Newby question about Rachio 8 station Gen 2

I installed my new sprinkler control last weekend. So far so good. My first question is: When I run various zones manually with my iPhone app, do those minutes get factored into the scheduled minutes? Or, do the manual minutes not count?

@glssr - I think the answer depends on the type of schedule that is subsequently run. Fixed and Flex Monthly I don’t think will take into account any minutes that are from manual runs. Flex Daily I believe takes into account the manual runs to increase the water in the field.

Welcome to the community.

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Yup. It all counts if running full automatic (flex daily).

Thanks for the quick replies. Now I just have to figure out if the control is in “Flex Daily”.
I bought this house with sprinklers and controls already installed. Never gave it much thought. I’m now realizing what a horrible job was done. Everything is mixed up on common loops: trees versus grass, fixed nozzles versus rotating spray heads, Slope versus level. What a mess. Still trying to figure out the best settings for the Rachio. Hopefully, I can get pointers from this forum.

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@glssr - ask away, there are some real irrigation experts in the community (not me!).

Slope can come in handy even on a flat yard as Rachio will cycle soak - water, wait, water, etc. so that the ground has a chance to absorb the water and not let it run off - so don’t just automatically change it to flat.

I think the two big things to get right are the soil type (there is a web survey site or the mason jar test) and the precipitation rate - you may want to do a catch cup test if you want to really, really fine tune it so that you know exactly what is being put down.

Well, I did my own little experiment and here’s what happened: Before manually running one loop for 5 minutes, I saw the program was going to run 9 minutes times three (27 minutes total) on 10/16. Then just now I manually ran 5 minutes on that loop. Then I went back and looked at the schedule. It was still scheduling 9 minutes times three BUT now it is set for 10/17. So the 5 minutes done manually pushed the schedule out by one day for that loop. I can tell I’ve got a lot to learn about this controller and proper irrigation.

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@glssr Welcome to the community! We can absolutely help fix your configuration, feel free to post your settings if you want others to review.

This ain’t your grandma’s sprinkler controller! Although, my son’s grandma now has a Rachio. :grinning:

We are all learning. Lots of support here and from Rachio itself. I have never seen an irrigation forum this active for end users. Welcome.

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