Issue with Flex Daily Schedule

It has rained for 3-4 days here where I live and the next day after the rain, Rachio ran a watering schedule. One day when I look at the yard settings, it shows moisture level of 107%, the very next day same zone shows a moisture level of 22%. One day according to national weather service it had rained close to 2 inches in the area where I live, but when you look at Rachio precipitation history it shows no precipitation. These discrepancies cause the system to run when the lawn is still wet from the rain. Am I doing anything wrong and how do I fix this issue? I bought the Rachio, so that I could hopefully “set it and forget it”, but it has not worked that way in my experience. Right now I have the system on standby.

Rachio is pulling data from a massive database of PWS (personal weather stations), some are better than others. If the one you have selected now isn’t reporting the moisture you are seeing, find another one that is.

I have Rachio 3 which uses Weather Intelligence Plus (and it has that as recommended setting for PWS).
I can try to change it to the closest one to my house and see what happens.

Usually you can check the details of the PWS’s to see how their reporting is. I think that if you have a solid PWS around you, it’s recommended to go that route over the WI+.

1 Like

Thank you for your help. As soon as I changed to the closest weather station, instead of weather intelligence plus, the moisture levels updated to what I would have expected them to be.

2 Likes

Exactly, this is what I have been trying to point out in this forum that the WI is inaccurate with Gen 3

I mentioned in other posts that I actually used the data from Gen 2 , 3 and CIMIS.

Thus, BB4 and others … if you look in your area I would use three PWS and compare their reporting overall. Choose a like area to yours.

I have found UV reporting to be paramount. if there is no UV reporting then, I go to the next closest.

  • I look for discrepancies in their data . Including their firmware. But if you look at three and compare temp and data readings, it’s pretty simple and thats what it should be.

Glad you dialed it in and had success!

Hope this helps all.:smiley:

I think @franz has been very transparent about the limits of WI+ and always recommends a local PWS if it is reporting accurate information…

2 Likes

Was having similar issues. Tried a few PWSs around me but I live in a very wooded area and you never know how and where someone has it set up. I bought my own PWS, mounted it in the backyard with no tree coverage, registered it and when it finally showed up in Rachio I selected it. Now I get near 100% accuracy on the amount of rain my yard is getting including the 18in I got during Tropical Storm Imelda.

It was very easy to do and the cost was reasonable. Happy to share the model I got if anyone is interested.

2 Likes

OMG, we’d be washed away here in Arizona with that much rain at once! :rofl: Hopefully you were safe and dry!

1 Like

I am very interested in the model you are using. I have been looking into getting a PWS for some time now but i am confused on what measurements are important for Rachio and what service the PWS needs to be compatible with.

I am very interested in the model you are using. I have been looking into getting a PWS for some time now but i am confused on what measurements are important for Rachio and what service the PWS needs to be compatible with.