I just installed two controllers on my property. They have both run successfully initially with a flexible monthly schedule. I thought I would try a daily a flexible daily schedule. When I configure the flexible daily schedule it wants to water and inordinate amount of time. Does the software take into account the considerable amount of watering already completed yesterday? Here in California we must not waist any water! My controllers watered about 5 hours each yesterday, the new flexible daily schedule calls for 14hours on just one controller! I’d have my water shut off!
Might want to check the moisture balance of each zone and set them to full to start.
If they are already full from your flex monthly watering, then the software may say that it is scheduled to water tomorrow, but closer to that time it will determine it doesn’t need to.
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@4pipes I’d also make sure you have the correct nozzle types chosen. If you’d like support to review your zone characteristics just send an email to [support@rachio.com] to see if the zone characteristics look fine. I would double check that you have chosen the correct zone characteristics. Also, if you have smart cycle enabled that will inflate the total duration by adding 30 minute soak cycles (no watering) between zone runs.
For a comparison, my cool season grass zones in Colorado with impact rotors are set to run for 30 minutes each.
If you post your zone information here users from the community might be able to help.
Sounds like your pr is set too low. Sometimes the awc is too high as well. I recommend using http://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/WebSoilSurvey.aspx and divide the water storage by 60 to get a more proper awc.
Sorry, not familiar with pr or awc.
PR = precipitation rate
If you’re just using default nozzle types, they set your PR:
AWC = Available Water Content
Again, you can use defaults, but it’s then important to choose the right soil type:
The best way to figure out your soil type is the use the USDA Soil Survey
http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/
or maybe this:
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Great thanks
I’m pretty sure of the nozzle types, less so on the soil type. Here is the data from my area:
Ap - 0 to 2 inches: sandy loam
ABt - 2 to 7 inches: sandy clay loam
Bt1 - 7 to 17 inches: gravelly sandy clay loam
Bt2 - 17 to 31 inches: gravelly sandy clay loam
C - 31 to 59 inches: very gravelly sandy loam
Which type of soil should I select from the Rachio list? I have a large yard, so I want to choose one.
@plainsane knows his soils better than I do, but I would consider Sandy Loam. When you poke around the soil site, see if you can find a value for Available Water. You might find it in cm/cm, but that would translate to the same setting in the Rachio app. If your soil is close to Sandy Loam you should see an Available Water value of about 0.12 cm/cm.
Available water storage in profile: Low (about 5.4 inches)
Slope: 2 to 9 percent
Depth to restrictive feature: More than 80 inches
Natural drainage class: Well drained
Runoff class: Medium
Capacity of the most limiting layer to transmit water (Ksat): Moderately high (0.20 to 0.57 in/hr)
Depth to water table: More than 80 inches
Frequency of flooding: None
Frequency of ponding: None
Salinity, maximum in profile: Nonsaline to very slightly saline (0.0 to 2.0 mmhos/cm)
Available water storage in profile: Low (about 5.4 inches)
Available water = .09
@plainsane I see that for AoB but I’m in the AnB area?
5.4 / 60
@plainsane. I see. I thought you were referring to my example, versus @4pipes 's