I am giving up on my Rachio V1 conroller because of my inability to use Flex schedules because of Fresno
CA water restrictions and no other automated timely tempature based adjustments.
Does the V3 provide any daily/weekly temperature based duration adjustments outside of Flex schedules?
Below is a portion of my previous post.
Sep '17
I have been working with your tech support, unsuccessfully, for over two years to resolve problems created by change in the Rachio software 2-3 years ago and later Fresno’s new watering restrictions. The Rachio weather/seasonal watering duration updates went from weekly to monthly and about the same time Fresno implemented watering restrictions That limited watering to certain days based on the season, basically winter 1 day sat, spring 2 days tues & sat, summer 3 days tues, thurs & sat, Fall 2 days tues & sat.
Fresno needs at least weekly watering duration updates based on upcoming weather, high temps can very as much as 30 degrees from one week to another with highs up to 110 or greater.
And because of Fresno’s watering restrictions, I need to be able to change the days allowed to water 4 times a year.
Please check with your support group for my prior email correspondence, last one on Jan 30, 2017. I will also attempt to forward the last email string to you.
I feel like with these restrictions the best you will be able to do is create 4 fixed schedules with start/end dates that correlate with the seasons. You will still be able to take advantage of all the weather intelligence features that skip when it is too windy, cold temperature, or precipitation. Those restrictions are typically too restrictive for our other schedule types.
Fresno and all of Californis’s Central Valey are basically a desert and except for a few occasions during the winter, the only real weather we have here is tempature.
For several years the V1 worked great, weekly watering duration changes based on the upcomming weeks tempature/weather, until Flex schedules were introduced. Is there any chance of weekly (or better yet daily) watering duration changes coming back?
I forgot we used to do that! TBH it wasn’t a great way to water (only adding or subtracting minutes each week) since deep watering roots when they are depleted is much healthier. We do adjust watering durations and frequency with monthly seasonal adjustments which doesn’t seem what you are asking for.
Unfortunately, because of the large temperature variations compared to the monthly average, monthly adjustments are not adaquite with the water restrictions in Fresno/Clovis area (population of nearly 1,000,000), most of the Central Valley and a lot of California.
I guess I will need to look for a new controller that provides frequent water duration updates, even if it is not the best watering method.
I live in Fresno, and have been using a V2 controller for over two years with the same restrictions. I started by using fixed schedules, but migrated into Daily Flex with the same restrictions, and my yard has never looked better.
Yes, you do have to change the allowed days multiple times per year (our allowed watering days are like a pyramid, 1/2/3/2/1 per week, but it’s much easier adding or subtracting the extra day in app than changing a mechanical controller.
I actually feel that the time I spent truly diving into my zone settings were the most valuable way I got the Rachio to behave in a way that complimented the restrictions. I would also say that if my zones weren’t segregated (lawn / plants), the Rachio likely wouldn’t be much of a benefit.
@Clinton - I’d suggest doing what @chrisandeden did. Once the zone settings (e.g. available water capacity, root depth, etc.) are dialed in there are two options.
First is to set up four Fixed schedules with the varying allowed days for a more set and forget - update only once a year to change the start and end dates, and turn all all the weather intelligence options. Or three Fixed schedules being: all year long Saturday only, spring/summer/fall adding Tuesday and summer adding Thursday. I don’t believe a zone can be included in multiple Flex Daily schedules, even when the schedules don’t overlap - so this precludes three or four Flex Daily schedules.
The second option is to have one Flex Daily schedule and remember to add or remove the allowed days as the season changes. Rachio doesn’t recommend Flex Daily schedules with two or fewer days, as it will likely always trigger and run every time, but in this case I think that is a known situation.
I did attempt Flex ??? (don’t remember the name) years ago and with even worse results. Per Tech Support at that time, Flex ??? required a minimum of 4 watering days per week to work properly.
Should I assume from these comments that the current Flex Daily doesn’t have such a requirement and will my V1 support Flex Daily?
@Clinton - Rachio doesn’t recommend Flex Daily when there are less than three allowed water days (I believe). The key to getting Flex Daily to work is what @chrisandeden did - making sure all the advanced values are set. I’d start with one zone and post a photo of the advanced settings and I think others more versed in Flex Daily will chime in. There are Flex Daily users in the Phoenix, AZ area (not sure how many days they can water) and the system works for them.
I’d also suggest direct/private messaging with @chrisandeden to see what setting he is using as he seems close to you.
I’d also recommend doing a catch cup test to make sure the precipitation rate and efficiency are correct, as over stating those values would have an impact on the vegetation.
