Is there a way to avoid wind skips on drip irrigation zones only or is there a possibility of a software or firmware update that might address this? I’m a Gen 3 user for over a year, I love this controller and the support, best irrigation controller on the market hands down!
Yes. Disable the wind skip feature in the schedule setup.
As far as I know you cannot skip on a per zone basis, but you can skip on a per schedule basis. If it were me I would have a 2nd schedule setup for those zones.
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Thanks, I appreciate your response but I use the wind skip feature for my pop up rotary zones and the wind skip feature was one of the main reasons I invested in the Rachio controller.
So if I run my drip zones (which can run eighteen plus hous) on another schedule, it wouldn’t interfere with my flex daily schedule?
If they happen to overlap, then they will just push each other out of the way as needed, really not much different than if they are all on the same schedule IMHO. I personally set my grass to end by sunrise, and I start my drip at 9am.
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Thanks, I’ll give it a try!
Would the 2 schedules run simultaneously or concurrent to one another or will the 2nd schedule simply replace the other? { 2nd schedule active, original schedule inactive)
Take your existing schedule and remove the drip from it. Create a new schedule for the drip, and have it start mid morning sometime, and exclude wind skip (your choice to leave freeze skip, etc).
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Okay, I got it now, thank you tmcgahey and wafflesngravy for your patience and guidance.
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I just installed a Rachio 3 with flex monthly for three simple zones - two with drip emitters and one with fixed spray heads for grass. I could certainly set up a separate schedule for drips to disable wind skip, but due to Rachio’s limitation of only one schedule for “end before sunrise”, I would then have to adjust start times manually every month or so for the other zone to follow sunrise times through the year.
So currently there doesn’t seem to be a fully automated “smart” solution that accommodates all zones. Possible functionality enhancements could be to:
- Enable/disable wind skip at the zone level, overriding schedule settings.
- Variation of #1, bypass wind skip for zones with drip lines or similar (or provide the choice).
- Allow (actually re-enable) multiple schedules with “end before sunrise” so that multiple schedules can be set up with unique properties but still allow for auto-adjust of start times throughout the year.
Crossing fingers that Rachio could update with one of the above!
What’s the purpose for needing your drip to end at sunrise?
Thanks for the reply! It’s not totally necessary, but our landscapers have always recommended shifting start and end times earlier in summer and later in winter. The “end before sunrise” option is a set-it-and-forget-it way to do that.
If I create a drip schedule with wind skip disabled, I would have to manually update start times periodically (4-6 times a year). Or I could create a schedule for each season (using start/end dates) and appropriate start times roughly relative to sunrise. But then I would have to edit them periodically with new start/end dates since there is no way to create a repeating schedule (e.g. every June-August rather than 6/1/19-8/31/19).
The system is almost smart enough but just needs a little enhancement in one or two areas. Certainly first-world problems here…
I agree with shifting the times for sprinklers, for the purpose of evaporation and burning of the grass, but that isn’t an issue with drip. There is no advantage or reason to adjust the times for drip.
I have my drip take up the bulk of the daytime hours, and have my grass zones either start late afternoon, or end by sunrise.
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