anyone familiar with lawn irrigation system controllers? (Page 1/2)
maryjane JUL 06, 11:05 AM
This place came with a buried lawn irrigation system with a mix of rainbird and orbit sprinkler heads. In poor state of maintenanc. Luckily, the solenoids all work and the controller appears to, but I had to fix lots of sprinkler heads, delete about 8 that ran along one of the retaining walls that would have saturated the dirt behind said wall and caved it in. (all the heads in there were broken off anyway)

I'm having trouble programing the watering schedule...
https://ww3.rainbird.com/si...018-02/man_ESPsi.pdf

Rainbird ESP-8SI
Am I understanding correctly that the unit comes with a programmed schedule and all I have to do it select the start times and water use %?

It also states, that for test purposes...
Run Test Program
The ESP controller has a built-in test program that
will run each station in sequence for two minutes.
You can use this program to check out the operation of all the sprinklers in the system.
1.Turn the dial to AUTO.
2. Press both arrow buttons at the same time and
hold them down until...
3 The display shows the first station number and
two minutes of watering time remaining. The
controller will run each station for two minutes
and then return to AUTO mode to await the next
scheduled start time. Any station that has been
set to a 0 run time will be skipped during the
test program.



I found this not to be the case, but by using the Man/adv function, it will run each station in sequence, but for the full time you have set (10 minutes in my case)

Does this unit have pre-installed programs?
IMSA GT JUL 06, 06:14 PM
According to the manual, it has a default setting. It will water each station for 10 minutes starting at 8am, each day if the slide switch is on "custom".
If you change the schedule slide switch to either 2,3, or 5, it waters every 2 days, 3 days, or 5 days.
82-T/A [At Work] JUL 06, 06:55 PM

quote
Originally posted by maryjane:

This place came with a buried lawn irrigation system with a mix of rainbird and orbit sprinkler heads. In poor state of maintenanc. Luckily, the solenoids all work and the controller appears to, but I had to fix lots of sprinkler heads, delete about 8 that ran along one of the retaining walls that would have saturated the dirt behind said wall and caved it in. (all the heads in there were broken off anyway)

I'm having trouble programing the watering schedule...
https://ww3.rainbird.com/si...018-02/man_ESPsi.pdf

Rainbird ESP-8SI
Am I understanding correctly that the unit comes with a programmed schedule and all I have to do it select the start times and water use %?

Does this unit have pre-installed programs?




Hey MJ, I had that unit earlier in the year. I had the ESP-4SI. The 4 / 6 / 8 being the number of zones it's able to control.

I replaced it with a newer one, also from Rainbird. I forget the model, but it's basically the modern equivalent to that one. I'm normally not a fan of IOT, but in this case, I found the newer Rainbird system to be worthwhile. There is a module that you plug in and it allows you to connect it to the internet. Aside from being able to control it on the phone (which is not really that important to me), it also checks the weather online and adjusts the water usage accordingly. During times like right now, where it rains literally every afternoon in Florida, it uses only 20% if any. Most times, like today where it rained most of the day, the sprinklers won't even come on tomorrow.

Anyway, if you're considering going with the newer one, it might be worth it because it'll pay for itself within the first year of water saving if you use that feature.

NOW... on the one that you have, the way I programmed it is that you:

1 - Slide the button to "C" for Custom, and then select either Program A or B that you intend to set.
2 - Move the dial to the DAY of the week that you want it watered, and hit either ON or OFF. Most states have water rationing I suppose, but you probably know this already which days you can and cannot water.
3 - Once you've set all the DAYS (on or off) that you want it to water (would probably be only two is my guess), then select the ZONE. Ideally, the zones should be labelled somewhere on a sticker, so you would know which areas need more watering.
4 - For each zone, you are now setting the number of MINUTES you want the water to run for each zone. So you go to Zone 1, set it to like... I dunno... 20 minutes if it's the main yard or something, and then move from zone to zone, setting the amount of time you want each zone to run.

And when you're totally done setting the times for each zone, you then move it to AUTO... and it should turn on next scheduled interval.

I do recommend you consider upgrading though... the new ones aren't that expensive, and with the new weather feature, it'll pay for itself within the first year.
Patrick JUL 06, 07:18 PM

It rains here all the time. No watering programming required.
maryjane JUL 07, 10:36 AM

quote
NOW... on the one that you have, the way I programmed it is that you:

1 - Slide the button to "C" for Custom, and then select either Program A or B that you intend to set.
2 - Move the dial to the DAY of the week that you want it watered, and hit either ON or OFF. Most states have water rationing I suppose, but you probably know this already which days you can and cannot water.
3 - Once you've set all the DAYS (on or off) that you want it to water (would probably be only two is my guess), then select the ZONE. Ideally, the zones should be labelled somewhere on a sticker, so you would know which areas need more watering.
4 - For each zone, you are now setting the number of MINUTES you want the water to run for each zone. So you go to Zone 1, set it to like... I dunno... 20 minutes if it's the main yard or something, and then move from zone to zone, setting the amount of time you want each zone to run.

And when you're totally done setting the times for each zone, you then move it to AUTO... and it should turn on next scheduled interval.

I do recommend you consider upgrading though... the new ones aren't that expensive, and with the new weather feature, it'll pay for itself within the first year.



Thanks! I don't get why ya have to program in cusom instead of the 2-3-5 setting but if that's how it is then that's what I'll do, once I get all the sprinkler heads fixed or replaced or relocated. Man, this caliche is a beach to dig thru. People that have never dealt with it are suprised to be digging up several million year old sea shells and fossilized sea life in the middle of Texas..and on a hill to boot.
82-T/A [At Work] JUL 07, 11:32 AM

quote
Originally posted by maryjane:

Thanks! I don't get why ya have to program in cusom instead of the 2-3-5 setting but if that's how it is then that's what I'll do, once I get all the sprinkler heads fixed or replaced or relocated. Man, this caliche is a beach to dig thru. People that have never dealt with it are suprised to be digging up several million year old sea shells and fossilized sea life in the middle of Texas..and on a hill to boot.




To be honest, I've just never used the other settings. I think they are predetermined for various situations, but I couldn't think of a situation in which I wanted someone else's programming anyway.

You conceivably have 8 zones based on the model you have, while I only have 4. But even with my 4 zones, I know that there are specific watering guidelines that I have for each. Like for example, my home is literally 20 feet from the street (it's designed like an old 1940s neighborhood with a town square, and all the homes have front porches, etc.). Zone 1 does what is basically a strip between the curb and a small strip between my porch and the sidewalk. In addition to it's small size, and that it's shaded by two live oaks, it really only needs 10 minutes of watering. Where as my backyard needs 20 minutes. I just didn't see any reasonable way to do that with the other settings, so just didn't bother.


One of the things I did though was create Program A for the fall through spring, and then one for the summer which needs more water.
maryjane JUL 09, 01:03 PM
Now, station (zone) 1 stopped working altogether no matter what setting I'm on. Lower front yard. Big problem, since there are 7 stations and I only know where 3 of the solenoid valves are located and they are all 3 in the back yard.... The ground is harder than a whore's heart too.

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 07-09-2022).]

IMSA GT JUL 09, 01:10 PM

quote
Originally posted by maryjane:


I don't get why ya have to program in cusom instead of the 2-3-5 setting but if that's how it is then that's what I'll do.



If the unit defaults back to factory, those 2-3-5 will work as intended. Once you make your own program, it overwrites the factory program. If you default the unit, it will reload the default, then the default is 10 minutes on per station and the slide switch will determine the days that it turns on.
82-T/A [At Work] JUL 10, 04:15 PM

quote
Originally posted by maryjane:

Now, station (zone) 1 stopped working altogether no matter what setting I'm on. Lower front yard. Big problem, since there are 7 stations and I only know where 3 of the solenoid valves are located and they are all 3 in the back yard.... The ground is harder than a whore's heart too.





Is there a sticker from a previous lawn / irrigation company? Usually they provide a chart or something that explains how everything is routed, and how the zones are configured.


Best way to test them is to put it all in manual mode, and go zone to zone, and run each one manually for 10 minutes. That way, you can plot out how each zone is configured, regardless of how anything is programmed since it overrides all of that. That's how you can basically test if the solenoids / valves are good in each one.
maryjane JUL 11, 12:23 PM

quote
Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]:
Is there a sticker from a previous lawn / irrigation company? Usually they provide a chart or something that explains how everything is routed, and how the zones are configured.


Best way to test them is to put it all in manual mode, and go zone to zone, and run each one manually for 10 minutes. That way, you can plot out how each zone is configured, regardless of how anything is programmed since it overrides all of that. That's how you can basically test if the solenoids / valves are good in each one.



That would be fine, except I can only find the solenoid valves for zones 4, and 6. The ones I have found are Hunter brand.
The rest are buried under years of grass thatch and maybe inches of dirt.

No chart, no documentation, no company logo except 'Rainbird'.

There is, in the extreme SE corner of the yard (right by the city water meter, the code required flowback valve assy. Just 1 foot from there, indicated by the white star below, is a solendoind valve I assumed was station 1 but I now believe to be master valve for the system as it only has power if the controller in the garage is on 'auto'. (there is also a manual valve between that and the flowback assy)

I left the unit on auto last light and around 7AM, all stations watered as they should in sequence except zone 1.

I have come to hate Orbit popup nozzles tho. What a pita to adjust.

One of the good things (for me anyway) is that I live within sight (barely) of one of the most famous roads in central Texas.

Not far from Hell on Wheels Ave and Ivy Division (4th Inf Division) Rd , which is 7 long miles of tracked armor and rubber tired motor pool.
https://www.google.com/maps...,1160m/data=!3m1!1e3
(Of course, if the SHTF, and things go nuke, I'm toast in the blink of an eye.

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 07-11-2022).]