Flex Daily didn't water when MAD reached

I returned from a week vacation on Sunday to find that Flex didn’t water even though two zones were at 0%. I had a 1-day Rain Delay set for Saturday (Jul 22nd), based on an IFTTT trigger. I’ve had that IFTTT applet setup for at least a year and it’s always worked flawlessly. Both shrubs and grass should have watered on Saturday, and as expected they were skipped due to the forced delay. However, they should have fired on Sunday! On Sunday my scheduled updates indicated that both zones were scheduled, but neither ran!

Please advise on what the hiccup might be. I was able to recover since it happened at the tail end of my trip, but with these temps if it had happened a week ago I would have likely had some dead plants. Thanks.

Hey, @azdavidr. I’ve noticed that Rachio puts down Available water * MAD * Soil Depth inches each time it waters. If you set allowed depletion to 0% then I think it will unexpectedly not water. Moreover, Rachio clamps moisture level at zero, and if MAD is zero then we will water to zero inches and clamp there. I suggested in another thread that Rachio avoid clamping the moisture level at zero. I actually have to be careful to avoid setting MAD too low because I can underwater my plants, which is totally counterintuitive. A low MAD should trigger more frequent watering, but in some cases it backfires. Rachio is great but I think there are some improvements to be had here.

Thanks @ldslaron, but I have MAD set to 50% for both zones. I think there might be an issue that’s somehow related to the IFTTT trigger, but @franz mentioned previously that at least some, if not all, of the IFTTT interventions don’t get reported in the app. history, so I can’t confirm.

Gotcha. I think I misinterpreted your title. I haven’t used IFTTT yet so in that case am not sure what’s happening.

I can definitely see that. I edited the title to avoid confusion. Thanks!

Whats thr reason for thr IFTTT?

I automatically skip watering every other Saturday so my landscaper doesn’t get upset.

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I set off a manual watering for my shrubs before the rain yesterday, but not the grass zone. It again told me it was scheduled for today but did not fire. What’s even more strange is that the rain from yesterday (Jul 23rd) was recorded, but the moisture balance stayed at 0%.

@mckynzee, can you please look at my data to see what’s going on ? I’m at a loss. Thanks!

Wow, your weather station didn’t register much rain…from your other post, it sure looks like you got more than .11" of rain…

Yep. I couldn’t find a reliable PWS a while back so I stuck with Sky Harbor. It’s usually much closer than this. I noticed it too and think it’s a bit of an anomaly, but will be keeping my eye on it. Today I’m expecting to get much higher numbers as our rain came late in the day yesterday.

I don’t doubt the accuracy of that station, it’s just really tough with Valley storms. They are SOOOO localized (as @Modawg2k has found). I watched 3 stations near me for almost 6 months and figured out which one seemed to follow my weather patterns the best. Oddly enough, the one furthest away was the winner.

I wish I could use just a rain gauge to get rainfall totals, and leave the rest of the weather station data to something more remote. I don’t think that’s possible with the existing hardware. I looked at getting a PWS but with my yard, following the installation guidelines seemed near impossible. I’d end up with bad wind and temp. data.

I’m torn between using the PWS down the street or the DV airport 4 miles away. So I feel good about the precip data from the PWS, but as I’ve mentioned before, air temp seems to be almost 10 degrees hotter than any other referenced stations or airport. It was reporting 127 degrees when realistically we were 115 last month. Would you sacrifice a little change in air temp for more accurate rainfall?

Yesterday, the local PWS reported 0" precip, which I can attest to us not receiving anything. Airport report 0.3 inches, which is quite the difference.

I think based on the amount of rainfall we actually get, I’d want temps to be more accurate. That should keep Rachio more accurate year-round, not just the few days a year we get rain.

You can always fill Rachio manually if you needed/wanted to…

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+1 !

My problems continue. @franz or @mckynzee, any chance you guys can let me know what’s going on ???

Is there an underlying issue with forecasted precipitation?

The precipitation totals also don’t jive on the 23rd…according to WU history anyway…this is for the same KPHX station.

Interesting. There may be an underlying issue with getting the right data. Even if that’s the case, it perplexes me that the Flex algorithm is letting MAD sit at the depleted level without irrigating. Thanks for taking a look at this @tmcgahey.

I just wonder if the forecasted precipitation that Rachio is capturing (I believe the info is collected 24 hours before) is inaccurate at that particular moment in time…If Rachio collects data and for some reason the forecast is showing 1.5", it would make sense that the algorithm isn’t watering…then as the day progresses, the forecast is adjusted?

I know that some of the schedules used forecasted info. when deciding to irrigate, but I didn’t think that was the case for Flex Daily. I could definitely be wrong. If so I understand what you’re getting at @tmcgahey .