Zones will not stop or change

Schedules & Zones
1

Hello,

Rachio legacy device user here for many years. Unit seems to be having issues with new versions of the iPhone App.

This is an intermittent problem. Basically, the zones will not stop or move on unless manually stopped on app. Scheduled runs will not go past zone 1 and will stay on unless manually shut off…indefinitely at times. Sometimes a quick run of any zone will just hang with the time showing zero and controller will indicate “Watering” unless the stop button is activated. For example, this morning my zone 1 (of six zones) ran for 56 minutes (set for 4 minutes) and just kept running until I shut if off through the app.

This does not appear to be a stuck valve issue. The software is basically keeping the valves open until the service is stopped at the app level.

I’ve power cycled the Rachio unit and upgraded to the latest version.

2

I am having the same problem with my new Rachio 3 setup. Support told me it is likely trouble with the indexing valve. It’s unlikely that my indexing valve is experiencing a problem at the exact time I install the Rachio 3. The app shows that watering is advancing from one zone to the next; however only the first zone continues to run and will not shut off until the entire 4-zone watering cycle is complete (or if I stop it manually). Wondering if you’ve been able to resolve your issue.

3

Sounds like a wiring issue with Zone 1.

Remove the cable for this Zone and "Quick Run " test the others. Do they work, or not run at all ?

4

I found two solutions to the lack of delay between zones:

  1. Apparently to program a delay between zones you have to set it up as if you have a well or pump. Once you do that, you can enable “delay between zones”. I have neither a well nor a pump, which is why I had ignored that setting during setup. But once I programmed that, the four zones cycled properly. Here’s the help article: Delay Between Zones - How to include a well in your irrigation setup
  2. Set up four individual watering schedules, one for each zone. Set zone 1 start/stop times, then set zone 2 to start x minutes after zone 1 finishes, and so on. This was my preferred solution.