Using master valve to control bypass on Culligan HE water softener

Accessories & Sensors
1

Hello All!

I just got a new Culligan HE water softener - and it is a whole house unit - and I have some of my sprinklers feeding off of it. Therefore - when I run those sprinklers I need the water softener to go into bypass mode. There is a board in the unit that simply works off of a timer, and feeds 5v constantly to the AuxIn on the board - and when the time to bypass is hit, it stops sending voltage, which triggers the bypass.

I would love to have the bypass only on while the rachio is watering… In my mind - I can hook up a 5v power supply and have a relay that is normally closed (NC) controlled by the master pump 24VAC line that would then break the 5v connection (dropping voltage to zero). It would be simpler if I could have the rachio always send voltage down that line and go to zero once it’s active - that way I would just need a voltage converter that goes from 24VAC to 5VDC.

Has anyone done this? I would love to hear what you did, and if my idea is too complicated.

Thanks!

Matt

2

I thought of another potentially simpler way.

I have a wink system setup - and I can have a robot in wink trigger an outlet “off” that is supplying 5v to AuxIn when Rachio starts - BUT - it seems like Wink isn’t getting any rachio state changes - I have opened a ticket with them.

Then I thought - hey, I can use IFTTT - but, it doesn’t seem like I can trigger off of just “rachio starts watering” or “stops watering” - instead the trigger is “watering time” - therefore, manual run’s aren’t triggering it?

Matt

3

Hi Gents,

I’m new to Rachio so I apologize for my ignorance. If this is a community that Rachio monitors for potential improvement, I would love to see the ability to automate a separate valve (set of valves) that would bypass a whole house and/or water softener system prior to irrigation.

4

Where does your irrigation system water supply feed from? Normally, it would feed before it enters the house, or at a hose bibb somewhere around the house, both of those would normally be omitted from any water conditioning systems.

5

Hi Troy,

Thank you for your reply. I hadn’t thought of that. I come from the frozen north where irrigation is not practical for most homes so I’m a novice here in Florida. Now that you mention it my irrigation valves are separate from my home main.

Thanks,

2 Likes
6

Then you should be good!