just to add to this thread. I have my lawn on flex and a few spots are looking brown, but I dont understand how to adjust it to make it water. I tried lowering the allowed depletion to 30% but that didn’t make it water more.
that sounds like an efficiency issue to me, lowering your efficiency i bet will help increase your frequency.
else i would try increasing the length of time it waters the affected zone…i agree your head to head is either sub optimal or you have a big piece of stone about 6 inches under the bad spot?
edit:
also, have you tested for hydrophobia in that bad spot’s soil? i have seen this develop as a result of fairy ring that has not fully visually manifested yet. soap dawn water will help reduce the surface tension of the water and soak into the soil much quicker without impacting the turf (you can also buy more expensive watering agents). this is a last resort and very unlikely, but try the eye dropper test if all else fails.
another edit:
i have also seen this behavior where a think layer of thatch piles up just below a very thin layer of decomposed organic material (usually with warm season grasses not being mulched correctly), try scratching the soil with a thatching rake if you have one to see if a bunch of thatch comes up (im assuming you have a warm season turf).
Efficiency only affects irrigation run time. As efficiency goes up, run time goes down, and vice versa.
Attributes that affect frequency are root zone depth, available water capacity (soil type), sun exposure, or management allowed depletion (MAD).
This is a quick read on how the levers work:
http://support.rachio.com/article/385-flex-schedule-tips
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Good to have you back! Bored without ya 
This was super instructional for me.
I have a brand-new lawn (about 2 months old), and for the first 3 weeks watered it twice/day every day. Then I went to flex and have been noticing several patches getting pretty dry. I’ve been resorting to doing manual waterings and even spot hand waterings. They are starting to look almost back to normal, but what a PITA. OTOH, the majority of my lawn looks pretty lush. And when I inspect the dry areas I’ve found my roots aren’t quite established there yet (ie: those spots can still be pulled-up from the ground a bit).
It did not occur to me that I could configure the Rachio to water more frequently but less.
Thank you for the insight!
In a future release we will make it much easier to change the frequency.
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