the outdoor enclosure has 2 holes on the bottom, one for power and one for the sprinkler wires. My existing system has only one pvc doing to the unit. The power wires come out directly from the wall and into the back of the current rainbird enclosure. Do you have any suggestions on how I should set it up with the rachio enclosure? Can i drill a hole in the back to go directly into the unit? If i use the hole on the bottom, that leaves the wires exposed and looks kind of ugly
Hi @modemgeek,
I was in similar situation (link), but had a few extra requirements. I needed to move the outdoor enclosure further away from where my old controller was (it would not fit there) and I also needed to split the control wires between the new zone valves in the ground and the old “master” valve above ground.
For my project I’ve used one, four port, water proof junction box and some flexible waterproof conduit. Overall I’m pleased how it came out. You can find pretty much all of the components within electrical aisle of your local home improvement store.
Let me know if you have any questions, and definitely keep us informed on what you end up doing. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with 
Cheers,
Gene
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thanks. do you recall how much the flex waterproof conduit cost? Do you have a link to it to homedepot.com or lowes.com?
about $10 from home depot (link) or lowes (link).
I had about half left over, so you may want to pay by the foot (link).
Cheers,
Gene
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sorry, i’m not good with part names. the conduit is 1/2 inch and the hole is 7/8 inch. What is the name of the part(s) that connect the conduit to the inside on the enclosure?
It is a 1/2 inch liquid tight connector, here is one from lowes (link). It will fit into holes about 0.8 inches to 1.15 inches.
I have the same situation where my power run is not in a separate box but coming out of the wall. To ask the same question as the OP, do I drill a hole to bring the power in from the back side of the enclosure or does someone suggest otherwise?
On another note, I have been waiting on HomeKit news but I decided to go ahead and get my Gen 2 and hope that home kit support is coming and doesn’t involve new HW. Fingers crossed.
Thanks
@Jazzer - it depends on if the installation will allow moving the location of the outdoor enclosure a little bit. I would probably put a small outdoor electrical box (plug size) over the hole where the electrical wires come out and then run the electrical wires through a connector into the Rachio enclosure.
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Thanks for the suggestion. I will have to look to see if I can make it work. The slack on the controller wiring may be a limiting factor to move the enclosure up higher on the wall since the control wires are coming up from below.
@Jazzer - While there is no cutout, there does appear to be enough room in the hardwiring bay of the Rachio outside enclosure to come in from the back. However, I would recommend sealing up the hole in the wall with silicone caulk before mounting the enclosure over the power cables. Likewise, I would seal up the hole made in the enclosure so that water wouldn’t wick in along the wires when it runs down the back of the enclosure. Measure twice with the controller wires to make sure everything fits before modifying the enclosure.
The other option would be to mount the Rachio below the electrical box and run some flexible water-tight conduit down from the conduit and then u-turn into the bottom power opening. The electrical box would allow you to make connections to extend the power cabling to get to the Rachio’s hardwiring bay.
Thanks again for the information. I just read your note but had already gone down the other option road. I will need to do some cosmetic work but I’m up and running. I did also silicone the hole it the wall so water shouldn’t be an issue.
Here is before and after:
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Original Controller
Hole drilled behind the outdoor enclosure to pull wires directly from wall
Power wires connected
All done
I do have a couple of questions though. The hole on the bottom of the enclosure where the power wires are supposed to go in, what can I use to cover it up? I couldn’t find any 7/8 inch caps to fill it. Also what type of caulk do you use to weather proof the edges? Most of them said for bathroom use, but not sure if those were OK for outdoor use.