Toro Moisture Sensors or any other sensors connected.
Allow each zone to be controlled/use/enable/disable a moisture sensor.
If two sensors are installed (whatever type they may be) allow the zone to select which one it uses (s1/s2/s1+s2).
Current workflow has a sensor control the entire system.
Doesn’t seem appropriate to have one sensor decide if all 8/16 zones should be irrigated.
Thank you,
Jason
Hi Jason,
I’m also interested in this feature. Can you assign the Sensor1 and/or Sensor2 to control/override specific zones?
Or are you requesting this feature from Rachio?
Hey there. Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, Rachio has not enabled this feature. It was a feature request with my original post. It’s unfortunate, because now I have two sensors that sit disconnected from the unit since the entire system is controlled. To give it a bump, it does seem like a fairly simple algorithm for Rachio to put into play. I’m curious if they choose not to include it because of other competing features/services.
So you are unable to connect your sensors to the R3?
@dane Thanks for the welcome note. Can you shed any light on best moisture sensor config (works, some semblance of reliability,…) with the Rachio 3? Which sensors is most reliable/accurate?
Seems like a straightforward software update to enable by Zone Sensor1 or Sensor2 control. Simple by Zone (No Sensor, S1 enabled, S2 enabled) would suffice for what I’m looking for.
The moisture sensors I purchased were by Toro - Precision Moisture Sensor.
https://www.toro.com/en/professional-contractor/irrigation-sensors-remotes/precision-soil-sensor
I believe these sensors are promoted as compatible by Rachio.
I was informed by Rachio customer support you can use any combination of sensors and control each zone.
However, after purchasing, installing two of these sensors, I could not find where to enable/disable the sensor within the zone on the Rachio app.
I contacted support again and was informed this is not possible. A sensor will either enable or disable the entire system. Which was unfortunate since I couldn’t return the sensors.
Hence the constant bump of this product / feature suggestion.
Thanks @Brentwood
Let’s keep bumping this then. I’m sure @dane can get this sorted for us.
Does Rachio skip an entire watering cycle, or delay watering until Soil Moisture Probe shows watering is needed?
Here in Arizona we are on a razor thin margin during the summers so can’t afford to be “out smarted” for a week.
I believe it skips the entire cycle and will continue to do so as long as the sensor detects moisture. Similar as it would for any other weather intelligence smart skip (wind, freeze, rain prediction).
In my situation, I have areas of full and dense shade, if a moisture sensor keeps reading the dense shaded area it would allow my full sun to fry. It’s not as simple as dialing back that particular zone since it would need to be constantly monitored and modified, negating the smartness.
It would great if Rachio would resolve this issue and make their system even more customizable, smart, and resourceful.
That’s an issue in Arizona. If we’re watering every 2 days, moving to 4 can result in crunchy grass. Or worse yet a 10 day gap between citrus/tree waterings.
Has there been any movement on this feature request? I see that it has been mentioned multiple times over the years and even seemed like it might get created a few years ago, but doesn’t seem to exist. I have three zones that routinely get oversaturated and I would like to add them to my moisture sensor, but the other 7 zones work perfectly with the built-in systems. If I leave those zones on, I will routinely have extensive flooding. Seems like a massive oversight for the product.
Hey O2BZ -
AFAIK - there has not been any changes, upgrades, additions to how the sensors can be applied to individual zones.
I still have my been used for a week Toro moisture sensors unwired because of Rachio’s customer support team providing inaccurate information.
I just had my back lawn redone yesterday and divided it into two zones. Again, it would be great to have my soil moisture sensor in the shaded zone be able to individually control that zone without controlling the entire 13 zone system.
Still think it’s ridiculous that one moisture sensor decides the outcome to an entire irrigation system. Should be an option to enable/disable for each zone (as it was advertised by Rachio support). I can’t imagine the software coding for this being that complicate. IF sensor01 = true, then zone01 off ELSE, on (I know this isn’t correct but ya get it).
Hope all grows well!