"Rain Sensor Activated" notifications received every two minutes for hours

Upstate NY started receiving heavy rain about 7AM this morning. At 7:13AM, I received a notification on my iPhone that the rain sensor was activated.

Since 7:13AM, I have received over 70 additional “rain sensor activated” notifications, coming in every 2 minutes.

The notifications just keep coming every 2 minutes. The rain hasn’t stopped, and neither have the notifications.

This is more than likely a wiring problem or your rain sensor is stuck.

Please reach out to [support@rachio.com] with before/after pictures of your wiring. They will be able to resolve this.

:cheers:

but even with a wiring problem, wouldnt a deactivation message appear somewhere in there?

I’ve had my Iro installed since May and have received the rain sensor on & off notifications without issue since that time. I haven’t touched the Iro since installation.

At 1:15pm EST, I’m still receiving notifications that my sensor is on every 2 minutes. That’s 6 hours of notifications at a rate of 30 per hour = 180.

I’ going to have to disable Rachio notifications in my iPhone settings.

You might have to clean out the rain sensor, could be stuck.

:cheers:

mine is not stuck and it just started raining here and i have gotten a few activated messages back to back but not deactivated.

ill try the app removal and stuff tonight when i get a chance…

Hmm…will take a look.

When I got home from work, I went to the rain sensor and took it apart. I wiped it down best I could. The little discs inside were swollen.

The Iro immediately posted a device update of “Rain sensor deactivated” when I took apart the sensor. I put the sensor back together and the “rain sensor activated” message was immediately posted in the device update.

I took the cover off the Iro. A message was posted that said, “Device status power cycle.”

I checked the wires leading from the sensor to the Iro and they looked fine. I removed the wires from the R1 & R2 terminals, cut off about 1/2", stripped about 1/4" of the plastic off, and reinserted the bare wires into R1 & R2. See photos below.

I put the cover back on and let the Iro reconnect to the wifi.

The device status of “Rain sensor activated” displayed again and has done so every 2 minutes.

I tested our rain sensor and to the best of my knowledge we are sending the correct events. I’ll have support@rachio.com look at your wiring.

@AlbanyHDTV, sounds like your rain sensor needs to dry out a bit more. What type of rain sensor do you have? Some rain sensors have a vent collar that can be adjusted to allow the discs to dry out faster. Just curious, what do you have the sensitivity set to on the rain sensor?

Best, Emil

My rain sensor is set at 1/4".

Like I mentioned earlier, I have had the same rain sensor installed since I installed the Iro in May. I haven’t had any issues until today.

I’m confuzzled for sure, half the time my rain sensor trips I will get 2-4 notifications within 5 minutes time. I’m ok with that part and can explain it by the sensor “teetering” on the edge given the rain is fairly light. But I always get a deactivated message between the activation. Its very switch like in behavior.

A few times now I do not receive the deactivated, they are either being scrub or the subsequent activation notifications are generated spuriously from the controller (or hosted side, just not via sensor activity).

Still sending notifications every 2 minutes.

Oh snappy roo, don’t through your iOS through a window bruh

I am having this same issue it worked fine for a few months, but then it has started doing this over the past 4-6 weeks. There is no set frequency. One day I will get 20, the next day I might get 5. Some times it will switch between activated and deactuvated, but lately only activated. Any ideas on how to fix?

@emil might know better, but I would take it apart and clean it. Seems like something is getting stuck, or dirty.

:cheers:

Same issue with me.

Franz,

We need to stop thinking about the cleaning of the rain sensor. Everyone has a valid point.

I just installed a brand new Rain bird wired rain sensor to replace the Hunter mini click I had. The system says that the sensor is activated after it boots up. I have checked for open and closed circuit, and the wiring is fine.
It looks like I really didn’t need a new sensor but I have done all I can.

Wouldn’t jumpering a wire directly to the 2 yellow terminals remove any issues with the sensors?

If the rachio still reports that the rain sensor is activated, it has to be the rachio.

I have started seeing this in the last 5 months or so.

Carl

Hi, @intherain
Lucas with Rachio Support here. I’ve taken over your ticket (#108247) on this rain sensor, and see that you called us yesterday. I would like to give you a call in an hour or two so we can discuss the issues you’re experiencing.

This sounds like you may be using a Normally Open sensor. Let’s discuss this further over the phone. I am seeing the rain sensor activated a few times this morning, and I’d like more details on what was going on when this occurred. I’m sending an email with some suggested times.

Thanks,
~Lucas :rachio:

My sensor has been activated for over a week now (04/26/2016). I did not receive a deactivation notification. Just a little while ago, I received another rain sensor activation notification, around 11:16 AM this morning.

So far, mine has not deactivated since the 26th.

We have had rain in the northeast for about 2 weeks now. I did get a skip notification this notification, but I want to make sure that the sensor is working properly. I have had no problems since hooking up the Iro last spring, it has worked properly until a week ago.

Is this being looked into?