I already own the Zemismart Zigbee roller blind motor and found it works fantastically, so I decided to get their curtain track motor and see if it's any good.
It was shipped by UPS and arrived in about a week. As with the curtain motor, it's packaged nicely, and the product feels very solid and well-made. It's the sort of thing that, safety standards aside, you could put on a shelf in a UK shop with no changes. It cost US$170 including shipping to the UK, for a 3m motor kit and a 4x pack of 90-degree mounts (for mounting on a wall, not inside the window recess).
I also got a SLZB-06M to act as a Thread/Matter gateway/co-ordinator, mostly because my HA server is at the opposite end of the house from the curtains and may well not reach.
First tip - this guide by SMLight is concise about how to get things up and running, I found it after I muddled through the steps from other sources.
Some notes:
- In the OpenThread Border Router settings I had to select an (unused) serial port, even though it was not going to be used. I then entered the IP address/port from from the settings page from the SLZB-06M's web interface (although it's just the ip address and port 6638).
- Despite the instructions labelling it as "NET", the RJ45 socket on the curtain motor is NOT an ethernet socket, it's for an optional wired remote control, and the socket's lights are used as system status lights.
- The 0/1 switch just enables/disabled the motor. This is presumably for safety when setting it up. I think it also needs to be left switched on to make a connection (I'm not certain though).
- To set up a connection the motor limits must be set first. If you are bench testing you can do this using the included wireless remote. As above, the motor will need to be switched on to complete this step.
- The remote control does not come with a battery fitted, I fitted one of my own and then found one supplied, in a separate bag. The battery (CR20xx) goes in positive terminal upwards.
I haven't yet installed the rail, I will update this when I do with any more relevant tips.
Installation
The hardware is well-made and feels solid - the rails are extruded aluminium and very substantial! The curtain hooks onto rollers which are free-running and pulled by the main "carrier". The carrier seems to be pulled by a steel band, which I assumed is coiled up within the left hand "gearbox" unit.
Mounting
My home is a typical older UK house where the curtains are mounted onto a wooden strip outside the window recess. To mount the track on a wall like this you need a set of right-angle bracket adpaters. You get 4x, which was less than the number of horizontal mounts I got with my 3m kit (6), but 4 was fine for my ~2.3m curtain. I fitted 1 at each end and then 2 spaced evenly within. It's not clear how they expect you to attach the horizontal brackets to the vertical ones, but I used some M4 set screws, nuts and washers I had laying around. TIP: Don't tighten the screws down until the rail is clipped in, being able to slide them around helps if you are doing it on your own! Another tip is to mount the rail in sections and then slide/clip them together.
One serious flaw of the mounting is that you cannot have a mounting bracket at the same position of a "stitching buckle". The plastic clip is too tall for the rail to clip in. I spotted this too late, but was easily able to use a Dremel to grind the plastic down and then it fits fine, you just need to use a screwdriver to push the clip back to mount the rail.
Another thing not completely clear - the "stitching buckles" have to be fitted the right way up, they are not symmetrical.
The instructions are also not very clear on setting up the roller loops, carrier and "positioner".
TIPS:
- The thing called the "positioner" is just the far end (right hand) belt pulley. To set this you need to install all the rail pieces and then drag it to the far end of the rail (right hand side) and into the gap at the very end until it clicks. You need to remove the buckle clip first though (which holds the right hand end on). You can then put in your extra curtain rollers for the right hand curtain through the gap, and put the buckle back in.
- I don't think it's hugely important how the "carriers" are set, it seems to mostly work on detecting the motor stalling, and there doesn't seem to be any way to reset the position. I need to do some more testing on this.
Conclusion
As with the tubular blind motor, it's well-made and good value, and so far seems to be reliable. I will probably buy another one for my stairwell curtains, although getting power there will be trickier.
The Internals of the Motor..
The unit appears to have an 18650 lithium cell as backup (bottom left on the x-ray I took below). Apparently this is intended for emergency use, but I suspect it might power it for a while?
