Suddenly started reporting 0 gpm flow on random zones

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post by tsaylor on May 5, 2019

I installed a flow meter at the end of last year and calibrated. For 5 months it seems to be working perfectly, no warnings ever. Suddenly last week I started getting warnings of 0.0 gpm flow on random zones (so far, 5 of 12 active zones). An average of roughly one of those warnings per watering cycle. When I test the zones manually they seem to work fine, and the valves are in different areas so a wiring issue seems unlikely.

Battery reports Good and signal strength Excellent. I’ll try bumping the pressure time from 2 minutes to 3 to see if that helps, but 2 minutes seems like long enough to pressurize from what I’ve seen, and 0.0 gpm seems odd. I’m not understanding why the sudden change.

post by tsaylor on May 13, 2019

This symptom continues and has even extended to more zones. Increasing the pressure time did not make a difference.

I’m now up to 10 zones (of 12 total) that have given the low flow alert, always 0.0 gpm. It seems to give me a few of these on every watering day now. I can’t be certain that the zones worked correctly, as it is running overnight, but when I run tests during the day they always seem to work as expected.

Full disclosure: I have had a problem with 2 zones where the valve did not open. But I’ve tracked that down to a specific bad electrical connection that only impacted those 2 zones. I “think” those are now resolved.

Any suggestions, or similar issues out there? It’s odd that this started so suddenly, and so widely/randomly. Any chance the 2 bad zones could lead to messages being issued for other zones?

post by MeterManSays on May 13, 2019

What is the ‘normal’ gpm of the zones that are not working?

post by Gene on May 13, 2019

Do you have a master valve or a pump relay by any chance? What you are describing sounds like the issue is affecting a common denominator. I would also pay particular attention to your common line. Often connections may degrade with many wires sharing the same wire-nut.

post by tsaylor on May 14, 2019

Thanks MeterManSays and Gene. Normal gpm ranges from 7.6 to 20 gpm (10 different zones, so everything in between, with most in the 8-14 range).

I don’t think there is a master valve or pump relay, but the common line is a good point. I believe the wire causing the known issue was a common line leading to the last two zones in the system. I’m not sure how this could affect any other zones, but it is a possible common denominator.

I’ll watch for further errors now that the two bad zones are (probably) resolved. Perhaps that was somehow the cause of all the warnings.

post by tsaylor on May 26, 2019

I’ve collected a bit more data. The failures seem to come in groups; once it starts failing with the “0 gpm” message, multiple zones give that same error. At some point during the schedule, the errors stop, and may or may not start again later (again in a group). Weird. I guess I’ll need to run it when I’m awake so I can confirm what is actually happening when those messages are issued.

Is there any way to know how long that condition was detected? When the error is issued I’m not sure if that means those entire cycle had no observed water flow, or whether it was just some portion of the cycle.

Here’s an example of the history (in reverse) from one night’s watering:

9: Front Right Shrubs completed watering at 04:22 AM (PDT) for 6 minutes.

Daily ran for 202 minutes.

We detected low flow in 9: Front Right Shrubs at 04:19 AM (PDT).

5: Front Right Upp… completed watering at 04:16 AM (PDT) for 4 minutes.

9: Front Right Shrubs began watering at 04:16 AM (PDT).

We detected low flow in 5: Front Right Upp… at 04:15 AM (PDT).

4: Front Right Low… completed watering at 04:13 AM (PDT) for 4 minutes.

5: Front Right Upp… began watering at 04:12 AM (PDT).

We detected low flow in 4: Front Right Low… at 04:12 AM (PDT).

3: Front Left Lawn completed watering at 04:09 AM (PDT) for 4 minutes.

4: Front Right Low… began watering at 04:09 AM (PDT).

3: Front Left Lawn began watering at 04:05 AM (PDT).

Soaked 9: Front Right Shrubs for 5 minutes, completed at 04:05 AM (PDT).

... (remaining watering history omitted for clarity)

post by tsaylor on Jul 7, 2019

This problem continues, but not every watering cycle. Once it starts giving warnings it seems to give the same warning on several zones in a row.

But the thing is, it’s doing it now as I’m monitoring it, and as I’m getting these 0 gpm warnings I’m seeing normal operation. It’s watering, so I can’t see how it can possibly be 0 gpm!

So Rachio… any ideas what I can check? Could this be a software problem? A physical problem with the flow meter? Not understanding what is going wrong here.

post by MeterManSays on Jul 7, 2019

I’d suggest reading this thread:

post by tsaylor on Jul 7, 2019

Thanks MeterMan. It’s not clear to me whether this is the same issue but it could possibly be. The users Olliesshop indicated a problem with two zones, and that the problem seemed to follow the zone when he changed the wiring. But it’s also unclear at this point how intermittent the issue is and how many zones might be affected in the future. I’ll have to keep an eye on that thread.

In my case, I’m getting [false] no flow errors on almost all zones, but intermittently and always in a series of multiple alerts.

post by neilticktin on Apr 28, 2021

Anyone ever figure this out … as I’m seeing the same thing. Suddenly started getting these false readings of 0 GPM, then High Flow, then 0 … all while we can see it working fine. Support hasn’t returned the call they said they would from a couple of weeks ago. Kind of frustrating.

post by Gene on Apr 29, 2021

I’ve started getting the low flow errors as well. Replaced the batteries, and no difference. Had my meter since July 2018, so almost 3 years. Looking inside, the main sensor is enclosed within a rubber membrane which seems to be deteriorating. Can’t fault Rachio for it, since that part was designed by their partner. That being said 3 year lifetime for $100 was a good value for me, compared to alternatives which are much more expensive. Alas there is no easy replacement. I’ll have to think if wired version of the low cost meter is worth the trouble.

post by tsaylor on May 2, 2021

I don’t have any helpful details, but I can tell you that in my case the problem stopped about a year ago. I’m not sure what fixed it, possibly a software/firmware update. I still get occasional high/low flow warnings, but they seem reasonable (not 0.0 gpm, and not from several zones).