Intermatic Mechanical Timer Replace - Troubleshooting / Sprinklers & Irrigation - Rachio Community
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post by Gene on Jul 10, 2020
How big of a leak do you have? Is it dripping or flowing?
post by iamdago on Jul 10, 2020
Dripping, all 4. The siphon pipes easy to do, it said 6” from sprinkler or floor and I made sure to have more in case I needed to cut. The ball is gonna be the tough part lol.
Also, the siphons were closed, not sure how to open them manually, there’s the flow knob which I assumed was all the way open and there is the part that unscrews with the cables, do you know which allows water to flow?
So it could drip due to the pressure?
post by Gene on Jul 10, 2020
Yes, normally the system would not be under full pressure, so the leak will be much less (if at all). Also, depending on how clean your water is that you are pumping out, the leaks will get clogged up.
Valve(s) can be opened by turning the part with the wires (solenoid). CCW to turn ON, CW to turn back off.
post by iamdago on Jul 10, 2020
So should I test again rn with the solenoid open and how open should I turn them? To see if it leaks?
post by Gene on Jul 10, 2020
Simply turn until the water starts flowing (sprinklers pop up). The water itself does not flow through the solenoid, so you only need to turn enough for the actual mechanism to turn on.
post by iamdago on Jul 10, 2020
So yeah I turned on till you felt the water go through, they still leak. The ball spot same amount. The valve siphon less but still leaks.
Best bet is just to redo, do wiring and wait 24 hours to do it again after it dries?
post by Gene on Jul 10, 2020
If it drips, I’d give it a chance to seal itself, you are only losing a few cups of water per hour your sprinklers are running so in terms of financial losses it’s negligible, especially since you are pumping from the well / lake.
post by iamdago on Jul 10, 2020
Yeah, but if it leaks after I do wiring tomorrow I’m changing them Sunday. Because I rather it done right you know?
post by iamdago on Jul 11, 2020
Started hurricaning outside so only got to put box up.
post by iamdago on Jul 13, 2020
In my wiring diagram I didn’t attach the green wire to anything (the green wire that the plug plugs into) and it’s not turning on. The black and white cable get power, you sure green goes nowhere?
post by iamdago on Jul 13, 2020
For anyone who follows this, yes you wire the green ac chord in Rachio to green from your old timer… took awhile figured it out. However, when I turn the breaker back on the pump starts.
post by Gene on Jul 13, 2020
Green on the Rachio plug goes to GND terminal of the internal power outlet, since Rachio power supply does not feature a third GND terminal, that plug is unused, thus the green wire (internal to Rachio enclosure) is not necessary.
Take pictures of your wiring. We’ll see if we can find an issue (pump should not turn on). Have you tried plugging anything else into the power outlet (such as light) and see if outlet is live?
post by iamdago on Jul 13, 2020
Hey so two things it turned on cause I had it in 24+ not in the right place. As for the green ground cable for the AC adapter, I connected it to the green cable coming from the right. Without that it wouldn’t turn on. But got everything working, now what’s left is the pipes leaking. If anyone needs help feel free to ask, I’ll get notification and I’ll know and help.
post by Gene on Jul 13, 2020
If it works… But I’m still lost as to why the green wire was needed within the Rachio enclosure. Looking forward to after pictures
post by iamdago on Jul 13, 2020
The wiring is embarrassing. Whoever placed it in the first time for the mechanical timer did not make the wires long enough. They were exact to size so it just looks like cluttered twist tie things that are waterproof.
Well it needed ground to power… But then again I had 24+ volts in the wrong section. I had them in the 24V part instead of CM… Maybe that’s why? But now they’re in the right spot and the 24V is in the right section. But honestly I think it needed to be grounded.
post by Gene on Jul 13, 2020
Rachio power supply has only two terminals
So plugging it into the grounded outlet should not really provide any benefit:
The third ground port of the outlet is technically unused (nothing is connecting to it).
As far as your setup, looks great! If everything works (and not on fire), you must have done something right
post by iamdago on Jul 14, 2020
Lol it didn’t work before I did that and now it does. But yeah gonna do zoning tomorrow and take a pic.
post by iamdago on Jul 14, 2020
Your idea about placing a third zone for the hose, wouldn’t that mean if I left it open that when I ran zone 1 or 2, water would be going into the hose?
post by Gene on Jul 14, 2020
Yes. It would require you to turn off the hose in order to prevent water flowing out of it when other zones are active, this is no different than how you were doing it till now.
If you wish to automate a hose, you could add an additional valve inline with the hose. Alas I cannot find a complete assembly off the shelf, but you could assemble one yourself out of something like this:
A valve, spigot adapter, and a hose adapter
Theoretically you already have the 4th line needed to drive this going to the area.
post by iamdago on Jul 14, 2020
Now you’re talking. Is it possible to run two zones at the same time? Haven’t looked at app that in depth until I figure out piping. I’m thinking I do your suggestion, remove the ball drop and just put a whole new pipe the length I need.
post by Gene on Jul 14, 2020
You cannot easily run multiple zones at the same time, but you could add a cheap relay to the mix in order to run multiple zones. The downside is that the controller will not correctly account for water use within your zones.
If you are going to add a PVC pipe, then you will likely not need adapters I’ve linked to. Those were for use with your existing spigot / hose setup.
post by iamdago on Jul 15, 2020
I’ll show you when I finish today with the pipes of what I bought.
post by iamdago on Jul 17, 2020
post by Gene on Jul 18, 2020
Looks great, out of curiosity, what kind of end connector have you used on the new valve at the left of the picture?
post by iamdago on Jul 18, 2020
It’s 1” to hose. I need to get a hose nipple adapter to use the type of hose I’m using. Hose Adapter
The way it is now is for a regular hose. But I’m using one of these hose boxes, so it screws onto the nipple. If that makes sense. Tested after 30 mins. Hopefully no leaks tomorrow after 24/h if it doesn’t rain.
post by Gene on Jul 18, 2020
So you are extending 3/4 tread away from the valve by however long the pipe section is? Seems that left section consists of:
valve’s 3/4 female > 3/4 male to PVC > PVC > PVC to 3/4 female
I’d bypass the extension and install the hose adapter directly to the valve, primary reason is to reduce the rotational torque which the hose may apply to the assembly.
post by iamdago on Jul 18, 2020
Right now it’s 1”x1”x3/4 tee, then 3/4 pvc to 1 inch adapter, into the valve, one inch adapter to 3/4 pvc to 3/4 pvc to hose adapter.
Can you explain your idea, more dumbed down? lol.
post by Gene on Jul 18, 2020
Can 3/4 pvc to hose adapter be installed directly to the valve without the extra PVC?
post by iamdago on Jul 18, 2020
The adapter screws in and allows for 3/4 to be screwed in. So without the PVC not for that specific adapter. Now if there is one that’s just a nipple that goes 1” screw to nipple screw, that would work.
What’s the concern about how it is now? You’re saying after you screw the hose there might be too much pressure?
post by iamdago on Jul 18, 2020
The valve has a screw, so it would have to be hose adapter to 1” screw. Which I can see if they have one.
post by iamdago on Jul 18, 2020
There’s a 3/4 swivel adapter
I’d have to switch out the valve for a 3/4 valve not 1” valve, get this adapter for it to go from T to screw adapter to valve to hose adapter.
post by Gene on Jul 18, 2020
Don’t worry about it, what you have will work fine. I just got confused as to the purpose of the adapter.