New Setup - Converting from RainDial - Getting Started / Before You Buy - Rachio Community

New Setup - Converting from RainDial

Post by jeremysm1 on Oct 17, 2016

Hi Everyone,

I’m ready to jump into the new tech age of technology irrigation. I currently have a RainDial 6-zone unit (RD600-EXT-R) and want to get up and running. I’m in Scottsdale, AZ if that matters. I think I’ll need the following:

1. Rachio 8-zone
2. Waterproof enclosure
3. Flow Sensor

Sound about right? Any suggestions as to which flow sensor works the best or is most cost effective?

Top replies

Post by mckynzee on Oct 17, 2016

Hi @jeremysm1 !

Super excited to have you join the team! Sounds about right if you are installing outside! The only thing I will say is getting a flow sensor is definitely optional. Depending on your needs, I would say there are probably some more cost and time effective ways to get accurate usage from your app. This community is excellent in helping with getting that done!

We also have a large group of Arizona users on here who are absolutely incredible when it comes to getting your system set up. Once you have gotten your controller up and running I recommend taking advantage of their knowledge when it comes to getting your settings fine-tuned to your landscape!

Post by Modawg2k on Oct 17, 2016

Welcome @jeremysm1. I’m in north phoenix. I have 5 zones on my system so I went with the 8 zone Rachio. Sounds like you should get the 8 zone system unless you have plans for any type of renovation of your irrigation system. Also you’ll want an enclosure if it’s outside. I’ve had mine for 1 full summer facing the southern sun and it’s working great, so far no worries with heat as long as it’s within a box. And with flow sensors, I don’t personally have one so I can’t comment on that… I am just mindful of my yard and where I see water that shouldn’t be, I go hunting for a leak.

Post by jeremysm1 on Oct 17, 2016

Thanks for the welcome messages! I ordered the Rachio and enclosure today but will hold off on adding the flow sensor after feeling out the system for a little while. I’m going to shoot for installation over the weekend–so keep an eye out for my frantic posts then.

Post by Linn on Oct 18, 2016

I hope you love your Rachio as much as I do, @jeremysm1! I also do not have a flow sensor. I may install one some time in the future as I travel a lot and can’t always monitor my yard. (And with all the traveling I do, I have been very pleased with how my yard looks when I get home, and that I can monitor what’s going on at home from anywhere in the world!)

I was gutsy and went with flex daily from the very start. It took a little bit of effort to understand it and set it up correctly to suit my specifics, but the time spent was well worth it. And the community will be happy to help you out.

Post by jeremysm1 on Oct 20, 2016

Got the Rachio in the mail. Here is a pic of my current RainDial. Is this a simple unplug from here and plug into the Rachio setup?

Also, my electricity is piped into the RainDial on the right side, but needs to be on the left for the Rachio. Since it’s a flex cable, that should be easy enough. But I’m no electrical expert, is it the same cables/power for RainDial as the Rachio? I’m assuming that I just need to shut off the breaker box before playing with the electricity, right?

Post by Modawg2k on Oct 21, 2016

@jeremysm1 I’m no electrician, no landscaper, and no Rachio employee, but I’ll try to help you as best as I can!

Your Irritrol controller and setup on the wall is the same as mine was. I converted to a Gen 1 Rachio… not sure what you got. But your zone wires on the bottom will just go into the appropriate zone plugins on the Rachio. The white wire is your “valve common” and I was told by Rachio support that it can be inserted into either white port labeled “C.”

Again, I’m not an electrician but yeah! I bought a box for my gen 1 that had an outlet in it and I just had to run the wires into the enclosure box and connect to the outlet (just like you would with wiring any outlets in the house). If you got the Gen 2, I’m not sure what the box has in it.

Those are just different schedules… but the point is mute because that dumb controller is gone! Don’t worry about carrying over any settings from your Irritrol.

Post by jeremysm1 on Oct 25, 2016

Got the Rachio gen 2 installed yesterday. Had to run to Home Depot to get some connectors so the outside case is connected to the feeder pipes properly. Today, I need to setup the programs. The great thing is that I don’t have lawn, just desert landscape. I’ll dig through the other Arizona threads…but if anyone wants to chime in with best practices for programmed times of desert trees, shrubs, vines and sequencing (ie time of day, duration, and how many days per week to run the program) that will be just about all I need. Thanks!

Post by mckynzee on Oct 25, 2016

Welcome to the team! I’m sure some of our Arizona members will chime in- they are some of the best on here!

Post by jeremysm1 on Oct 26, 2016

My first test is complete, and the Rachio worked! I’m a little baffled that I actually got my system converted from the RainDial to the Rachio on the first try. Okay, so walking around the yard, turning on/off the zones one by one I found this to be the setup:

• Zone 1: blank / not used / not wired
• Zone 2: all of the bigger trees seem to be on this zone. Most have red emitters.
• Zone 3: seems like everything in the backyard (except the bigger trees) are on this. Vines, bushes, shrubs, plants.
• Zone 4: all I could find turning on is 1 emitter for a plant near the garbage cans.
• Zone 5: the entire front of the house (except bigger trees)
• Zone 6: all could find is 1 small 4ft tree in front…nothing else on this

I found this amazing site, http://www.amwua.org/plants/ , to identify the types of landscaping we have. Seems like we have an assortment of these: desert spoon, agave, slipper flower, golden barrel, cereus, mesquite, ironwood, palo brea, firecracker bush, green feathery senna, golden eye, lantana, grape ivy, goodings verbena, cherry red sage–at least that is my best guess until the landscaper comes to help identify.

HERE ARE MY QUESTIONS:

1. What time of the day should I set the system to water each zone (for simplicity, let’s say front yard, back yard and trees as the 3 zones)?
2. How many times per week should these zones each get water?
3. What type of emitters should be used for each? Assume most can be classified into 1-2 types of emitters (ie Shrubs or Trees)
4. How do I set this up in the Rachio so it knows how many emitters I have and/or how much water I’m using?

Thanks!

Post by azdavidr on Oct 26, 2016

@jeremysm1 I encourage you to look at the ‘Water Use It Wisely’ site as a great orientation to how your drip zones should be configured, and how much and how often you should water your plants.

Once you do that, try out this post to see if it helps you set up your Rachio according to what you learned from 'Water Use It Wisely.' Be sure not to skip any steps, especially dialing in your soil and root depth settings before using the calculator!

Post by Modawg2k on Oct 27, 2016

@jeremysm1 Did you do the soil test online yet? I don’t remember seeing you post those.

A lot of your questions can be answered with having the appropriate settings.

Post by jeremysm1 on Oct 31, 2016

Okay, I finally was able to go through that link in order to confirm/find the soil type. Here are the items that I think we’re looking for:

Momoli gravelly sandy loam, 1 to 5 percent slopes. Rating 0.08

Typical profile

• A - 0 to 3 inches: gravelly sandy loam
• Bw - 3 to 60 inches: very gravelly sandy loam

Please let me know your thoughts and next steps. Thanks!