Is there any way to get a live gpm reading other than re-doing calibration?
I ask because I’m debugging fluctuations in my irrigation (e.g., periodic low-flow warnings) and if I go to re-run a zone manually because I had a low-flow, I have no idea what the flow of that run actually is.
Fwiw I suspect that my water pressure is lower in the morning because I seem to get low-flow warnings whenever it runs automatically, but if I run manually it seems fine. Then again without re-running calibration I cannot be certain every time.
My other hypothesis is because I use drip lines, the hoses may be more pliable in the day than at 4am, which is pretty much the coldest point in the day. That might cause them to emit less, though I’m getting a reduction of 2/3 to 3/4 of the expected flow, which is more than I’d expect.
I think your first hypothesis is more accurate. City water systems (I’m assuming you are on city water) will have pressure variations depending on demand on the system, and morning showers can take it’s toll on pressure. Some municipalities are better than others at balancing systems, but older areas don’t always have the ability to do that…
Thanks. No, I’m not on city water. I changed my schedule to run at sunset and I’m still getting occasional low flow warnings. The annoying thing is that so far they have never happened when I’m available to check while it’s running, so I don’t know if it’s real or a false warning. They’ve generally been 0.0 gpm and my signal strength is “excellent” so I’m still not sure what’s wrong or how to debug other than hoping that eventually I catch an alert while it’s still running.
If not on city water then you are on a pump? If so you have a bladder pressurized tank too. Any details you can provide about the pump, reservoir tank and the associated pressure settings.
I am new to the forum and use of the Rachio system. Most controllers will have a setting to delay warnings, particularly for pump systems to let the flow level as the system charges with water and to let the pump actually kick in after the system drains the reservoir.
Community well, gravity fed, tank is 12,000 gallons, maintained full. Water pressure is usually 65psi when I check, flow on an open pipe is on the order of 21gpm according to the Rachio flow meter, expected flow for almost all my drip irrigation lines is 1.5-2.5gpm.
I realize what I really need is to “catch it in the act” (i.e., be around when it claims 0gpm to verify if it is correct or not), but that is proving difficult.
What I was hoping for is some way to monitor live gpm, or better yet get a historic record, because the Rachio clearly knows. This would at least tell me what the normal variance is.
Update: I was finally around when it ran and generated a “low flow” alert and the flow is visibly fine (i.e., comparable to what I observe when I run calibration). I realize that visual inspection isn’t that accurate, but the “low flow” alert is for 0 gpm and there’s a big difference between 3.2 gpm (my calibration), 1.0 gpm (the alert threshold), and 0 gpm (the alert). Is is possible the alert is generated before the flow is stabilized? Because the alert seems to come about 30-60 seconds after the start whereas calibration shows it takes over a minute to stabilize?
