Water water everywhere and rachio MIA

Woke at 7am after Rachio was scheduled to come on at 3am, to a pool of water in the perimeter back yard walls drenched and each of the 12 zones completely waterlogged… that and it was still going!!
Ran to the controller and yanked the plug … it stopped the madness.
Now water here is $12 per 1000 gallons so i’m gonna be stung there… but more to the point.
I cannot trust this thing to work anymore, had it about 6 months.Looking at the history it started at 3am but we lose any logging at 3.24 am on a 46 min cycle…

I travel extensively and was lucky I woke in up in my bed and looked out the back window.

Rachio cannot fix a poorly maintained irrigation system or incorrect programming. User error.

Wow, you’re a bit of douche huh Robert.

Thought you may have a point with poorly maintained irrigation system then remembered I unplugged Rachio and it turned off. If it was user error there’d be a log, but that trail stopped hours before it was still running and the fact that it said and still says it’s a 46 mins cycle and was running 4 hours after really has nothing to do with user error.

Thanks for your unthoughtful unhelpful input though Robert.
Here’s hoping i can get someone who reads it and thinks next… and perhaps has an insight into something that may have caused it.

@Step - not that I have any good answers or insight yet, but can you tell some specifics about installation? Gen 1 or Gen 2 (based on “had it about 6 months”, I’m assuming a new Gen 2)?

Master valve or pump start relay installed (my guess is no on the pump start relay)?

Do you know which zone was watering when the Rachio was unplugged?

Can you determine from the actual conditions if other zones were actually watered or did water flow from the running zone to the perimeter back yard walls?

Hi Step,

I’m sorry to hear about your frustration with your water running well after the cycle completed. If you could send a message to support@rachio.com, the team will be able to review your account in further detail to see if any of the zones may have faulted, or if there was any loss of connectivity.

Thank you,
Krista

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Rachio can verify all your programming. Willing to bet you have multiple schedules running. No need to spray your anger on me. Rachio is a wonderful company and they will help you.

Do you have kids? Mine were opening the app and “playing” with my available water and pr.

What schedule type are you using?

Hi DLane, thanks for the reply there.
No pump start relay there…
I do know which zone it was stuck on… (Due to the large pool of water as well as catching it spraying :wink: )
The other zones all went through as far as i can tell the lot is pretty flat and the front and back are all on the same schedule.

Will do thanks Krista.

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I’ll check in with them thanks Robert, good to hear they are responsive.
No anger… read your reply back and you’ll understand.

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Yeah but the kids are under 1 year old :slight_smile:
I have it running on 2 fixed schedules, rather than the ‘leave it to us’ settings.

I’ve had this happen to me before (twice) and both times it wasn’t the Rachio unit. It was a problem with the sprinkler system itself. I can’t remember now which it was, a solenoid or a valve, but I’m sure some of the hardware guys could offer a solution.

Sometimes a valve will stay open because there is debris (rock, pvc shavings, stick) or a worn diaphragm. If a solenoid is burned out the valve will not open.

@Step - if there is a master valve in the system, unplugging the Rachio would kill the power to the master valve solenoid and turn off water to the rest of the system - which would also prevent water from coming out of a zone with a valve that is stuck open. Curious to see if when the Rachio is plugged back in if zone that was watering comes back one, which would indicate that valve is stuck open. Having taking the water pressure off the zone may have allowed the valve to close, if there was some debris in the valve.

Let the group know if you have additional information from Rachio, more information or questions.

I just instralled Rachio this week. My old rainbird worked well but it was time to move on. I have the same problem, turns one sector on, but it never turns off, not until I shut the power down. Then all sectors close. But if a schedule starts runing, all sectors will start to open, example sector 1 for 5 minutes irrigates well, does not close after 5 min and sector 2 starts so from then on is sectors 1 and 2 running and so on.

@fmenav - hmmm. A couple of questions. Is there a master valve setup in the installation? Is the reduce water hammer option on? If you’ll send a request to support@racho.com they can look at controller statistics that I don’t have access to as I’m just an end user.

Are there pictures of the wiring before (Rainbird) and after (Rachio) that could be posted to this (or better yet a new thread)?

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@fmenav Curious to see some pictures of the wiring too.

What happens when you activate/deactivate one valve at a time with the app?

As @DLane suggested: Start a new thread.

Hey @fmenav, you’re also always welcome to call in directly to our Support Line at 1-844-472-2446 or schedule a time for one of our team members to call you and troubleshoot directly! We’re looking forward to resolving this issue for you :slight_smile:

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This is wild stuff. I know Rachio is a smart controller but it’s still a controller with wires connected from the field. My first question is whether there is a master valve, too. Basically the master valve is the gatekeeper for water filling the mainline. I would like to see a picture of the wiring. Hope he gets the problem solved.

Solution was easy. I had change power supply for a 240 to 24 V AC / DC transformer. fixed to use original transfomer with a 240 - 110 converter first, and it works beatiful. thanks for all your comments.