How do you make electric doors work?

[Charlemagne]

When I place them they are either wide open, or if I connect them then they are locked. What i would like is for them to swoosh open like the doors you find in the game structures.

[MechWarden]

You will need a Power Inverter, to swap the On signal to an Off, and some relay Auto Switch to take in an input (finally found the name, because wiki is structured badly) and a Proximity Switch.

You connect the inverter to the door and then the Auto Switch to the Inverter, and the proximity sensor to the input side of the Auto Switch, and BAMM! automatic doors.

The reason why doors open when there is no power is that you don't get locked if for some reason the power goes out. Yes, you can edit your own base, but visitors or friends might not be able to. Also they stay open by default, which is handy.

[Charlemagne]

OK I'll see if I get it. Still don't have those techs.

[Scaramouche]

Something like that
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3003078889
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3003078879

[Captain Brendig]

No Auto Switch should be needed. Run power to the inputs of both inverter and proximity switch. Output from the inverter goes to the door, output from the proximity switch goes to the control on the inverter. This way power goes through the inverter and powers the door (closed), but when in range of the proximity switch it cuts the power in the inverter and the door opens.

There are other ways to accomplish this such as using wall buttons and timer circuits, but that is a whole different discussion.

[Captain Brendig]

Overly simplistic, just did this quick in creative as a demonstration.

Inverter upper left, proximity switch on right.

Closed:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3003091601

Open:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3003091411

[Galactic Starman]

Here is a link to a previous thread about powered doors from 2019. It's still relevant with examples.
https://steamcommunity.com/app/275850/discussions/0/4932019356823664309/?tscn=1655734719

Doors default open, without power or loss of power, to avoid players getting stuck for example, while building.

Here's the actual copy if the link does not work:

It's been mentioned above several times that a door is closed when powered. Without power the door remains open. The game uses this logic paradigm to great effect when combined with switches and electrics and there are some great bases built using simple and complex circuits to visit for inspiration for your own.

If the door is closed, then logically something is powering it. Check that the door itself is not connected directly to the power source. Deleting wires (including any hidden wires or forgotten wires) should break power and see the door open. Then carefully connect wires to the correct connectors.

Because the door is closed when powered and open when without power (from a logical safety point of view) a separate device called the Inverter Switch is used in between the power source wire and the wire to the door. It basically reverses the function of the door so it opens with power. Here's a picture:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1881847767
A lot of creative things can be done in the game with switches and its fun to create puzzle doors, coded doors and even trap doors.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1881865883
Beware that in complex circuits, doors may seemingly be without power but remain closed. Hidden powering magic is at work for those tricky puzzles to solve. But eventually if power is turned off the door should open. You just have to solve the puzzle find the switch or switches or series of switches or ball pressure switches to open those base doors. The biofuel generator can even be used as a timed switch to either open a door when it runs empty or deviously be used as a trap door timer (in combination with a second hidden door circuit). A lot of fun can be had playing with electrics either making things or just visiting bases for ideas.

With more than one power source in operation on a base it can be difficult to recall what is powering what when troubleshooting. It is usually a simple missed connection. Updates can break things of course but Hello Games soon patch those. In those cases if a base was working correctly before an update. Don't be hasty to reconnect things as a patch may solve things. Otherwise it is often a simple matter of disconnecting wires and reconnecting parts which often clears any problems and updates the base to the current build version.

[Charlemagne]

Thanks to all. Inverter and proximity switch. Got it. I think.

[MechWarden]

Originally posted by Captain Brendig:

No Auto Switch should be needed. Run power to the inputs of both inverter and proximity switch.
...

It's been awhile since I mess with this system. So long infact I literally forgot how I setup my old base's automatic doors.

I have un-uploaded picks of messing with wires, lile making a 3 way switch for doors and push button seal-in circuits.

I'm glad people have way better tutorials on hand.

[Zigamus Wizard]

Originally posted by Charlemagne:

Thanks to all. Inverter and proximity switch. Got it. I think.

An even easier way to get auto-doors is to use the STONE building material. All the doors in this material already do the auto-door routine! :o)

[MechWarden]

If you use the automatic stone, wood, or metal doors, then you can't make a door that needs a combination code to get in!

I saw a really neat base that had clues about the door combination on the outside. It was a rare treat to see in a player base, but unfortunately I wasn't been able to get it to load back when revisiting the place.

[BaseWall]

...hehe im a vegan so i dont have doors^^
but on youtube you got some real good 'how to ' tutorials
its a very active community with a lot of nice youtubers explaining old/new stuff
i know cause i had the same question you have/had^^

[Yxklyx]

This is the clearest image I've found:

https://re-actor.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/1-30-1024x576.jpg

[Captain Brendig]

Originally posted by MechWarden:

If you use the automatic stone, wood, or metal doors, then you can't make a door that needs a combination code to get in!

I saw a really neat base that had clues about the door combination on the outside. It was a rare treat to see in a player base, but unfortunately I wasn't been able to get it to load back when revisiting the place.

Agreed. I use standard doors for basic parts build, holo doors on pre-fabs or cubes. Sliding doors and garage doors are fun to play with when using combination locks or timer circuits. I have built a few bases using using those techniques, one had two timed doors and two combination locked doors (archived, got a lot of hate from players that visited that base... too complex and confusing, and I was running out of build space). Really comes down to a matter of personal taste, but powered doors can be quite fun for more complex puzzle bases.

Take care...