M1 to control sprinklers
- Thread starter Havok1327
- Start date
claymahaffey
Member
No need to remove your irrigation controller if you don't want to (I kept mine there as a backup.) Just run a wire from the common terminal of all your relays to the common terminal of the irrigation controller. Then run a wire from the NO output of your relays to the individual sprinkler control terminals. If that doesn't make sense, then this diagram might illustrate it better.
I still haven't gotten around to programming the rules in ELK or CQC to manage this, so I'm glad I left my Rainbird controller in parallel until I have a convergence of time, energy and interest to tackling programming.
I still haven't gotten around to programming the rules in ELK or CQC to manage this, so I'm glad I left my Rainbird controller in parallel until I have a convergence of time, energy and interest to tackling programming.
I wish I could.. but the controller is only a 6 zone controller and I now have 9 zones. So mid week I have to go down and move some wires around to make sure all the zones run. This is my long term solution to it.
I actually worked on it a bit today and have the zone run to the Elk and have it wired.
Does anyone have some sample code I could look at to do a basic run for the zones?
Thx.
I actually worked on it a bit today and have the zone run to the Elk and have it wired.
Does anyone have some sample code I could look at to do a basic run for the zones?
Thx.
tmbrown97
Senior Member
I don't have my code handy, but here's a basic description of mine (I'm on the wrong PC to get to the code right now)...
I have all the outputs showing for my 10 sprinkler zones showing in the outputs so I can turn on individual zones at will...
When I went to program the zones, at first I set it so that at 1:00 hour before sunrise, turn on zone 1 for 10 mins. Then another rule for When Zone 1 turns off, turn on Zone 2 for 10 mins. Then when Zone 2 turns off, turn on Zone 3 for 10 mins (etc, etc...) I
Problem was, that meant if I manually turned on Zone 2, the rest of the zones would follow whether I wanted them to or not... To get around that, I set up a Task to "Water Front Yard" - which would turn on an unused output (lets use 100 as an example)...
Whenever 1 hour before sunrise, active task "Water Front Yard".
Water Front Yard's code includes "Turn on output 100 for 1 hour. And - Turn on Zone 1 for 10 mins.
Next - Whenever Zone 1 (output 18 or something like that) turns off AND output 100 is on, turn on Zone 2 for 10 mins.
keep that going through each zone - then when Zone 5 turns off, it also turns off Output 100.
This lets me manually control zones as desired - and allows sequence to automatically occur when the task goes off.
one note - I picked either a non-optimal time or I'm not running my zones long enough - my grass is still the worst on the block... but that's not the Elk's fault - it's my own.
I have all the outputs showing for my 10 sprinkler zones showing in the outputs so I can turn on individual zones at will...
When I went to program the zones, at first I set it so that at 1:00 hour before sunrise, turn on zone 1 for 10 mins. Then another rule for When Zone 1 turns off, turn on Zone 2 for 10 mins. Then when Zone 2 turns off, turn on Zone 3 for 10 mins (etc, etc...) I
Problem was, that meant if I manually turned on Zone 2, the rest of the zones would follow whether I wanted them to or not... To get around that, I set up a Task to "Water Front Yard" - which would turn on an unused output (lets use 100 as an example)...
Whenever 1 hour before sunrise, active task "Water Front Yard".
Water Front Yard's code includes "Turn on output 100 for 1 hour. And - Turn on Zone 1 for 10 mins.
Next - Whenever Zone 1 (output 18 or something like that) turns off AND output 100 is on, turn on Zone 2 for 10 mins.
keep that going through each zone - then when Zone 5 turns off, it also turns off Output 100.
This lets me manually control zones as desired - and allows sequence to automatically occur when the task goes off.
one note - I picked either a non-optimal time or I'm not running my zones long enough - my grass is still the worst on the block... but that's not the Elk's fault - it's my own.
claymahaffey
Member
I noted that when I read your post.
You want to encourage deep root growth. So it is better to water less frequently for longer periods of time.
I cant speak specifically about your grass and soil, but I water my spray zones for 45 minutes each three times a week. I alternate which zones I do daily when there are not watering restrictions, otherwise I start my watering at 4:00 and end it when it is done around 9:00 in the morning. Drip zones I let run for an hour.
Short watering times daily cause grass to get very dependent on surface nutrition and water.
BraveSirRobbin
Moderator
You must have some very low flow heads. If I followed those times, I would have a mini-swimming pool in front of my house.
Todd, Great that makes perfect sense, I'll try and work on something for it today. Lol by the time I get this done the summer is going to be over and I'll be winterizing my system.
I'll also agree with with Redclay is saying. I've always hear longer waterings, less frequently.
I'll also agree with with Redclay is saying. I've always hear longer waterings, less frequently.
Dogman
Active Member
The best way to figure out how long you need to water is to call your local extension unit. Most states have them and they are usually associated with the university agriculture programs. Ask them how much water they recommend for grass and plants in your area. For instance in our area they recommend 1" of water a week for grass. Once you know that you just go out in your yard and place flat bottomed bowls around your yard (tuna cans work great because the bottom is flat and the sides are vertical). Then turn on your sprinklers and time how long it takes to get your required water depth. Also depending on how many bowls (cans) you place around you will also be able to tell if one area of your lawn is getting overwatered versus underwatered . While this method has some error in it it still gives you a rough idea of where to start then you can adjust times accordingly.
The other option is to use buried moisture sensors but my experience with those is they tend to have more problems then they solve but I know there are alot of folks around here that have them and have had good luck.
Well my wife graciously volunteered to take the kids to the pool today, and give me some quiet time to work on this sprinklers. I've got the zone hooked into the Elk and initial testing looks good I can turn the zone on and off and I actually get water coming out of the sprinklers.
So I started to put some rules together today, based on Todd's and one of the other blogs posted here. That's going fairly well too.
The only 2 questions I have at this point is how do I manually turn a zone on? I just have a rule that I'm running to do it now, is there an easier way to just turn an Output on?
and beyond that how would I do it from a keypad? Lets say my wife wants to water her flower beds a bit more how can I do that from the keypad?
Thanks a bunch guys!
So I started to put some rules together today, based on Todd's and one of the other blogs posted here. That's going fairly well too.
The only 2 questions I have at this point is how do I manually turn a zone on? I just have a rule that I'm running to do it now, is there an easier way to just turn an Output on?
and beyond that how would I do it from a keypad? Lets say my wife wants to water her flower beds a bit more how can I do that from the keypad?
Thanks a bunch guys!
Steve
Senior Member
There are several ways to turn the output on/off depending on the setup of your system. The one that will always work is just to do it from the keypad. I'm not in front of one right now but it should be something like: Press Elk button, scroll to automation control, scroll to output control, then scroll to the output you want and you can toggle it on/off. You can also do similar via the Elk phone control if you have that enabled. You can also control outputs via the 'virtual keypad' if you have an ethernet expander. Finally, you can control it via software, like ElkRMS or 3rd party software with Elk drivers.
BraveSirRobbin
Moderator
I have a different setup as I use a WGL Relay-8 and trigger the sprinkler controller with X-10 commands, but one nice thing with this setup is I can also manually control the zones via a palm pad controller.
This is GREAT for fixing/troubleshooting sprinkler problems as you can turn zones on and off while at the trouble spots.
I only had to use this feature a few times, but it was sure nice and helped a lot finding and then fixing those problems.
This is GREAT for fixing/troubleshooting sprinkler problems as you can turn zones on and off while at the trouble spots.
I only had to use this feature a few times, but it was sure nice and helped a lot finding and then fixing those problems.
Steve
Senior Member
I do the same thing for troubleshooting but I can either use my cell phone with cqc interface (need to actually set that back up with new riva client) or mostly I just grab the cordless phone and do it via the Elk phone control. But the palm pad is probably a bit quicker and more waterproof.
tmbrown97
Senior Member
the remote control was invaluable for me... even before Jayson's eKeyPad came out... had a badly neglected 10-zone system with all kinds of broken heads and a broken controller... first thing I did was hook up the Elk in place of the old controller, then used the iPod Touch with VNC to a PC with ElkRM - walked around, ran a zone for a sec, then grabbed tools and fixed a head or two - then tried again... I guarantee this cut about 75% of the time out of repairing the system... Of course, eKeyPad Plus makes this even easier...
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