Installing the 8 zone Rachio 3 from a Hunter Pro-C using a well. I’m questioning what the two p/mv wires should go to? Picture provided below, and any help is greatly appreciated!
I see most of the labels by the terminals:
- 6 = red
- 5 = orange
- 4 = green
- 3 = brown
- 2 = black
- 1 = blue
- ? = red & yellow
- ? = two white
I presume the last one with the two white wires is “C” (common)?
If so, that means the red & yellow connection is “P/MV”?
Do you have two pumps for the well, a pump with a tank that also has a valve, or something else? The pump either should be 24 VAC or you have a pump start relay (seems more likely). It does seem likely that they both would go to the “M” terminal on the Rachio.
You are correct on all accounts. I do have a pump start relay, pic below.
So I need to wire both the p/mv wires to one wire and plug into the M connector in Rachio, right?
I would suggest turning off the power and check the color of the wires going to the PSR. It is still a mystery to me why two wires on the Pro-C are hooked to P/MV. The PSR should have a white (common) and either a red / yellow. If it has one of those, I wonder where the other goes. I double checked the label on the PSR (I have one of those too) and it shows 24 VAC and common. However, since that was on the Pro-C, it probably is safe. I like to double check things, you know, better safe than sorry.
Once connected, you will want to turn on the master valve support from within the app.
Ouch, a contactor start relay, your new Rachio will likely have issue by detecting the surge current on that puppy as a zone fault. What kind of pump do you have?
Rachio comes with a 24VA power supply, and has software logic to protect it, the inrush rating on your pump relay is 3x Racho’s total power budget.
I see the power supply is marked as 24VAC 1000 mA (which is 1A and as you said 24VA). The specs for the PSR-22 are on the link below. It shows the following for the coil:
| Inrush | Holding |
|---|---|
| 30VA (1.25A) | 6.5VA (0.27A) |
Not sure this is going to help, but this is a pic of the outside well. Other than this and the Pump Start Relay, and the Hunter Pro-C, this is all the info I have. Would I need to dig down to see what pump is on here?
@Gordon42042 - what does the second P/MV wire go to? It seems like having a Pump Start Relay and a Master Valve is redundant and unnecessary. Do both wires go to the Pump Start Relay (may to carry enough current from the Hunter to the Pump Start Relay)? Or is there a second Pump Start Relay for the red wire?
You may need to get a different Pump Start Relay (e.g. Orbit from Home Depot or Lowe’s) that draws less in-rush current. You can hook it up the existing Pump Start Relay and see if it works. As @Gene said Rachio has a protection system that it will report a zone fault if there is too much current being pulled. Don’t forget to enable Pump Start Relay in the Rachio app.
I’m looking at 65VA inrush rating on the photo
Technically I guess it’s 2.7x of total budget, I rounded.
These start relays are usually overrated for what is needed. As @Thomas_Lerman mentioned a smaller start relay from home deport will likely work well
Good eye. I did not look that closely. Mine must be a newer one as it reflects what the current specs indicate which is in the table of my previous post.
Depends somewhat on which pump relay this is:
I have the PSR-22; I think I see 22 on your photo. It works reliably with up to 3 valves running in some of my zones. (Rainbird, 160mA each). 3 x 160 + 290 = 770. I know 3 valves is out of spec, but hey - it works. I have a second unit that runs a master-valve (instead of pump), and it runs master valve + 2 zone valves on some zones.
You are correct about the picture shows PSR-22. It also shows the “Coil VA” for “Inrush” @ 65 and “Holding” @ 11. That specifications that you and I referred to are much lower, for newer models. It appears the amperage has gone done since the pictured PSR-22 and the current PSR-22.