Garage Door Opener
 

I have a keychain garage door opener that's about as water resistant as a sock filled with holes. It runs off of an A23 12V battery, and I want to hard wire the guts of it into my bike and mount a switch on the top bar clamp. What I need is some way to make the electronics water resistant. Should I just drill into the case to run wires into it and seal it up with hot glue? Or is there better option?

My absolute favorite way to do this is to remove the battery and run your horn wires to the leads, "T" taps work okay, be mindful of pos/neg and rig the button to be pressed in all the time. Wrap it in tape to seal it and strap it in by the horn/on the horn bracket. Viola, when you pull up to your house, beep the horn and your garage door will open. I really should sell these....

We've done the same thing, except used connections found at West Marine. I've found, if you want something weather-proof - look for something commonly used on a boat :wink:

Same here. Any plugs, connections, etc, I usually use marine grade materials.

On the sportbike, that's how I'd have done it. On the TE, the bar clamp I'm getting (it comes with the handguard I'm ordering) comes with switch mounts. The switches are only $4 each. My plan is to set up a dedicated circuit, to avoid cutting into the wiring harness.

Hot glue will seal something. So will silicone.

My ass is too cheap to use marine grade. Especially for the amount of connections I make on my property for Christmas. Never had an issue with snow or rain.

For a street motorcycle (dirt riders need not apply since they have stream crossing that could be an issue), you are looking more for a barrier than a sealant. Water can intrude as long as it doesn't bridge any connections ie: standing water and such that boats have to worry about. And you also aren't as worried about contaminants like salt from salt water rusting shit, so tape would also work fine for street moto applications.

We are talking about the TE though, so seal it.

I have both. I'll probably try the silicone first and just seal up the existing enclosure. It's just a keyfob door opener.

If you don't want to dump silicone all over the electrical components (in case you need to get to dip switches or programing buttons) pick up what is called a heat shrink end cap. Stick the electrical guts in the end cap with the wires sticking out and shrink it down. Then you only have to seal where the wires are coming out. You could also use regular heat shrink tubing, which should be easier to find, and just seal up both ends.

Eh, the fob is cheap. If it comes down to that I'd just buy a new one.

Open up the remote case to add a connector for a parallel door switch then put the whole thing in a weather sealed iPod case, like one of the units sold by Pelican. It's about as water tight as you can get. Just toss in a couple of desiccant packs, to keep condensation from forming.

The fob takes a 12V battery. Can I just wire it straight to the battery (with a fuse) without any issues?

If I find the antenna connection on this thing, will attaching a wire to it and running it along the bike give me better range?

What's a good online source for parts? I need wire, a fuse holder, heat shrink tubing that I can cut to custom lengths (those 6" chunks that Radio Shack has aren't going to work), some ring terminals, etc.

Yes, but you gotta remember your battery is wired to your charging system that will probably produce about 14v. A $2 voltage regulator from Radio Shack might be a good idea.

Yes and no. If the wire isn't the right length it won't improve range and the power output limits the range too. Fucking with it probably wouldn't be practical...

Find a local electronics surplus store... shit is usually really cheap and the staff can help you with projects... Shipping on the electronics stuff usually kills the savings online.

Several good ideas...I just mounted a remote keypad outside of my garage which works for me.

Check this out.

http://www.r1-forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=217769

Thanks for the link, reading it now...

I still need a decent source of electronic parts online if anyone has any suggestions. Out here in Nowhere, USA, Radio Shack is the only act in town. Their inventory is less than impressive.

mouser.com

get a catalog from them, the website trips my 50 relay.

mouser.com, I remember that place. Thanks!