I thought installing Rachio3 was easy, wiring and app. Not until i got to try my zones, nothing happening not a single zone working. Blue light blinks over selected zone but sprinklers are not coming out, and i can not hear master valve or any valve engaging.
I have tried lots of things: changing between Master valve, Well/Pump or Neither on the app. Tried to change to another ‘C’ with all the app variations, still nada. I don’t have a well, i am pretty sure its city water supply. I looked into ‘M’ on Rachio3 and still nothing happening. Pretty stuck on simple set up!
One thing that bugs me its looks like i have a old school wired rain sensor, no wires are going to the controller (not even sure if its connected) but there is a metal bridge bracket. Looks like Rachio3 doesn’t need rain sensor but also not sure how that old sensor is wired.
Please help Rachio community.
Its only 5 zones! Old Hunter X-Core XC600i was powered through 24 VAC yellow wires, output 24V 0.56A per station and total max output: 0.90A (with master valve) -per Hunter spec, so Rachio should be able to kick it (1A)
From what I can tell, you have it wired correctly.
Use the supplied Rachio power supply hooking the barrel connector to the right spot (do not use the yellow 24VAC wires
No remote is connected to REM and would not be used on Rachio anyway
No sensor is connected to SEN and would have recommended getting it working without it first anyway. The bridge indicates no sensor is connected (unless the sensor is wireless, but I doubt it). It might be left over from a while back and nobody took it down. If you had a sensor, the connections would have been different anyway. In your case, this should be off in the app.
Common (C) goes to C on Rachio
No Pump/Master Valve on P, so nothing connected on Rachio and should be off in the app
All zones (1-6) would be moved straight over
I cannot tell from the picture, so just make sure the wires are stripped just enough that the connector does not clamp onto insulation (they look fine from this aspect), the wires are clean, well seated, and not broken inside the insulation.
Were all zones working on the Hunter? Have you done anything else since it was last working? If none of the zones are working and they were, it usually is something to do with the common (white) wire. Do you happen to have a multimeter to measure voltage? I would, for example, turn on zone 1, measure the AC voltage from C to 1, and if that reads properly, check at the valve end.
@KoAl if you have an old school rain sensor wired in series with the common wire and the sensor us tripped (I.e. it has rained recently) the behavior observed will occur. The rain sensor the opens and prevents a complete circuit, while Rachio thinks the zones are running.
Was the prior system run to check all the zones right before switching over to Rachio?
Good point, it is possible that it is wired that way, but I do not see any other wires . . . could be anywhere. Good question about the previous controller. What color wires go the the sensor?
Thomas and DLane thank you for great responses. I resolved the issue, but I do credit you for steering me to the solution. To answer Thomas’s response, I decided to reattach my old Hunter controller to see if the ‘C’ line is broken inside (could not find a voltmeter) and a few zones, just to check a theory. Yes, all the zones were working before Rachio install, and all zones worked after Hunter was reinstalled the 2nd time. But I noticed how nicely wires are being held by the ‘pinch screw’ connector, while Rachio uses the ‘WAGO-esque’ connector. Rachio connectors are holding nicely; tugging on them, they don’t come out. I took fine-grit sandpaper and cleaned up oxidation on those solid copper lines; they did not look bad, but just in case. Rookie mistake, should have checked that right away; now all the zones are running perfectly. I do think cleaning common was what fixed it, since none of the zones worked before cleaning. Cheers!
That is a really good point that we all tend to forget about. I personally like to cut and re-strip the wires when I change controllers (or solenoids on the other end) for this reason. I do agree that while the little push connect terminals on the Rachio are convenient, they don’t get the “bite” of a screw terminal.
