Wiring help - Rainbird EPS-Me to Rachio 3

New to Rachio and to this community, and I could sure use some guidance switching wires from a Rainbird ESP-Me to my new Rachio 3. Here’s my current setup.

Here’s another view:

The white sleeved bundle goes to the rain sensor. The black bundle on the left goes to the power transformer. The black bundle to the right goes to the two stations. The bottom panel seems clear enough - COM goes to any open C, MV goes to M, and 1 and 2 go to 1 and 2. Not sure what to do with the top though. I’ve read that I will abandon the 24 VAC, since the Rachio has a regular power adapter. So I don’t need the black bundle on the left? But what about the wires running from the rain sensor (white bundle) to 24 VAC?

You pretty much have it. To summarize what you said and verifying through man_ESP-Me-WiFi-Compatible_en.pdf (rainbird.com):

  1. Top Connectors
    1. 24VAC — do not connect to Rachio, use Rachio supplied power adapter
    2. 24VAC — see 1
    3. Gnd — see 1
    4. Sens (brown) — with how Rachio does with weather, many do not use another sensor. Suggest not even using for now
    5. Sens (white) — see 4
  2. Bottom
    1. VT
    2. MV (black) — M
    3. COM (white) — C
    4. zone 1 (red) — 1
    5. zone 2 (blue) — 2
    6. zone 3
    7. zone 4

In other words, at least for now, I would not connect the sensor. Definitely not the old power. The bottom is how you said. In the app, you will want to set up the M whether it is a Master Valve or Pump.

Thanks. Question about the rain sensor. Does it hurt to hook it up? I’m thinking that having two ways to be aware of the weather is good. The rain sensor alone doesn’t know if it’s gonna rain this afternoon, so that’s limited. But the Rachio automated stuff uses the weather forecast, which can be wrong. Is it not beneficial to have both?

A rain sensor can be wrong too. From what I have seen is they sense when the sensor is wet, not necessarily how much rain you receive. Better would be something like a Tempest weather station on your own property (very localized weather).