I have a large lot and 24 irrigation zones. The 16 zone unit is not enough. Wouldn’t it be a simple change to increase the number of zones? Better yet make the zones modular so you could add zones in the same box as needed; that way you don’t need to have multiple units.
Can 2 zones be run on the same line by the way; not that you’d want to but if you had to?
Is there an irrigation master pump capability? this may be the master valve feature. Can all the zones be programmed to use or not use the master valve/pump?
Can all the zones be programmed to use or not use the weather based data, just straight timer? i.e. under eaves or enclosures - no rain
Are there multiple programs i.e. A, B, C D available?
Say you had a drip system with low volume flow, why not be able to run 2 valves at the same time, make this a feature in Program D for example.
@Dan8 All good suggestions, I’ll try to answer your questions.
At this time we don’t have plans to add more zones. We do allow multiple devices to be managed on the same account.
We support running 2 zones (from a power perspective).
Yes, the master valve feature is for the irrigation master pump. Currently, all the zones are programmed to use or not use the master valve. We do have plans to individualize them (one or more zones for master) but I can’t give you a date but it is in our software backlog.
Yes, you can enable/disable all/any of the smart watering features which rely on weather data.
We support a large number of programs, probably close to 12. It depends on the size of the programs.
The software doesn’t allow you to run 2 zones at the same time. We do have plans to allow for this mix/match but I don’t know when we will implement that feature. It is in our software backlog.
I hope this answered everything. Please let us know if you have any other questions or feedback.
Thank you; I do have to say you have one of the best if not the best customer support forums in the business; so thank you for that as well. It just grows your customer base and keeps people happy. Please continue.
Not sure why you are limiting the zones to 16; is there some hardware or software issue that is hard to overcome or is it simply the market not existing for more zones than 16. As I suggested this is easily fixed by making the zones modular expandable in increments of 6 (or whatever) per module. 6-12-18-24-30.
As it is now one would have to buy two systems which do not talk to each other (?) and of course double the cost as well as the second unit not entitled for rebates.
@Dan8 Thanks for the kind words , definitely appreciated.
At this point I’d guess 95% of our customer base (and the residential market in general) is 16 zones or less so we are focusing on other areas of the business.
At some point if it makes sense we will look into expansion units.
We do have it in our software backlog to allow daisy chaining units (one logical view of two physical units in the mobile apps), but once we started looking at how much software that would take and the complexity, it might be easier to build more hardware like you mentioned
Browsing the forums (great stuff by the way) I’m seeing more and more applications using relays to power other hardware such as landscape lighting, chicken coop heaters, and the list gets longer. I added my 2 cents to those as I have a bank of relays added to my current (sadly not yet Rachio) system to power most everything around the house besides irrigation including all the pool functions, Christmas and landscape lights etc. etc. and I point out in my post that as people begin to see the potential of controlling more things, the need for more zones is going to grow pretty fast. More valid rationale for fielding expandable 24, 36, 48 zone systems.
Another suggestion would be to field a small relay bank as a separate product line again with expandable numbers of relays. I built one using one of the blank Orbit irrigation boxes; the relays mounted on the front plate and all the wiring is hidden behind the mounting plate. Cheap and easy but it would be very attractive to have had one ready built and ready to go.
Thanks for all the help.
, definitely appreciated.