Programming Made Easy

 

 

Programming the door is all in that one little sensor. When you apply power, it resets and is ready for programming. To tell you that it reset, the door opens for a couple of seconds then closes. 

 

If you have a photo sensor plugged in then it automatically goes into photo sensor mode and will open and close with sunrise and sunset.  To change to manual mode, simply reset the door and you will be able to manually set the opening and closing time.  To change back to photo sensor mode, disconnect power for 10 seconds and it will return to photo mode.  When in photo mode, you can still use the magnet to open or close the door, and it will return to photo mode the following sunrise/sunset.  All doors starting in November of 2011 can be upgraded to add a photo sensor or you can simply order it with your door.  For previous sales, an upgraded circuit board is also available.  In photo sensor mode the door will open approximately 90 degrees.

 

In manual mode on the first day in the morning when you want the door to open, simply hold the magnet over the sensor. You program how far to open the door by holding the magnet there longer. When you want it to stop, simply remove the magnet. It will now open that far every day at that time. Whew, sit down and have a glass of water because you're over half way through programming it!

 

 

 

That evening when you want the door to close, hold the magnet over the sensor for just a moment. The door will remember how far to close, and will close at that time every evening.

 

Now is the time to take your spouse out for dinner, because you have completed the programming! Every day going forward it will open at your defined time every morning and close at your defined time every evening.

 

For safety, one minute after the programmed close time, the door will do a short open, pause, then close cycle. You do not have to do anything to enable this, it automatically does this. It is intended to avoid situations where for instance a chicken blocks the door from fully closing, and possibly gets caught in the door. No worries, the door motor has been designed to not press hard enough to injure a chicken.

 

Great, now you've completed basic programming. Are you ready for the advanced section? First, let's say you want to change the programmed times. No problem. You can reset the controller in two ways. You can remove power for 10 seconds, or you can hold the magnet over the sensor for 15 seconds. The door will do a short reset cycle (open for a few seconds, pause, then close). This is the indication that all programmed times have been cleared and just repeat the morning and evening programming as shown above.

 

Now for the really, really advanced programming. Let's say you've programmed the open and close times. But a storm is blowing in and you want to pen the chickens early. No problem, well that is once you herd all the girls into the coop! Simply hold the magnet over the sensor and the door will close. It will not change the program. It will know its closed that evening and skip the close time. The next morning it will simply open on schedule and close the next evening. In fact, you can open and close the door a hundred times during the day or night and it won't change the programmed times. The only way to change the programmed times is to reset the controller.