Flow Meter with Lake Pump

[garyrask]

I have 2 Rachio systems, with one at our cabin and one at our home. Does the flow meter shut off the controller if the lake pump looses its prime. With my current Generation 1 Rachio if the lake pump looses its prime, the lake pump with continue to run according the the set up schedule. This running of the lake pump without water will quickly ruin the pump. Will the flow meter sense no water running and shut off the system and keep the lake pump from starting?

[emil]

@garyrask

With my current Generation 1 Rachio if the lake pump looses its prime, the lake pump with continue to run according the the set up schedule. This running of the lake pump without water will quickly ruin the pump.

Please note, the Generation 1 controller does not support wired flow sensors or the Rachio wireless flow meter.

Since you have a pump, check out one of our newest features Delay between zones available in version 3.2 (released today)!

@garyrask

Will the flow meter sense no water running and shut off the system and keep the lake pump from starting?

No water would trigger a low flow alert, which doesn’t turn off the zone from working. Additionally, our flow software will monitor for high flow leaks when a schedule is running – IF a high flow leak schedule is detected, the controller will disable that zone, send you a notification, and start watering the next zone on the schedule.

[Natrone]

@emil @franz ,

I am on verge of purchasing a Gen3 unit and need to execute the same routine requested above by @garyrask; When there is no flow or low flow from our 2hp pump (pulling from the river behind our house), I need Rachio to shutdown the system to avoid damaging the pump. In this routine incorporated into latest Gen3 firmware or do I need to generate an IFTTT statement/applet? This assumes the flow sensor data is available to the user? I intend to purchase/wire a CST 1.5" flow sensor from your suggested list.

I have read this thread that started with a similar request by @cahawkins51 :

How does the flow sensor work for Gen2?

We will only be able to detect individual zone runs for the device where the flow meter is installed. Anything else will just be viewed as flow. We can’t make a correlation at this time. Could it be done in the future? Yes, but I don’t know when, if ever, that would be built. Hope that helps.

I am keeping this other hardware solution in mind as a backup plan but do not want to purchase the Munro SmartBox if at all possible because the data necessary to close the control already exists with the flow sensor:

Low Water Pressure Cutoff

I have a Munro Pump Smart Box on my irrigation system that cuts off the pump if there isn’t irrigation water available. Currently this event isn’t noticed by Rachio and it continues thinking and presenting that the sprinklers are happily watering away even though they aren’t. How do I properly integrate the Smart Box status so I can get a notification that the sprinkler system has stopped? Thanks, Dave

Rachio 3 Pump Start Function

I installed the Munro MPSR242W22, which is the low power pump start relay and had a scheduled run work without the Zone Fault Error! I think the Munro MPSR24 relay commonly in use for irrigation systems using 220v pumps requires more amperage (360mA) than the Rachio 3 will deliver (300mA). The low power relay has a component built into it that lowers its power demand to function to 50mA. It looks like it is working, but the system hasn’t run a full cycle yet of all zones and that will be the rea…

Thanks in advance!

Natrone

[Natrone]

@Gene - Any additional feedback you have would be appreciated!

[Gene]

I’ve checked IFTTT and rachio api, at least at this time there doesn’t appear to be any clear access to the flow meter data. I’m also unsure if the advanced leak detection features are available for the hardwired sensors at this time, if you are considering to go with Gen 3 I would recommend using the wireless sensor if possible.

Low / no flow should shut down the pump with the gen 3 firwmare, but the detection is individual to each zone and should the issue be detected for the first zone to run, Rachio will still try to restart the pump each other zone scheduled that day.

I’m curious if the river level data is available on internet somewhere. Have you tried searching here (link) or asking your town hall? Perhaps we can setup something to disable the rachio should the river level get too low, though I have a feeling that most of the flow issues may occur during debris blocking the intake rather then low water levels.