I’m moving. I found another post with good answers on what to do.
However, and I should state I have a Rachio 1…
The internet/WiFi were turned off 3 days ago, and the system has not watered since. The grass is getting very crispy, and the in-ground spa, which fills off the irrigation is slowly losing water due to evaporation. Is there any way to communicate with it using the app, for example? This is starting to get critical, and I’m about to just replace it with some other controller.
I should note the a few days earlier I’d had some work done on the manifold, and the wiring for two circuits got flipped. I had to change names and schedules, etc. Is it possible the changes didn’t get downloaded.
Advice??
David
I have been a long time Rachio user. I hate to see it go, but the new residence is desert, and a Rachio for one circuit seems a bit overkill. Then again, I have a Rachio 3 I never got around to installing, and it’s moving with me, unless it can be part of the solution to the current problem.
Set up your phone as a temporary mobile hotspot, using the same SSID (network name) and password as the WI-Fi that was turned off. Remove AC power from the Rachio, wait a few seconds and plug it back in. With luck, the Wi-Fi light will turn green when it boots up. Use the app or website to set up one or more fixed schedules to keep the grass and spa happy until regular Wi-Fi gets restored. Turn off all weather intelligence options. Trigger the schedule and confirm that it starts watering properly.
You should now be able to turn the hotspot off and the schedule(s) will continue to run as you set them up.
Marvelous…I’ll try this next time I get to the old house.
Looking ahead…how/what should I do to transfer to the new owner?
I helped some neighbors transfer from the old to new. It was easy to do and followed the following instructions:
https://support.rachio.com/en_us/transfer-ownership-of-a-rachio-controller-to-your-account-S1EnDIJtP
The system works fine when hotspotted to the phone, but it’s not running the last known schedule after disconnect. I’m not living there, and have to keep things alive for another month. I think I’m going to have to replace it with a non-internet connected device.
I abandoned it. I feel bad, but didn’t want dead plants for a new owner, nor have the new owner have to figure things out. On top of that, the spa, which is topped off by the irrigation, was running low, and the pump was running the risk of burning out. So, I replaced it with an Orbit the other evening, the only non-wifi/app/etc one I could find at Home Depot.
Stewart’s instructions were spot on. It’s just that the unit would not keep running when disconnected from a hot spot.
David
