Run Multiple Zones At Once

emil,
My ask is to change your software so it allows two (or more) zones to run at the same time. It is as simple as that. I don’t understand why are you saying “commercial grade hardware” will need to be developed?

he says that because the controller will have to output a good bit of current. in the most maximum setup, it would have to output enough current for a master vale, the zone and 2 sensor ports. thats a good bit of current right there. now throw one N number of additional zones…its a lot

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Check the manufacturer catalog for valve pressure ranges. Figuring pressure loss through the meter, backflow and pipe, 70 psi is fine for gear drive rotors. I like using Hunter PGV valves and installing a Hunter AccuSync on the valve. Hunter’s Pro Spray PRS 30 provide reliable pressure regulation at the head. Rain Bird 1800 PRS heads provide unreliable pressure regulation.

@plainsane - also don’t forget if the user has the water hammer reduction feature turned on the unit will have all the valves from the first set of zones running when it starts the second set of zones. That is why Rachio says they can support three solenoids at one time - master valve, first solenoid getting ready to be turned off and second solenoid that was just turned on for the next zone.

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Can you double up the wiring for 2 zones in the Rachio Controller? Would that open both valves when the station(s) kicks on ?

@DavidGPope - Rachio states that they can power three solenoids at one time with their power supply. Yes, there are users who have doubled up solenoids on one zone and Rachio powers both of them. But do count - master valve or pump start relay if in the system as it will be active along with the prior zone if the reduce water hammer option is selected.

One just needs to make sure the water supply can provide enough pressure/volume for both zones to operate.

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Awesome. Thanks DLane! I won’t be doing it because we don’t have enough water pressure to push open all the sprinkler heads.

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Changing the transformer to one with more watts, yet keeping it at 24 volts, will allow more solenoids to run at the same time. The issue is the software that prevents overlapping zone schedules. Some clients have adequate pump and supply to allow simultaneous operation. The variable speed flow pumps are great for multi valve installations.

Hello, I too could really use the ability to run multiple zones at the same time. I have a well that puts out quite a bit of water volume/pressure and need to run multiple zones at the same time (different watering lengths) so the demand keeps the pump from cycling excessively. Excessive cycling causes premature pump failure. I have done this in the past by combining 2 valves on the same zone but invariably one area gets watered too much or too little. Another great benefit to not wiring 2 valves to one zone is during sprinkler maintenance I can walk around the yard and turn only one zone on at a time with the phone app while I work on sprinklers and not have it saturate the part of the lawn watered by the other valve. This is much preferred to turning on/off individual areas manually at the valve (a lot of walking back and forth and getting wet…)

I’ve been reading the company is concerned about too many valves being energized a time. An easy fix for this would be logic in the software that only allows for any combination of 3 valves to be operating at a time (1 zone + master + pump or 2 zones + master or 3 zones only / etc). The software knows if the configuration includes a master valve or pump relay so keeping track of total circuits energized would be easy.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I agree this is definitely a feature that clients want. Please add the ability to run overlapping schedules even if it is an additional setting you have to check and confirm that you have purchased a larger power supply. Would be very helpful.

I wholeheartedly agree. I have been asking for this feature for 2 years. I still do not understand why it has not been implemented.

I’m jumping on the bandwagon. Even started an account to do so. I’m in the desert with a 16 zone gen 3. There is not enough time in the day to supply the 16 zones without dripping at the hottest part of the day.

I have been using my Rachio for a little over a year now and really like it. Being able to monitor my system and manage schedules remotely are incredible features. I recently became aware of a new requirement for my system that caused me to update my schedule. I created a couple of new schedules but I was pretty sure they weren’t working. I looked into it and they weren’t so I did a little research and found this thread. I am a little disappointed at Rachio for having this feature in their Inbox for over two years now and not doing anything about it.

I am going to provide them with an absolute requirement for this feature. This is now a showstopper for me. If Rachio won’t implement this feature (from what I understand the hardware will support it), I will have no choice but to replace my Rachio controller with one from a competitor that does have this feature.

I live in a neighborhood on a shared irrigation system. The HOA has so many shares which equate into GPM. There is a limiter on the main line which limits the volume of supplied water to about 35 GPM at 120 PSI.

The HOA recently notified all of the residents that we would each get a single 90 minute block per day alternating between morning and afternoon on odd/even days. The purpose of this is to make sure that each resident can get the water they need. If more than one resident is watering at the same time, each will get less than needed.

I have six grass zones that need to be watered every day. Four of the zones are large and need at least 25 minutes to really get them the water they need. The other two zones are small and could easily get away with 10 minutes each. That is 110 minutes and I only have 90 to work with. I easily have enough GPM to water two zones at the same time.

Having the ability to turn on two zones at the same time is a must have feature for me. Yes, I understand I could wire the controller so it can turn on two zones at the same time but that seems really silly when this is a simple software change that there are other competing products that provide this feature.

I would appreciate it if Rachio would respond to this thread and explain the business/technical reasoning behind not providing this feature. The last reply from Rachio on this thread appears to be from April of last year so apparently this doesn’t seem to be an important feature for them. If I don’t hear anything back, I will assume this is the case and will look elsewhere for a solution.

@jgehlsen - two words - power budget. Let me channel John Aaron from the scene in Apollo 13 with Ken Mattingly (played by Gary Sinise).

An Orbit sprinkler valve has a holding current draw of .23 amps and an inrush draw of .35 amps. If the system is starting two valves - e.g. a master valve and a zone valve - there is a .70 amp pull on the system. Plus the demand for the control board. When reduce water hammer is on and a third valve (i.e. the second zone) starts up the power demand on the system is .81 amps (.23 * 2 + .35). Again plus the power demand the board has. With a 1 amp power supply, that doesn’t leave enough amps to drive another normal solenoid. And don’t forget about some buffer/contingency power budget that needs to be added too.

So to power more solenoids, one would have to have a larger power supply. A larger power supply costs more money. And routing more amps on the board may require larger traces (redesign, $$$) and larger components that can handle more power through them - as Rachio uses electronic power switching instead of mechanical power switching. So the costs go up for 100% of the users, where this feature would only be used by x% of the users, is probably the reason for the business decision to go with one zone running at a time. Similarly, if one created a separate or additional hardened device - additional SKU - to handle more power and solenoids it probably doesn’t justify/recover costs itself as a stand alone device.

My $0.02 and educated guess.

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Well, I don’t have a master valve and I would only be turning on 2 valves so this example really doesn’t apply to me.

If it requires a larger power supply to power two solenoids (assuming that the board can handle the additional amperage), then they should just say so.

If they can’t or won’t do it, they should just say so instead of leaving this thread open to interpretation.

But… this is a simple software update. If the user opts in and understands the limitations, it is on them. Several users have asked for this feature, their competitors have this feature and all it is is a simple software update to allow two schedules to run at the same time. Why wouldn’t they do it? Support? It is a cloud based service. If they turn the feature on and try to turn on more than the number of valves the device will support and something breaks, it is on them.

My $.02.

Hey friends! Here with an update. Unfortunately, this is not on the roadmap for this year. This feature would take a ton of time to vet, would likely include a lot of software changes, potentially hardware changes, and at the end of the day, might not even be possible. Sorry to deliver bad news!

:cheers:

Hi Laura,
That’s not the response people wanted to hear. Anything is possible these days. You haven’t even tried to see if this is possible and you just replied by saying it’s impossible. Given that so many people are interested in this feature, Why not hire professionals who can do this. This isn’t rocket since its just programming. It’s been done before by other companies. You should still consider this.

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Did you ultimately decide to go with a different brand of controller? I’m also frustrated with the inability to run two zones at once, and I need to purchase a second controller for my back yard. I’d love to know what controllers people have switched to since Rachio won’t meet our needs.

This is what I made to be able to run two zones at once but also keep the ability to run single zones.

My yard has 6 zones and My Rachio Controller is a 12 zone unit. This is how it is set up.

controller output 1 - sprinkler valve 1
controller output 2 - sprinkler valve 1 and 2
controller output 3 - sprinkler valve 2
controller output 4 - sprinkler valve 3
controller output 5 - sprinkler valve 3 and 4
controller output 6 - sprinkler valve 4
controller output 7 - sprinkler valve 5
controller output 8 - sprinkler valve 5 and 6
controller output 9 - sprinkler valve 6

The controller is used to energize the relay coils only.
The power coming from the relay to the sprinkler valves is provided by a second larger power supply (2.1 amps)

Relay

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QXW1G25/ref=pe_2640190_232586610_pd_te_s_rtpb_ti?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07QXW1G25&pd_rd_r=1EWNNBZX51B62ZYXCSDN&pd_rd_w=sPL2L&pd_rd_wg=Ic5bQ

24vac power supply

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N3ALUBS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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Needed to make a small change to the drawing.

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