Installation problems!

Good evening! I am new to the Rachio Iro, and I have a problem that I can not figure out for the life of me! I have 3 electric zone valves, and a pump start relay. On the relay, there are 2 24v volt wires sticking out and not sure where to connect them too. All of the valves are wired correctly, and the setup I have now is one of the 24v wires connected to the common wire from the valves going to C, and the other to the P/MV Is this correct, or should one wire be connected to the P/MV and the other to the other common?? Also should I use the master valve setting in the setup page?
I have tried different setup ways, but either the pump goes on then right off or the relay just clicks.
Thank you in advance!!!

We have some wiring experts at [support@rachio.com] if you’d like to reach out to them.

Be sure to provide before and after pictures which will help a lot.

Thanks!

:cheers:

I will try that, thanks!

1 Like

@dylanbeck2, thanks for sending us a photo of your wiring, below:

Sounds like we might be shorting out the controller. Do you happen to have a photo of the pump relay wiring we can review?

Thanks, Emil

1 Like

The two 24v blue wires are going up to the controller, one is going into the p/MV and the other is spliced into the valve common then connected to the com (yellow)

It looks to me like the wire you have in zone 8 should be connected to the common instead. I am guessing that the pump is turning on and backing up the pressure at the zones that are not turning on then shutting off the pump. You will also need to have the master valve setting turned on to activate the pump that you have wired there.

The black wire is not connected to the 8 terminal, for some reason when I took the picture it ended up there but it is stripped and not touching. Thank you for your input and I will try those settings later.

1 Like

@dylanbeck2, thank you for sending us a few photos of your wiring to review. I’m posting a few other angles that came back to the community email:

I agree with @Munch.

You mentioned that one of the pump relay wires is spliced into the valve common then connected to the com (yellow) Since you’re not short on terminals, I think we can simplify your wiring a bit. I’d recommend the following changes:

  1. Remove the valve common (yellow wire I believe from the left common terminal. Remove any spices to this wire.
  2. Install the two pump relay wires into the left common and P/MV terminals; it doesn’t matter which wire goes into which terminal, just one wire each.
  3. Install the valve common into the right common terminal.
  4. Test the zones.

Let us know if this works. Fingers crossed!

Best, Emil

1 Like

Thank you, I will try that tomorrow and post my findings.Thanks!!

1 Like

@franz @emil @Munch

Update:
I wired the controller as we discussed. When I start to run the program, my pump will start for a few seconds then shut off…The Rachio status light turns blue when the pump is running. After about 1-2 seconds the pump will shut off and the Rachio wifi/status lights will go dark then the wifi will come back up orange (the power light is solid the entire time.)

Also when the cycle starts, the relay will make a buzzing sound (as if the relay was not making full contact) but when activated by hand (finger on the relay switch it will work fine.)

I tried a new pump relay and I’m having the same problem, its looking like the Rachio is either messed up or wired incorrectly.

Any input?? Thank you!

@dylanbeck2, thanks for the update. If the controller is power cycling while running as described, there’s a wiring short somewhere that’s interfering with the controller. A simple test to confirm this is to remove the front panel from the wallmount and attempt another manual run. If the controller stays online for the duration of the manual run, we’ve isolated the issue to wiring

I understand your frustration. Pumps can make systems a bit tricky. Could you send us a current photo of your wiring to review?

Thanks, Emil

1 Like