Both of the units my wife just bought have the same problem. So, being the geek that I am, I did the following:
Removed the power adapter
Removed the rubber ring from the back of the hub
Unscrewed the three screws that hold the based plate into the units casing
Removed the circuit board
Found a drill bit that was larger than the existing opening in units casing
Enlarged the opening and had to jiggle the drill bit at an angle to enlarge the hole to be big enough to accommodate the barrel on the power adapter wire.
Placed the circuit board back in place and the cover, but did not replace the screws yet.
Tested to see if barrel would stay properly inserted.
First couple of times, the new hole was still not large enough, so I repeated some steps above.
Then put circuit board back in place.
Placed the screws back into place and tightened
Placed rubber seal back in place being careful to keep the reset hole exposed
Works like a charm now, though I did have to remove the hose devices from the app and reinitialize them. ARGH.
Dear Rachio,
You REALLY need to have a redesign on the outer casing and/or the barrel length on the power adapter. Too many people here have had this problem. The only reason I did not return this is that the drive to the hardware store would have taken more time and gas money than just fixing it myself.
To everyone who posted here, you have my sympathy, and those who offered similar solutions, you are awesome.
Yeah, it does seem like this is a power supply issue (which it sort of is), but actually the problem is that the casing on the hub itself has the hole for the power supply barrel either slightly misplaced and/or too narrow. Honestly, your idea of making Rachio give you new ones, or shipping the ones you have back makes sense; assuming Rachio has fixed the problem with the casing. If not fixing it your self is not that tough and youāll have working units faster.
Dae
Was just browsing and something you said has me wanting to mention that if you have more than one hose end valve you only need 1 hub assuming that 1 hub has enough range for your situation. I bought a 2 pack of the hose end valves but it only has 1 hub and Iām finding the published range is shall we say, āoptimisticā and I canāt use them everywhere I want to.
Like others, this is my first post in the community as well. I went to WalMart yesterday to buy a hose timer, they were clearance priced, had two left so I bought them both.
I was able to get 1 hub to power on, but I couldnāt move it, until I found this post, so thanks to @Marreeves for posting their fix! Got a 3/8ā bit and now both hubs work!
I may only need 1 hub, but, itās a brick house, so I may have to put another closer to the 2nd valve if I ever use it. (Thanks @DAC).
Iām a longtime Rachio Irrigation System controller owner and am very satisfied with it. I bought the hose controller for my Ranch back in March of 2024, Iāve been dealing with this issue since I first installed it, my ranch is 100 miles from my home, so thatās a problem when it randomly goes out. Like it is RIGHT NOW.
I just messaged service tonight after holding off on buying another set on Amazon to get a new controller. Hopefully I will hear from them tomorrow.
I decided to do a Google search on the problem and found this thread. Strangely, it was quite a relief to find it was a common problem with a known hack fix.
Iāll probably head back out during the week and take it apart and drill a larger hole as I canāt wait a couple of weeks for a replacement.
