
42etus said:
I don't know why shimming the magnet wouldn't work, but I think I'd go with the plunger as Travis4710 said. Drill a small hole and use a step drill to enlarge it to the correct diameter.
 
shimming it would work, but the problem is that it is at least .5in.  Just seemed a little janky to have the sensor sitting out so far from the door  :)
 
If the frame of the door is steel, that may interfere with the wireless signal getting out from the recessed contact.  It'll depend on how far back the steel extends and shields the antenna.
 
From the 6023 instructions:
 
NEVER mount this sensor in a metal door or jamb as metal will negatively affect wireless performance.
 
Here in the same situation a few years back with one garage to outside solid core metal door.  I just wired to the top of the door originally exposing the wires then burying them over time finishing the door frame and cutting in to the drywall some.  I did the same stuff for the two garage door controllers on the wall.  The original attached garage was insulated, drywalled and painted.  No wood trim though was installed around the two solid core doors in the garage such that I finished and painted the trim.
 
On a new construction build GC / security company prewired the security wires in to the metal door frames which worked for me.
 
RAL said:
If the frame of the door is steel, that may interfere with the wireless signal getting out from the recessed contact.  It'll depend on how far back the steel extends and shields the antenna.
 
From the 6023 instructions:
 
NEVER mount this sensor in a metal door or jamb as metal will negatively affect wireless performance.
 
Guess that doesnt surprise me really.  However, the wireless receiver is < 6ft away from this door (in a closet), so it wouldn't surprise me if this would still work.  
At this point, I think I'm probably just leaning towards shimming it a bunch.
 
I wondered about the metal interfering with the signal as well....

What about swapping the sensors? Putting the magnet on the frame and the sensor on the door? It might just be the angle of the pic, but the sensor looks thicker than the magnet and therefore could take up some of the size gap.
 
Travis4710 said:
I wondered about the metal interfering with the signal as well....

What about swapping the sensors? Putting the magnet on the frame and the sensor on the door? It might just be the angle of the pic, but the sensor looks thicker than the magnet and therefore could take up some of the size gap.
 
Sort of thought about this as well, but it didn't seem to bring it close enough.  The angle of the pic is strange, I do agree.  Here's what my dad has come up with (while I'm away at the office).  Admittedly, it's better than I thought he'd come up with, but it's certainly janky.  What would you guys normally shim this with if you had to go greater than .5in?
 
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I dealt with the same situation by putting the sensor on the door and the magnet on the door frame. the sensor is much taller than the magnet and made the two align.
 
Mike.
 
jon102034050 said:
Sort of thought about this as well, but it didn't seem to bring it close enough.  The angle of the pic is strange, I do agree.  Here's what my dad has come up with (while I'm away at the office).  Admittedly, it's better than I thought he'd come up with, but it's certainly janky.  What would you guys normally shim this with if you had to go greater than .5in?
 
9yUkNiF.jpg
Heck, If that's the solution your dad came up with, and he's happy with it and it works.......problem solved.
 
42etus said:
Heck, If that's the solution your dad came up with, and he's happy with it and it works.......problem solved.
 
They have a large wraparound garage that takes up a large portion of their basement, so this door is used very infrequently by people other than them.  It's sort of out of sight, so I think his main driver was function rather than form.  Works for me!  Thanks for the help guys
 
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