Deadbolt Sensor

Photon

Active Member
Our new house is under construction, and I'm browsing the boards looking for ideas. I have seen no mention of a sensor to signal a door's deadbolt lock is extended. Has anyone used such a thing? I'm pondering making a sensor using phototransistor and LED pair, but there must be an effective commercial version out there somewhere.

Thanks. . . John
 
Napco has a system called "Freedom" that uses the position of the deadbolt to arm and disarm the panel (similar to an ADT system out there). There is a hardwire and a wireless version. You MIGHT be able to adapt the hardwire version to an ELK panel. You would have to do some research. You would want the boltcup sensor not the whole system. Somewhere I have some information of the system. If I can track it down I will let you know.

Basically they use a coil in the door jamb to sense the position of the bolt.
 
Thanks, Digger. I've seen several systems that use coils, and they all seem to include a bunch of extra stuff, like a unique, dedicated panel, that I don't want. I suppose I need some associated electronics to excite the coil and monitor for disturbances in the magnetic field, and then send a binary status signal along to the main alarm/automation panel.

The optical solution would not be as secure since a wad of paper jammed into the bolt pocket would give a set indication. I'm not sure that is very significant, though. I can check for a "bolt set" signal when the normal door sensors indicate "door open" and trip a fault report. I'm mostly after a basic system that allows me to look at a panel and confirm the garage doors are down and the bolts are engaged on the various people doors around the house.
 
Just need a plunger sensor... like $5-8... You can wire them to anything you could wire a normal door/window magnetic sensor too.

Vaughn
 
I have a design for a dead-bolt sensor that uses a hall-effect sensor to detect the dead-bolt position. It's pretty simple and reliable, but the dead-bolt needs to be made of steel.
 
Rocco,
Put a radio transmitter with it to send the signal and you have a winner. Wireless deadbolt position sensor.
 
Speaking of deadbolts, is anyone using a keyless entry system that is hooked into their HA system? I ask this from time to time... I had the older Black and Decker RF deadbolt system at one time, but it is no longer made and I haven't found any available for my new home. I'd prefer RF over IR just because I want to hit the keyfob before I get up to the house...
 
huggy59 said:
Speaking of deadbolts, is anyone using a keyless entry system that is hooked into their HA system? I ask this from time to time... I had the older Black and Decker RF deadbolt system at one time, but it is no longer made and I haven't found any available for my new home. I'd prefer RF over IR just because I want to hit the keyfob before I get up to the house...
trying not to hijack the thread, but since he asked...
I haven't tried these myself, but I am thinking about it. The RF-01P is RF, while the KF-01P is IR. I cannot be sure, but the RF remote seems to have two buttons, so it could be hacked into an HA system with discrete ON & OFF commands.

http://www.morningindustry.com/html/f-product.html seems to be the manufacturer
http://www.smarthome.com/51890.HTML is one source
http://www.keylesspro.com/remote.htm has pictures of the backside/inside
 
Rocco's mention of a hall effect sensor is interesting because I have been thinking about designing a similar project for my deadbolts. My idea however would be to mount it in the door instead of the jamb. I have very ordinary Schlage double cylinder locks and what I'd like to do is to detect two things: if the deadbolt is retracted (door unlocked) and also if the door is being locked from the outside to arm the alarm system if needed. This could be done by mounting a magnet on the outside cylinder to detect if it is being turned by the key to lock the door. The Allegro hall effect sensors that I use put out 2.5 volts if no magnets are close by and will either go towards 0v or 5v depending on the magnet polarity, so a well placed sensor and two magnets could probably do both tasks with just one sensor.

Another future project...
 
rocco said:
I have a design for a dead-bolt sensor that uses a hall-effect sensor to detect the dead-bolt position. It's pretty simple and reliable, but the dead-bolt needs to be made of steel.

Does this design require a box on the wall at the door, or can all the electronics be in the main alarm/automation cabinet? Are you willing to share the design? I expect our deadbolts will be steel; I couldn't afford the titanium option. :eek:

Thanks. . . .John
 
ver0776 said:
Just need a plunger sensor... like $5-8... You can wire them to anything you could wire a normal door/window magnetic sensor too.

Vaughn
I've been thinking about going this route myself, just waiting to find the time to install my zone expander, plungers and run the wiring. Then again, I have 2 3-zone wireless transmitters I haven't really found a good use for yet, so maybe I'll use them for this purpose.

If anyone has gone the plunger/deadbolt route, could you provide any tips/learnings on setup? Thx.

Edit: you should be able to pick up plunger sensors for much less than $5 (ebay).
 
Photon said:
Our new house is under construction, and I'm browsing the boards looking for ideas. I have seen no mention of a sensor to signal a door's deadbolt lock is extended. Has anyone used such a thing? I'm pondering making a sensor using phototransistor and LED pair, but there must be an effective commercial version out there somewhere.

Thanks. . . John
I used this switch:

http://www.grisk.com/recessed/pb-2020.htm

Works great. Just drill a 3/8" hole and cut a small slot on the side for the wire, then run the wire behind the door frame molding.

I have one door which had a jamb that was not deep enough to accomodate the hole, so I used my EE skills to build an IR LED coupled with a IR phototransitor. It also works great.
 
Thanks SandPiper,
Everyone ingnored my simple "Use a plunger sensor" advice. I guess without links, information is just not valuable.

Bass Security has a bunch of them , but I am not putting up a link!

Vaughn
 
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