Currently running an Orbit B-Hyve irrigation controller.

It's a really neat product and serves all our needs well, save one: The external rain sensor. It knows how to use one, but their implementation is thoroughly brain-dead:

• It won't tell you when the external rain sensor is activated
  
• When the controller is set to run a program I'll report the program ran even when it's been partially, or even entirely, over-ridden by the rain sensor
  

Now Orbit seems to have abandoned their support forums, so my feeling is it's unlikely they're ever going to fix this.

So, seeking a new irrigation controller. Requirements:

• Minimum of eight (8) zones. Ten (10) preferred.
  
• Has to be "smart" and have iOS/iPadOS apps
  
• Flexible programming
  
• The ability to configure multiple programs and turn each on/off at will
  
• Manual zone-by-zone control (comes in really handy during winterization)
  
• External rain sensor support that actually works
  
• Ideally tracks weather so it "knows" when rainfall, high wind, or freezing temperatures are forecast
  

On that last point: This is one of the things the Orbit B-Hyve does well. Since forecast rainfall often never happens here (some weird trick of geography or something), I have our controller set to execute a rain delay based on a forecast only if the forecast is 80% or better for 1/2 in. of rain or better.

Actually, it does everything well... except for the rain sensor support, which is driving me nuts.

Rachio, have used it for several years now, not a single issue, app is intuitive, setup is simple connects to the local weather station, automatically does rain skips, has smart watering, seasonal updates, etc....

Have not had issues with the weather station connectivity... They have 8 and 16 zone models.

Link

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Rachio, ... connects to the local weather station, ...

Have not had issues with the weather station connectivity...

It interfaces with your personal weather station (PWS)? E.g.: Like an Ambient Weather PWS?

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
It interfaces with your personal weather station (PWS)? E.g.: Like an Ambient Weather PWS?

Link on Weather

I believe it interfaces with the NWS through the app, it will mark days it is anticipating rain based on the forecast, if it detects that it's going to rain on a scheduled day it will pause the schedule for that day. It does give you a notification and you have the option to tell it to skip the pause if you want.
There is no local rain sensor connectivity needed.

Say it wants to skip because of rain, however the rain doesn't happen at your home, just in the general area, you can tell it to skip the rain skip for that watering cycle and it will run as normal.

You can bring up the app and run one zone, a combination of, or all zones, set times to run manually from your phone, so if you are out in the back 40 checking sprinklers you can run them for a few minutes to see if they are working properly.

I was considering putting one of these together.

I have the Rachio, the hardware/software is good. Skips and reschedules for rain and high wind. Adjusts for seasonality. The programming has options that dynamically change with the season like "finish watering before sunrise."

Also has built in soaking times when you water. For instance, if you are watering your planters for 10 minutes, you can allow it to water for 5 minutes, let the water soak for 30 minutes, and then water for another 5.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
There is no local rain sensor connectivity needed.

In our case: There is.

As I noted in my OP: Maybe it's some weird geological effect or something, but we can have a solid line of storms with us directly in the bullseye, and they'll either fall apart, dodge to one side or the other, or split, go past us, and re-form.

I'm not making this up. We've watched it happen time and time again over the nearly thirty years we've lived here. I was a trained weather spotter for years. I've never seen anything like this before in my life.

It just happened again yesterday. Twice. Solid mass headed right for us. We had a severe thunderstorm watch issued and everything. It split just before it got to our area and went southeast and northwest of us. Later on a milder mass approached us and, just shy of our area, simply evaporated.

A couple months back I watched a mild cell approach us from the northwest, magically disappear, and then reappear to our southeast.

New next door neighbor, the first couple years he was here: "I'm glad we're finally getting rain." "Don't bet on it," I'd reply. "But it's headed right for us." "Just watch," I'd say. He couldn't believe his eyes.

So, yes: The rain sensor is vital in our case.

i have had good results with my rainbird

Another vote for Rachio. I don't have a rain sensor so I can't speak to that. But everything else has been very reliable and easy to set up and use. WiFi connectivity has been very good.

Thanks for the recommendations!

The Rachio 3 looks like it'll probably do the job. It does have rain sensor inputs (at least two of them), and it appears it'll work with our existing Hunter Mini-Clik rain sensor. Plus it logs rain sensor activation/deactivation, which our current controller does not.

I just need to spend more time reading up on the Rachio 3, or perhaps asking on their user forum, to see if I can do things like set what forecast conditions suspend watering, etc.

Yes you can connect a rain sensor, no, you don't have to connect one.

No more wild rain patterns than in Florida, it can be a torrential down pour or spots of rain all over the area, forecast rain and nothing happens.

The Rachio app will notify you that it's skipping a scheduled watering based on information from either the weather service you select, or, your rain sensor, or both. From the notification you have the option to cancel the skip in advance of the skip actually happening.

So not only do you get both your rain sensor as options, you get the ability to override system changes like rain skip, seasonal changes, etc.

I am taking a serious look at the Rachio 3. My daughter will be renting her house and as part of the rent we are considering covering the water bill since we want to have the lawn irrigated since it is in a dry, hot part of the state. Since we will be 300 miles away would be nice to be able to control "the controller" especially if there is a leak issue and we can shut down a zone right away until getting it fixed.

My question/concern is that the Rachio 3 seems to be wifi controlled ... and don't see how we can do this unless we are covering the wifi too.

Otherwise, really like the Rachio over the Rainbird controller.

quote:

My question/concern is that the Rachio 3 seems to be wifi controlled ... and don't see how we can do this unless we are covering the wifi too.

Yes that is correct to connect to it there needs to be wifi at the location.

quote:

Originally posted by old dino:
My question/concern is that the Rachio 3 seems to be wifi controlled ... and don't see how we can do this unless we are covering the wifi too.

WiFi, not wireless/cellular. If there's an Internet connection with WiFi in the house you will be good to go--as long as the WiFi signal is adequate where the controller's installed.

I have used a Ranchio for a few years with out any problems. My brother-in-law and neighbor installed one after seeing what it did with our water bills. Smart controllers are worth their price.

I don't have any rain sensors, but have it linked to a weather station about a 1.5 miles away. You need wifi to complete the setup and use the water save function. If there is no wifi, it turns back into just a "dumb" plugged in time.

The cool thing is I can turn on sprinklers where ever I am. If the sprinkler guy comes to turn on or off, I can control each zone from my phone. Now if I could only integrate it with the camera and get that dog and owner who does not pick up the treats they leave.

Thank you gentlemen ... what I thought too about the wifi but was just hoping.

I was just researching this very topic myself. Every review I've found has the Rachio 3 being recommended.

One item to note, is that Rachio made a 12-zone version for Costco but everyone else sells an 8-zone or 16-zone. Instead of being priced halfway between the 8-zone and 16-zone (~$230), Costco is selling it for $199.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tatortodd,

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
I was just researching this very topic myself. Every review I've found has the Rachio 3 being recommended.

One item to note, is that Rachio made a 12-zone version for Costco but everyone else sells an 8-zone or 16-zone. Instead of being priced halfway between the 8-zone and 12-zone (~$230), Costco is selling it for $199.

If you don't need more than 12 zones the Costco deal cannot be beat, unless you wait for them to put it on sale about once a year.

quote:

Originally posted by old dino:
Thank you gentlemen ... what I thought too about the wifi but was just hoping.

How would you expect to be able to control it remotely without some kind of network connection?

quote:

Originally posted by straightshooter01:
If you don't need more than 12 zones the Costco deal cannot be beat, unless you wait for them to put it on sale about once a year.

I don't even need more than eight zones, but I thought it would be nice to have a couple spare zones for possible future expansion. IIRC, there are spare wires in the cables they pulled.

I'll have to see if my local Costco has them in the store. Maybe I'll make the switch.

I really like the soak feature on my rachio. Tell the controller you want each zone to water for 20 minutes (for example). It will water zone 1 for 5 or 6 minutes, then move on to the other zones, eventually working its way back around to zone 1 for another 5 minutes. It just keeps cycling around until it is done, including actual downtime if needed.

It is easy to pause the watering with the app as well. Which is nice when the dog is sitting by the door with his legs crossed looking at you and of course the back yard is the zone getting watered.