Starting to look to replace some curtains with vertical blinds to make it easier for SWMBO to operate them and eventually automate them with Alexa.
However, I am starting to suspect that all the kit currently being offered all over the place won't work the blind tilting feature but just the open/close function. Making them pretty crap.
My suspicions have been reinforced by a series of products on Amazon where people have specifically asked if the product does the tilt as well as open and the answer (clearly from the seller) totally ignores it and just says it will work "with blinds".
So has anyone here any experience with such devices ?
I get the open/close will work using the balled cord.
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Brian Gaff (Sofa
I think the issue is there are a myriad different designs for blinds and how they operate, so the main makers of the gear stick to the one bit that is normally the same. I have also come across mega issues with curtain opening and closing systems where the nylon gears either jump ot of mesh, wear out or lose teeth very quickly. Brian
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T i m
I recently 'upgraded' our old Swish Electric curtains by tapping into the existing controller and duplicating their manual override Open / Close buttons with a WiFi connected twin relay module from eBay and integrating that into Home Assistant (to replace the internal timer in the Switch unit that the LCD has failed on so I can't see / set). I then realised we often used the third button, 'Stop' to partially open or close the curtains so got an ESP32 Wifi microcontroller and 4 way relay board and added an additional wire to the Swish unit and now not only could we 'set' the curtains to open or close partially (I can't see when we would want to do that but ..) I have also configured it with a 3 function remote control so now:
Single short press is close. Single long press is open. Double press is stop.
Nothing to stop you using a multi-button remote to make it more straightforward to operate.
Additionally I have set a side light to come on a few seconds after the curtains close (at 30 mins before Sunset) and make sure it's off (if it was overridden in the night for some reason) *before* the curtains open (1 hr after Sunrise).
So is the 'tilt' function of any blind just a setting between fully open and closed or is it a different function?
Would automatic curtains be any more 'difficult' for your wife to manage?
Cheers, T i m
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Theo
Blinds often have separate controls for open and tilt. Either pull loops, up- down pulls with latches, twist handles...
Most of the blind motors are single control - only operate one cord etc. So you may need two motors.
I'd select the blind to match the motor, rather than trying to automate arbitrary blinds.
Theo
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Tricky Dicky
We installed an electric Venetian blind from these people
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The blinds have a single Somfy motor. The way it works is when raised the blind completely shuts one way before starting to rise and on lowering shuts completely the other way before starting to drop. The remote has two switches for raising and lowering with a third stop button. Tilting is affected by using a jogging ring to tilt the blind into whichever position you want.
Richard
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T i m
On Mon, 3 May 2021 13:30:17 -0700 (PDT), Tricky Dicky snipped-for-privacy@sky.com wrote: <snip>
Interesting, thanks.
On the twin relay WiFi module I bought it had an 'inching' mode where the relays would just cut in for a few ms (or whatever you set it to).
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That suited the external control of the Swish unit [1] but I also thought I should use interlock mode (so I didn't try to operate two functions at once), but I think the Swish unit allowed for that on the grounds that someone may well press more than one button at once (open / close / stop) and that shouldn't break the unit. ;-)
With my new diy ESP32 replacement I have both a very short relay action (the Swish unit interlocks itself) and with (software) interlock protection on the relays themselves.
How long does it take to completely cycle the blinds from open to closed etc?
Cheers, T i m
[1] Now I have replaced the simple timer in the Swish auto curtain timer role with Home Assistant, I now want to duplicate the actual motor driver electronics. I have fitted a plug / socket connector on the motor feed (that I believe is 24V DC) and have made up a Y piece with matching connectors so I can easily breakout the feed to the motor and insert a couple of DMM's, one measuring the current and the other the voltage. If I use peak hold on the ammeter I can see what sort of starting / stall current the unit needs to supply.
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Tricky Dicky
I have had a go at measuring the time from the blinds fully opened to tilted fully close and would say it is approx. 5 sec. It is hard to gauge because it is not one single smooth action but a jog along so someone with more agile fingers than me might be able to improve on that time.
Richard
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