Ability to start pump with specific program/schedule

New to Rachio, as a matter of fact it’s still in the box Rachio3… I need the ability to activate the pump per program or schedule. is this possible? I have a bug injection system that runs based on what program is running. for example my current controller has A,B,C programs. A= daily watering no pump active. B= pump active which activates the injection system. My current clock allows me to specify whether the pump is active or not for each program. Can this be achieved with Rachio?

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Is the pump triggered by the master valve?

:cheers:

Yes triggered by the master but specific to the current program.
Ex: Program B - Runs Fridays at 4pm and triggers the pump.
Program A - Does not trigger the pump.

This is a better way to activate the pump, as apposed to zone specific. This allows a program to be created, pump active yes/no? Then assign zones to program.

Many people are asking for a pump trigger at zone level. The correct way to assign the pump is at program/schedule level. Make Sense?

I really don’t want to return my rachio (still in box). Please let’s make this work

Some have mentioned power issues with running multiple zones. This does not overload the system as it is simply activating the pump on a per program basis, so you get pump active yes/no and 1 zone at a time as scheduled for said program.

This should be a few lines of code to implement.

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@jrego7 if it is just a few zones that are only on program B then one can use a NO SPST relay in parallel with the solenoid wire(s) that can trigger the pump (one relay per zone).

This would be true if only a few zones were desired. But in the scenario i am trying to achieve activating the master/ pump would be simple if assigned to the program. This feature would help many of the users who are asking in your forums. Many of which have been asking for years.

Example Schedule:
Program A - Mon,Wed,Fri 6am water zones 1-8 for 10 minutes, no pump/master active

Program B - Fri 4pm water zones 1-8, activate pump/master ( in my case this would activate the injection system, but for many others it could be their well when using multiple water sources)

Program C- Fri 5pm water zones 1-8, no pump/master active

So programmatically you are simply modifying your code to allow the pump/master as an option when setting up a program. Any zones within the program would run in sequential order as normal. Thus no overload 1 master + 1 Zone at a time when active.

Make sense?

Again this should be no more than a few lines of code to achieve and would satisfy the needs of all your customers with injection systems or with multiple water sources. In turn making your controller even more desirable to consumers like myself who desire the best products available. So what do you say? Few lines of code tonight and publish an update in a few days… and just like that many happy customers :slight_smile:

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I am looking for the same thing or the ability to configure one zone to be on with other zones to accomplish the same thing but you could then configure additional systems. I am looking at a mosquito system and fertigation system.

What I’m asking for would do exactly what you are asking for. Doing it with multiple zones would work, but wouldn’t be the best way to go about it. Having the ability to turn the pump/master on or off dependent of the program running is optimal. It allows you to configure programs containing any combination of zones with or without the pump. Sadly, there are many Rachio users asking for such a simple feature. Take a look through the forums, some requests go back several years. It really is a simple program change that Rachio could implement easily, yet they ignore their customers.

Have we made any progress on this? Will such a feature be added?:thinking::thinking: