Hello everyone. I just purchased a new Rachio which will be here today. I’m coming from a Rainmachine which I like very much, but feel the Rachio has more going for it with settings,updates and connectivity with wink etc. I installed my own sprinkler system and with the rain machine I have 2 wires(2 valves) per terminal/zone. I just wanted to make sure the Rachio can handle 2 orbit valves per zone(2 wires per terminal). Lastly, when setting up zones, is there a setting to input how many heads you have per zone? I have 800 sq ft in front yard with one rotor in a 360 arc. Might be useful to make sure that zone runs a little longer since only one rotor is covering that zone. Thanks for your time:)
Hi @Wingz4life, great questions! I know you connected with our support team Saturday, but I’ll share our feedback to your questions here as well:
There are two things we take into consideration when answering questions such as this one: water pressure and electrical current. When you open multiple valves as a part of one “zone,” the water is being channeled towards two different outlets, resulting in a decrease in water pressure, which means that both areas aren’t being watered as efficiently as they could be. Also, to open a solenoid valve requires a certain minimum of electrical current, and splitting this across multiple circuits can result in a decrease of current to both valves.
Additionally, please note, mixing zones can cause calculation errors in the water volume – a custom nozzle might need to be setup to properly reflect the actual water use of a shared zone.
No, sorry. The algorithm we use takes the nozzle information from the zone setup to calculate your precipitation rate. Please note that the water flow volume (number of heads) is not the same as precipitation rate. For more information, please see our support article on precipitation rate. We recommend creating your own custom nozzle(s) if you know the flow rate for your zone(s).
Hope this helps. Let us know if you have any additional questions. Thanks again for purchasing our controller!
Best, Emil
Hi Emil,
Thanks for the informative and quick reply. I have everything hooked up and it works as it should as far as using two valves per zone. I wasn’t very clear in my initial post and I apologize for that. There is a separate water supply for each valve so there isn’t a decrease in water pressure. I need to look up the model number of my orbit nozzles, but two heads per zone cover what six normally would.
My backyard has 6 heads and it covers it to perfection and I have no issues whatsoever. The reason I asked about the number of nozzles setting is because the front yard is a very small irregular shaped section that one head on a 360 rotation hits it perfectly as well, I just need it to run a little longer. I will play with the settings and input square foot as well as nozzle flow and see if it matters for the front yard. Thanks again!
Hi @Wingz4life, I just wanted to check in and see how the Iro was working for you? Do you have any more feedback or questions I can help with?
Best, Emil
Hi Emil,
Thanks for checking in! Everything works as it should. I'm very happy with the product and look forward to 2.0 software.
Nicholas
@Wingz4life, thanks for the update. We’re excited for the 2.0 software as well! Just curious, which feature are you looking forward to the most?
Hi Emil,
I’m looking forward to flex schedule as well as choosing weather stations. I received my first email tonight for seasonal adjustment and the info was top notch! I really really enjoy knowing Iro is on the job trying to be efficient while keeping my grass green.
I have been watching my home screen for the last few days and especially today with heavy heavy rain and I’ll be curious to see if it halts watering tomorrow morning. We def hit the threshold for it to skip a day or two and every time I look at the main screen it shows cloudy skies and not rain which was inaccurate. I tried switching to a closer station in advanced settings and it still showed cloudy skies. I’ll report back tomorrow…
@Wingz4life, just wait until we release the reporting for flex schedules. It’s really slick and MUCH more accurate than seasonal adjustments on a weekly basis.
Please keep us posted. The Iro will do a weather check roughly 1 hour before your scheduled watering time to determine if it should run or skip the schedule.
So Iro performed flawlessly and skipped the watering cycle this morning because of the rain last night. I am starting to feel like I can trust Iro to make the right decision in keeping my grass green efficiently without me intervening on a day to day basis. Good job guys, sincerely! I know this has been asked a million times, BUT when can we expect 2.0;)
Nicholas
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w00t!
iOS beta testing now, getting great feedback, fixing defects, hopefully soon we submit to app store, want to make sure product is solid 
Thanks Franz!