Door Opening Controller

[tsplusone]

I have customer with a MICS 6.1 and wants to add a Norstar Doorphone. The problem is he wants to open an overhead garage door.
I looked in the doorphone install manual & found a reference to an External Relay module (ERM), but cannot find any more info. Is this a Nortel product? My distributor never heard of it. Anyone have any info about this, or another way to make this happen? Thanks!

 

[telemarv]

There is is an optional Door Opening Controller (DOC) for the door phone controller. Part number NT8B79FB

 

[03roadking]

tsplusone,
we have used valcom equipment at several nascar race shops here to open gates,is this what you are gonna be doing?we put the valcom to a line port on the norstar,then through some connections on the valcom it sends a contact closure to a switch that opens the gate.

 

[1weasel]

I would use the Door Opening Controller. I have several customers in higher security areas (police stations) that needed to be able to open doors from any phone. It worked perfect.
1weasel

 

[silver987]

I agree a DOC just sends a contact close to the eq..

 

[tsplusone]

Thank you all for your responses. I have installed doorphones & doc's before, but never to open an overhead garage door at a loading dock. Which is why I asked about the External Relay Module (ERM), which the Norstar Doorphone manual makes reference to.

A garage door does not have a door strike to release, which is what the DOC's intended function is. According to the manual, "The ERM connects to the KSU's ext. page port to provide high current switching capability. Invoking an ext. page from any station will activate the release mechanism."

Not being an electrical engineer, I'm guessing the ERM is what I need to open a garage door. Is the ERM a third party product, or supplied by a garage door manufacturer? Or does Nortel actually make this product?

 

[teekow]

The ERM refers to the relay that is closed when you invoke feature 62 (extenal page). This relay stays closed for however long you invoke the feature. The actual cable pair is listed in the wiring diagram as "EXT PAGE". You should use the DOC as that unit can be set down to the number of seconds to close the relay. The garage door opener just needs a closure of less than a second. The minimum time that you can set the page feature to is 15 seconds. Also, once you hit the feature 62 button, you will lose your connection to the doorphone.

 

[tsplusone]

Thanks teekow! I see where you're going with this. My customer will be using the external page anyway because of the large warehouse area they have. But how do I make a connection to the garage door opener, as it has no strike release. Or, does it?

Currently they have a switch on the wall with Open, Close & Stop buttons. Would the DOC wire into that switch, or directly to the motor of the garage door opener?

Also, could they use both the DOC & the garage door switch as they choose? Any known conflicts there? Thanks again!

 

[Arr]

The DOC doesn't use the paging relays on a KSU. It is a relay closure device that takes it's signalling from the Norstar Door phone. I've installed them and they work extrememly well. It is an Algo product for Norstar and sold through Nortel. If you require other 'line' services look at the Algo Aux Box 4100.
Algo makes a door phone and controller for CO ports that will work on any system, not just Norstar.

PhM

 

[mikewgordon]

Arr is correct, the doorphone and door opening controller (DOC) that Nortel sells are actually made by are made by Algo and sold through most Norstar dealers and Graybar, Sprint North Supply, etc. Algo also makes a bunch of other great Nortel/Norstar gadgets.

Here's a link:

http://www.algosolutions.com/doorphone_stationport.html

You would need both the door phone and the DOC. You would just hook the "normally open" terminals on the DOC that would go to the door strike, to the terminals on the garage door opener that would typically go to the button mounted inside the garage (as long as it is a simple "doorbell" type button, without any electronics in it except for a light). In fact, since the circuit is normally open, you can wire the DOC in parallel to the "doorbell button" if you want.

Mike

 

[telemarv]

You need to be careful because the DOC is designed for low voltage (24 volts) control. Some large garage doors use higher line voltage at the button. If its as you describe with 3 buttons I'm prettry sure its a high voltage control.

 

[jsaad]

so the DOC can provide the power to door strike?

 

[telemarv]

No power its a dry normally open contact only

 

[tsplusone]

We're getting closer to what I need, but I don't think we are there yet. Let me try to explain it better.

Teekow's response, on 9/28, was correct in that a connection has to be made through the EXT PAGE terminals. Here's what the Norstar Doorphone install guide says:

"Two options are available for convenient door opening control, both requiring optional equipment:
* External Relay Module (ERM)
* Door Opening Controller (DOC)
The ERM connects to the KSU's external page port contacts to provide high current switching capability. Choose DOC if external paging is to be used on the system.
NOTE: When an ERM is installed, invoking an external page (Feature 62) from any station will activate the release mechanism."

This is not a residential garage door. I think Telemarv is right that the 3-button control is high voltage, which brings us back to this elusive ERM. Does this part actually exist?

Also, my customer will be using external paging in their warehouse - so am I just wasting my time? It doesn't appear they can have both anyway.

I hope this clears things up and someone can point me in the right direction. Thanks!

 

[telemarv]

What you would have to do to use the DOC is have an electrician install a low voltage control between the DOC and the current door control buttons. I suggest you contact an electrician who can fabricate this. The DOC will give you a momentary relay that will act as low voltage control of a high voltage relay circuit. The high volatage relay would have to be able to sense whether the door is open or closed and act accordingly (either open or close the door depending on whether it is currently open or closed). A good industrial electrician should have no trouble providing this type of remote control.