Installation - 24V wires?

Hi, I’m new here and tried searching on this question but didn’t find any answers to my specific question yet… I’m just waiting on my Rachio enclosure to arrive (hopefully before this weekend) before I can install my Iro, so maybe the answer will become obvious when I remove the existing controller.

Looking at my existing controller, it has a common wire, a set of 4 red wires for the 4 different zones, a short wire acting as a jumper between the two sensor terminals, and two wires connected to terminals marked “24V.” That’s all there is, so this looks like a very simple, straight-forward install.

Reading the installation instructions, I see that the Iro doesn’t need the 24V inputs. Reading the detailed installation instructions on the Rachio website, I also see it doesn’t need the 24V wires, but I haven’t seen anything that says what to do with the existing wires? Do I cap them off? When I take apart the existing controller box, will I find that they just go away when converting to the Rachio?

Thanks for the wiring questions, can you forward this question with pictures to [support@rachio.com] ?

They have pretty much seen every wiring combination there is :wink:

Thanks and have a great day!

:cheers:

@TimDroz, from the photo you posted, it appears the 24V wires (red) might be self contained to the old controller. The gray, flat wire that goes into the wiring compartment (behind the valve and common wire in your photo) will need to be hard wired into the new enclosure. For details on how to hard wire the new enclosure, please refer to this support article.

Also, you won’t need this wire on the Iro :wink:

Hope this helps!

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Thanks! I suspected that the 24V wires might just take themselves out of the picture once I removed the old controller, but didn’t want to make that assumption without a more knowledgeable opinion from someone else. Since I’m not ready to take the old one apart until I get the Rachio enclosure (hopefully in just a few more days), I can’t confirm, but I was hoping to be sure I knew exactly what to expect before I get started on wiring it, just in case I was going to need any other materials, etc.

I’m comfortable with doing all the wiring, I’ve done many similar handyman-type projects, I just like to know exactly what I’m getting into before I start. :slight_smile: The Rachio Iro seems like it’ll be a very easy and straightforward install, the only open question I had was around what to do with the 24V wires since all the instructions I’ve seen say you “don’t need them” but nothing was clear about what happens to them when you replace an existing controller. Not knowing whether they are generally attached directly to the controller, or if they might be coming from somewhere else in some cases is what threw me off.

Thanks for the response, I expect it will make my upcoming project nice and easy.

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@TimDroz, me too! That’s a valid concern on the lack of detail as to what to do with the wiring. If you have any recommendations on simple recommendations, we’d be happy to add them to our documentation.

Good luck with your install, it should be quick and easy :smile:

Best, Emil