Hello everyone!
In this article I will tell you how I had to fix the mistake of the builders, who laid only one 3-wire cable in the gate leading to two roller shutters, while it was necessary to lay two such cables. And also about the inexpensive WiFi + RF433 MHz roller shutter control unit and its connection to the Yandex Alice voice assistant. If you are interested in the details, please, under cat.
Unpacking the roller shutter control unit
I am finishing my house, and recently they installed motorized roller shutters on my windows on the first floor. To control them, I purchased WiFi + RF433 switches from Moes on Aliexpress, the package says “Smart WiFi + RF Curtain Switch”. They cost me 900 rubles. for 1 pc. The kit includes a small connection instruction and two screws for installation. The panel is made of glass and has three touch-sensitive buttons with blue backlighting. The device is connected with only 4 wires: L-line, N-zero, Open, Close. The instructions do not mention the operation of the unit with the Yandex-station "Alice", but as it turned out later, the device is perfectly interfaced with the smart speaker through the Tuya Smart application.
Control unit from the inside
The switch consists of two boards: the top board is a WiFi controller, a 433 MHz receiver, capacitive buttons and two antennas, also wired on the board, and the bottom board is a power supply, screw connectors for connecting wires, two relays for controlling roller shutter motors.
Both boards are connected to each other with an ordinary double-row comb, with a pitch of 2 mm.
Illumination of buttons
It is also worth mentioning how the backlighting in the control module works. During the day, the illumination of all buttons is not noticeable. But the last pressed button always shines brightly on the panel. If you press the button to lower the curtain and it doesn't matter via WiFi or a button on the remote control, the "Close" button will light until another button is pressed. And the STOP key has two functions: it can be used to stop the shutters in any position, and the second function is to switch the button illumination to night mode. In complete darkness, the glow of all keys is very comfortable and does not irritate the eyes at all.
WiFi connection
When you turn it on for the first time, all three buttons will immediately start blinking - thereby the unit says that it needs to be connected to a WiFi network. To do this, you need to install the Tuya Smart app. run the application-> press "+" (add a device) -> small household appliances-> curtains / curtain WiFi-> turn on geolocation-> confirm The name and key of the WIFI network after a short pause, the device will be added and then you can change its name. For ease of management, I called all three added devices "windows", only assigned them different rooms. In the voice assistant Alice, press (+) -> another device -> find Tuya Smart -> update the list of devices.
I also created scenarios in the voice assistant such as: "Open SIM-sim", "Open all windows", "Turn on the movie", etc.
We connect the 433MHz remote control
Also, for wider possibilities of controlling roller shutters, I purchased a remote control operating in the 433 MHz radio range.
In order for the switch module to memorize the code commands from the radio remote control, you need to press and hold the required button on the control unit until it emits a single beep and the indicator starts blinking quickly, after which you need to press the same button on the remote control management. If the switch has memorized the code, it will switch the indicator to a permanently lit mode. To reset the previously recorded code, you need to press and hold the control unit button for 10 seconds until it emits three intermittent beeps, after which the remote control code will be erased from the unit.
Shoals of builders
Now about the problem that I encountered when connecting the rollers. The builders who were finishing, despite my repeated reminders, laid only one three-wire cable for two windows. And this problem surfaced when the roller shutter installers arrived. “Okay,” I thought, “I will connect them in parallel,” but, as it turned out, it is impossible to connect the roller shutters in parallel with each other. Of course, at first I did not believe it, but then I became convinced of this myself when I tried to check it in practice and almost burned the motors. The problem is that the motors have several windings and a phase-shifting capacitor is installed between them. And if you apply the control current to raise the curtain "Open", then at the open end of "Close" there will be a voltage of 220V, which will begin to rotate the roller shutters in the opposite direction,and they will remain in one place in a jammed state, while the current will flow through the motor windings. It will turn out like in that fable about a swan, cancer and a pike.
The installers also said that there are blocks with which you can combine roller shutters into groups and connect them to one switch.
But the GC-2 group block will not help me either, since in addition to the "Open", "Close" and "N" -zero wires, it also needs the "L" line. If you ignore grounding, then the total is 4 wires. And I have, as you remember, there are only 3. Break the entire Internet, I have not found a solution, although I met brothers in misfortune with the same problem, asking for help from the community. As a result, I had only one option left - to chisel the wall and lay the missing wires. That didn’t suit me in any way, since the first floor had already been finished and suspended ceilings had been installed. I would not like to spoil a fresh renovation with construction dust. I had to strain my brain and come up with my own solution.
Fortunately, the solution was drawn on paper within a couple of minutes and for its implementation I needed only one relay for 220 V, with three contact groups.
Relay connection diagram
I think many may have a question: why exactly 3 groups of contacts, and not two? If we exclude the topmost group of contacts in the diagram by closing these two wires, then current will flow through the interconnected windings of the electric motors and through the relay coil in any position of the switch, and the relay will always go into the on state.
Relay mounting
I was impatient and wanted to quickly check the functionality of the circuit. And due to the lack of 3 mm flat connectors, I did not waste time looking for and buying them, but took and soldered wires to the necessary relay contacts. I insulated them with heat-shrinkable cambric and connected the relay to the roller shutters with twist-type connectors. I placed it in a junction box, in which I previously covered all the through holes with silicone.
Well, finally everything is connected, you can check .
Conclusion
Thanks for reading to the end!
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