Can I use this Rain Sensor?

[EBoon]

Wondering if any one has any experience with this rain sensor? I took it off of my old Rain Bird controller. It has 5 wires (Red, Black,White, Brown, Green)

Thanks!

[emil]

@EBoon

I took it off of my old Rain Bird controller. It has 5 wires (Red, Black,White, Brown, Green)

@EBoon, yep, the Iro is compatible with this rain sensor. I believe Toro may have bought out R&D, but nevertheless, the wiring (and hardware) is the same. Please use this support article to reference the wiring needed to hook up.

Hope this helps!

Best, Emil

[EBoon]

Thanks Emil! Looks like in that picture there are two (2) red wires from the unit??? I have Red, White, Brown, Black and Green - the Green was NOT used when it was hooked up to my Rain Bird ESP-12LX+. Any advice on how to hook it up?

Thanks again!

[emil]

@EBoon

Looks like in that picture there are two (2) red wires from the unit??? I have Red, White, Brown, Black and Green - the Green was NOT used when it was hooked up to my Rain Bird ESP-12LX+.

@EBoon, sorry, I didn’t see that my wiring diagram had different wires. That’s interesting that your sensor has five different colors – even the R&D user manual shows 2 reds, 1 white, 1 brown and 1 yellow wire, with the yellow wire left out on normally closed controllers.

I would guess that the black is your “second red” and the green is the yellow wire equivalent. So in short, using the Toro wiring diagram as reference, the conversion should be (Toro = R&D):

Red 1 = Red
Red 2 = Black
White = White
Brown = Brown
Yellow = Green

Can you give this a try and let me know if this works?

[EBoon]

Thanks again! So just to be perfectly clear (and because my eyes are having some difficulty with the support picture), here’s how I will hook it up:

R1: Red and White
R2: Brown
C : Black

My Green will not be hooked to anything.

Correct?

Thank you

[EBoon]

Well tried this tonight as above in my last message - didn’t seem to work. If I hook this up correctly will any of the three lights light up? I thought that maybe pressing the bypass might get something to light - but nothing. I do believe you are correct about the black being the other 24V - I have a pic of how it was hooked up in my Rain Bird and the black was definitely going to 24V.

Thanks,

Tom

[franz]

Can you try power cycling the Iro (assuming you have toggled the rain sensor switch on Advanced settings).

We have a firmware defect that does not get the rain sensor setting until a power cycle. This will be fixed in our next firmware patch.

Thanks!

[EBoon]

yup - did that as part of the install. No joy

[franz]

Hmmm…alright above my paygrade Hopefully @emil can determine what is going on.

[emil]

@EBoon

here’s how I will hook it up:

R1: Red and White
R2: Brown
C : Black

@EBoon, sorry I missed seeing your post this morning. Can we try swapping the Red in R1 with the Black in the Common terminal?

i.e.:
R1: Black and White
R2: Brown
C : Red

@EBoon

If I hook this up correctly will any of the three lights light up? I thought that maybe pressing the bypass might get something to light - but nothing.

Are you referring to the three indicator lights on the Iro’s front cover? If so, then no (but I like the idea). You should see an event register in your activity feed however. The event will read Rain sensor activated. ([Day of week], [Month/Day], [Time])

@franz

We have a firmware defect that does not get the rain sensor setting until a power cycle. This will be fixed in our next firmware patch.

Good catch @franz. Just need to power cycle the Iro by unplugging and plugging it back in once the rain sensor toggle has been activated in your advanced settings. For anyone else having this issue, please refer to this support article.

Let us know if that wiring swap does the trick. Fingers crossed!

Best, Emil

[EBoon]

Switching the Red and Black worked! Now my problem is that the remote sensor has a problem with the switch - if I manually short it to close it works, but seems the sensor switch is shot…

Thanks for your help!

Tom

[EBoon]

OK - fixed the switch (lots of good 'ole WD-40). Seems to be working now. One question, my sensor is over 10 years old - I’m not so sure that the pads that expand when wet are good anymore. Any ideas on how to replace/revive them?

Thanks again,

Tom

[emil]

@EBoon, great to hear the wiring swap did the trick! Any chance you post a few photos of the wiring here for reference? Might help future users in the same boat

@EBoon

One question, my sensor is over 10 years old - I’m not so sure that the pads that expand when wet are good anymore. Any ideas on how to replace/revive them?

Hmm, have you tried cleaning the sensor yet? If not, I’d recommend doing that first:

Cleaning Rain Bird RSD Rain Sensors

Assuming you’ve done this, you could probably grab a cheap wired rain sensor from Home Depot and replace the disks with new ones. Worst case, you could install a new rain sensor. Doesn’t seem like many retailers carry those discs as a stand alone replacement part. This is the closest option I can find. Note, Irritrol is also owned by Toro

Best, Emil

[EBoon]

@emil - thanks for the link! Given that it is pretty much the end of the season for me here in Iowa - I’ll wait to get those for next season - but that is exactly what I was looking for! Of couse I’m just cheap enough to try cutting some of my own out of felt furniture pads - I’ll let you know if that works

Here’'s a picture of my sensor wiring that worked for me (I circled the four wires from the rain sensor):

Thank you again for all of your help!

Tom

[emil]

@EBoon

I’ll wait to get those for next season - but that is exactly what I was looking for! Of couse I’m just cheap enough to try cutting some of my own out of felt furniture pads - I’ll let you know if that works

@EBoon, let me know if that works ;), but agreed, probably not worth fiddling with until next spring.

Thanks for the photo! We’ll put it to good use.

Best, Emil