IFTTT recipe doesn't create Google sheet

I’ve enabled the IFTTT recipe “Track watering in a Google spreadsheet,” but it has never worked. I’m not sure whether the Rachio (2nd gen.) isn’t triggering the action, or whether the problem is with Google Drive. (I suspect it’s the later, because I have the same problem with another service, too.)

I don’t know where to start tracking down the problem. The threads I’ve found here are more than a year old, and they don’t seem applicable to my issue. Can someone help?

What do you see here?


and here?

Keep in mind IFTTT creates a folder in google drive, using your Rachio name as a name of the folder, so check your rachio device name and look for that folder within your google drive:

Cheers,
Gene

Could you perhaps post some pictures of the IFTTT recipe settings? This would certainly help us determine what data is being recorded, and where said data is supposed to be going.

This applet was one of the only IFTTT applets that actually work for me

@Modawg2k What other applets have you tried using?

I recently posted about it here

Gene: I’ve viewed the links you sent to me, and both the Rachio and Google Drive services are enabled. Here’s what the applet log shows:

Nothing happens when I click on “Show details.”

I’ve also disabled and re-enabled the Google drive service. Strangely, my Android phone Google Doc applets started working for the first time. My Rachio controller hasn’t run yet, so I’m not sure if that applet is going to work now, too.

Kpontis: Here’s a screenshot of my applet’s settings:

Modawg2k: I have several other IFTTT applets that work perfectly. So far, the only applets I’ve had trouble with are the ones that write data to Google Drive files.

Thanks to all for pitching in on this.

Have you tried taking Rachio out of the picture and just writing something simple to your Google Drive? You could create an applet where the IF part is Date & Time that triggers every hour, and the THEN is Google Drive - add row to a spreadsheet. That way you would know that it’s nothing with Rachio.

If you are creating the applet from your Android phone, you might also try creating the applet from a PC/Mac and see if that makes any difference.

Also, is your phone and your IFTTT app up-to-date?

Just some diagnostics to try and determine where the problem is.

1 Like

@lfellows When you say that your google drive is “enabled”, do you mean “Active”?

You should see something like this:

Gene

Linn: Thanks for the suggestion. I just created a test applet as you suggested, and it worked as expected.

Gene: Yes, I should have written that I “re-activated” the Google Drive service. Based on the result of the test that Linn suggested, I’m wondering now if the “de-activation” and “re-activation” of that service has magically resolved the issue. (Funny, I never believed in magic, but the digital age has made me merely a skeptic.)

3 Likes

This is great. Let us know if the deactivating/reactivating solves the issue!

1 Like

Alas, the Rachio applet still doesn’t work. Any other ideas?

@lfellows Let me see if I can get it working on my device!

Oops. I answered too soon. The applet actually DID work (eventually) today, about a hour after the event. Now, my question is how I can get the applet to record useful data, such as the number of minutes for each individual zone. Has anyone figured out how to do that?

Ultimately, my question is why this information isn’t readilyavailable in the Rachio app itself.

Mine does capture the duration, make sure it is included in applet settings (look for a gear icon on the top right).

This is how it looks like in the data:

Edit: I guess I misunderstood your question. If you wish to get individual zone minutes, I guess you would need to create a schedule for each zone separately. So instead of “Water all zones”, like mine, you would need to create a flex schedule “Water zone 1” with just zone 1…

Cheers,
Gene

How strange. I was thinking that you must have hat some triggers that were being touchy or prone to disconnecting but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

The applet seems not to work for manual runs, either. Sigh.

Is Rachio planning at some point to make the applet more useful and functional?

I’d really like to be able to access zone-by-zone data. Wouldn’t that be easy to incorporate into the Rachio app itself, or at least in the IFFFT applet? Rachio obviously has to come up with a value (in minutes) to determine how long to water a particular zone. Why can’t users access this data?

I’m not entirely sure how much work goes into developing the available triggers and effects for an IFTTT recipe. I personally love IFTTT but I wouldn’t say its reliable. Every once in a while an applet I have just completely shuts off and I have to go in and set it up all over again.

The zone by zone data you mentioned is something that I think our devs have looked into. Hopefully this feature comes out soon as I have seen this request become more and more common.

I have three IFTTT services logging events from my Nest Camera, Weather Underground and Rachio. The first two have worked flawlessly for me since January 2017. The Rachio service mostly works but has a two year old defect wherein it double posts. I see no evidence for characterizing IFTTT as unreliable.