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!

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.

post by jeremysm1 on Oct 20, 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!)

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, Zone 7, Zone 8: 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

post by azdavidr on Oct 25, 2016

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.

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!

post by Modawg2k on Oct 31, 2016

So for Soil, you can set it to something like “Sandy Loam”, but then go into advanced settings and change your ‘Available Water’ (AW) to 0.08. The lower this number, the more sandy the soil is.

Next step, set your vegetation correctly, so if you have the one zone with all trees, set that one to trees. Your Zone 3 looks like all shrubs, so set that to shrubs. I would probably treat your zone 6 small tree as a shrub and water accordingly.

Finally, what’s your soil AW from the link provided?