Rain Bird CRC-8A User manual

1
PROGRAMMING AND OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS
CRC-8A, CRC-6A, CRC-4A
The CRC-A Controller has some important features you should be aware of before you begin pro-
gramming. Details on how to implement these features will be described in the step-by-step instruc-
tions on the following pages.
• The CRC-A has a DUAL PROGRAM capability which allows watering of grass areas more often
and/or on different days than shrub areas.
• The CRC-A has a PRESET PROGRAM which is built into the controller at the factory. If you do
not wish to establish your own program, after updating the clock, the controller will operate each
station for 10 minutes each day beginning at 8 A.M.
• The CRC-A has a DEFAULT MODE in which the controller will revert back to the PRESET PRO-
GRAM should your own program be lost due to a prolonged power failure.
• The CRC-A has a 14 - day cycle. After completing watering on the 14th day, it will automatically
repeat the cycle beginning with day 1.
• The controller has a backup battery circuit which will keep your program from being lost for up to
24 hours in the event of a power failure. Should the battery you supply go dead the entire dis-
play will blink to indicate the need for a new battery. Install a 9-volt alkaline battery to the battery
SETTING THE CONTROLLER CLOCK
Setting the Day................................................................. 2
Setting the Hour................................................................ 2
Setting the Minute............................................................. 3
ESTABLISHING YOUR OWN PROGRAM
Which days to water.......................................................... 3
What time to start............................................................. 4
How long at each station.................................................... 4
THE 'B' PROGRAM............................................................. 5
ELIMINATING A START TIME............................................ 7
WRITING YOUR PROGRAM............................................... 7
OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS............................................. 9
Display Time of Day.......................................................... 9
Display Day of Week......................................................... 9
Display Station Water Times............................................. 9
Display Start Time............................................................. 10
Display Water Days.......................................................... 10
Manually Start a Program.................................................. 10
Manually Advance to Another Station................................ 10
Manually Start a Single Station.......................................... 11
Manually Cancel a Program............................................... 11
Rain Shutdown................................................................... 11

2
MON TUES WED THUR FRI SAT SUN
WEEK 1 01 02 03 04 05 06 07
MON TUES WED THUR FRI SAT SUN
WEEK 2 08 09 10 11 12 13 14
Setting the Controller Clock
Determine the current day’s code number from the chart below.
SET DAY EXAMPLE: Today is Friday (05)
1. Press SET
CLOCK
DAY
DISPLAY WILL INDICATE:
2. Press CHANGE
TIME or CHANGE
TIME repeatedly
until correct code number appears in the display.
SET HOUR EXAMPLE: Current Time of Day is 10:33 A.M.
1. Press SET
CLOCK
HOUR
2. Press CHANGE
TIME or CHANGE
TIME repeatedly
until current hour appears in the display. hour minutes A.M.
Press CHANGE
TIME or CHANGE
TIME repeatedly
until correct letter appears in the display.
P.M.
To change A to P or P to A: A.M.

3
SET MINUTES EXAMPLE: Current Time of Day is 10:33 A.M.
1. Press SET
CLOCK
MINUTE
2. Press CHANGE
TIME or CHANGE
TIME repeatedly
until correct minutes appears in the display.
AT THIS POINT, THE CONTROLLER WILL OPERATE ON THE FACTORY PRESET
PROGRAM; THIS WILL OPERATE ALL STATIONS FOR 10 MINUTES EACH, EV-
ERYDAY OF THE WEEK, BEGINNING AT 8:00 A.M.
IF YOU WISH TO ESTABLISH YOUR OWN PROGRAM, FOLLOW THE PROGRAM-
MING INSTRUCTIONS WHICH FOLLOW.
Establishing Your Own Program
1. Which days to water...
EXAMPLE: To water on Monday of the first week (Day 01)
1. Press PROGRAM
A
2. Press WATER
DAYS
DISPLAY WILL INDICATE:
Program
AMonday of
Week 1 Watering will occur when
“In” appears
EXAMPLE: To NOT water on Tuesday of the first week (Day 02)
1. Press
2. Press
WATER
DAYS DISPLAY WILL INDICATE:
Watering will not
occur when “In”
does not appear
YES/NO
Repeat the above steps 1 and 2 for each of the remaining days in the 14 - day cycle.

4
2. Press WATER
TIMES
PER DAY
3. Press CHANGE
TIME or CHANGE
TIME repeatedly
until display shows:
2. What time to start...
EXAMPLE: You want to start watering at 5:00 A.M.
1. Press PROGRAM
A
If you wish to water more than once a day (for a maximum of 3 times per day)
DISPLAY WILL INDICATE:
1. Press WATER
TIMES
PER DAY
2. Press CHANGE
TIME or CHANGE
TIME repeatedly
until display shows:
EXAMPLE: 2nd watering time at 4:45 P.M. DISPLAY
For a 3rd watering time, repeat steps 1 and 2 above.
2. Press STATION
WATER
TIME
3. Press CHANGE
TIME or CHANGE
TIME repeatedly
until display shows:
3. How long at each station...
EXAMPLE: To operate station #1 for 20 minutes
1. Press PROGRAM
A
To change from minutes to hours or hours to
minutes:
You may water from 1 minute up to 6 hours at each station.
DISPLAY WILL INDICATE:
Program
AStation Watering
Time Minutes
Press WATER
TIME
UNITS Program
AStation Watering
Time Hours

5
2. Press STATION
WATER
TIME
3. Press CHANGE
TIME or CHANGE
TIME
until display shows:
4. Set watering time for next station.
EXAMPLE: Set watering time for station #2 for 30 minutes.
1. Press PROGRAM
ADISPLAY WILL INDICATE:
Program
AStation Watering
Time Minutes
Set watering times for remaining stations by repeating steps 2 and 3.
NOTE: If you do not want a station to operate, set the time to zero.
EXAMPLE: No watering at Station #3.
2. Press STATION
WATER
TIME
3. Press CHANGE
TIME or CHANGE
TIME
until display shows:
1. Press PROGRAM
ADISPLAY WILL INDICATE:
The 'B' Program
The B Program provides added flexibility to your watering schedule. It can be used in
conjunction with the A Program to provide up to 6 start times per day, per station, or it
can be used independently to provide start times and watering times different than
those of the A Program.
EXAMPLE: On the A Program, we set Station #1 to water twice on Monday, @5:00
A.M. and again @4:45 P.M. for 20 minutes each time.
If you want to add a 3rd start time for Station #1 on Monday, but would like
it to remain on for one hour rather than 20 minutes, you can use the B Pro-
gram as follows: (continued on the next page)

6
EXAMPLE: To water on MONDAY (@ 10:00 P.M. for 1 hour)
2. Press WATER
DAYS
3. Press YES/NO
until display shows:
1. Press PROGRAM
B
DISPLAY WILL INDICATE:
Program
BMonday of
Week 1 Watering will occur
EXAMPLE: NO watering on Tuesday.
1. Press WATER
DAYS
2. Press CHANGE
TIME or CHANGE
TIME
until display shows:
Repeat the above steps for each of the remaining days in the 14 - day cycle.
2. Press YES/NO
Program
BMonday of
Week 1 Watering will not occur
EXAMPLE: To START TIME for 10:00 P.M.
1. Press WATER
TIMES
PER DAY
until display shows:
2. Press CHANGE
TIME or CHANGE
TIME
EXAMPLE: To set WATERING TIME for 60 minutes
1. Press STATION
WATER
TIME
until display shows:

7
Writing Your Program
After Programming Is Complete
Once you have completed programming your CRC-A controller, you can return it to
displaying the correct time of day as it waits in the automatic mode for the correct time
to start. To do this,
Tidbits and Items to remember:
The nine-volt, alkaline battery you supply will protect the program memory for up to 24
hours during a power outage. Without a battery, even a momentary power interruption
(fractions of a second) will cause memory loss. Studies have shown that such momen-
tary power interruptions happen many times per day in the average household. Re-
member to install a nine-volt alkaline battery to the battery clip (in the bottom compart-
ment of the controller cabinet) as noted in the installation instructions for this unit.
In the event of a long power outage completely using up your battery's power, the de-
fault program will be in effect when power resumes. This default program will automat-
ically operate a special "A" program only, and water every station of the controller
once a day for 10 minutes each. (See the DEFAULT PROGRAM section at the back of
this manual for details.)
In item #2 of this manual "What time to start..." you learned how to set, how to change,
and how to add starting times for your CRC-A controller to begin a cycle. If you wish to
ELIMINATE A START TIME from a program, the procedure is quite simple. First,
press the "Program A" or "Program B" key so the controller knows which program you
desire to change. Then press the "Water Times Per Day" key one, two, or three times
until the start time you wish to eliminate appears in the display. Now press either the
"Change Time" up or "Change Time" down key until the time in the display reaches
the blank point at midnight. The start time is now eliminated.
If you were eliminating this start time and the controller was in a cycle, touch the
"Monitor While On" key to get back to a display of the cycle's progress. If the con-
troller was not operating a cycle, simply touch either the "Set Clock Hour" or "Set
Press either SET
CLOCK
HOUR
SET
CLOCK
MINUTE
or and your programming is complete.

8
Writing Your Program
These program tables may be cut out and affixed to the inside of the controller
door for handy reference.
1. Which days to water
DAYS TO OPERATE
Day "A" "B"
(M) 1
(Tu) 2
(W) 3
(Th) 4
(F) 5
(Sa) 6
(Su) 7
(M) 8
(Tu) 9
(W) 10
(Th) 11
(F) 12
(Sa) 13
(Su) 14
START TIMES
"A" "B"
2. What time to start
STATION TIMES
Sta.# "A" "B"
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
3. How long at each station

9
Operating Instructions
Whenever the Controller is in operation (in a cycle) the display will show the station
number (for the station in operation) and the remaining time it has left to operate (time
is "counting down").
While the Controller is in operation you can display - “Time of Day” - “Start Times" (for
"A" or "B" programs) - “Water Days" or "Station #and Time” - without interrupting the
actual operation of the cycle in progress.
To get back to “Station in Operation”
SET
CLOCK
HOUR
Press
or
Display will revert back to the program it had been operating before
interrupted and display will indicate its current status in the program.
1. Display Time of Day
Time of day may be displayed at any time by pressing
either SET
CLOCK
MINUTE
MONITOR
WHILE
ON
To get back to “Station in Operation”
SET
CLOCK
DAY
Press
to display the day of the week
2. Display Day of Week
Press
MONITOR
WHILE
ON
to display station water times for either “A” or “B” programs.
Each time you press
or
the next station will be displayed.
3. Display Station Water Times
thenPress
STATION
WATER
TIME
PROGRAM
APROGRAM BSTATION
WATER
TIME

10
to display start times for either “A” or “B” programs.
To display all three (3) start times of the program, press
or
two (2) more times.
4. Display Start Times
thenPress
WATER
TIMES
PER DAY
PROGRAM
APROGRAM BWATER
TIMES
PER DAY
(For “A” and “B” Programs)
is pressed, the next start time will be displayed.
(A “blank” display indicates no start time programmed.)
WATER
TIMES
PER DAY
Each time
to display water days for either “A” or “B” programs.
or
5. Display Water Days
thenPress PROGRAM
APROGRAM BWATER
DAYS
(For “A” and “B” Programs)
is pressed, the next day of the 14 day cycle will be displayed.
(“In” indicates watering; “blank” indicates no watering.)
Each time WATER
DAYS
Each station will operate in sequence for its programmed watering time.
or
6. Manually Start a Program
thenPress PROGRAM
APROGRAM BMANUAL
START
The next station in sequence will then operate for its programmed watering time.
7. Manually Advance to Another Station
Press MANUAL
ADVANCE
is pressed, the controller will advance to the next station, which
will then operate for its programmed watering time.
Each time MANUAL
ADVANCE
and the station currently operating will stop.

11
Press
or
8. Manually Start a Single Station
to display the desired program.Press PROGRAM
APROGRAM B
is pressed, the next station will be displayed.Each time STATION
WATER
TIME
STATION
WATER
TIME to display the station you desire to operate.
Now, the station selected will operate for the regular programmed
time (either program A or B) and shut off. The controller will then
revert to its normal automatic mode.
Then press SINGLE
STATION
then press
To “cancel” a program that is in operation, press
9. Manually Cancel a Program
again. The controller will revert to its normal automatic mode.
AUTO to “OFF” (flashing “A” or
AUTO
Press
10. Rain Shutdown
The “A” (A.M.) or “P” (P.M.) character will blink to indicate that the controller is in rain
shutdown condition.
AUTO and the display will revert to “time of day.”
NOTE: Rain Shutdown will keep the normal clock running and the current program-
ming intact, but all output will be interrupted.
Example:

12
This controller generates radio frequency energy and may cause interference to radio
and television reception. It has been type tested and found to comply with the limits for
a Class B computing device in accordance with the specifications in Subpart J of Part
15 of FCC Rules, which are designed to provide reasonable protection against such
interference in a residential installation. However, there is no guarantee that interfer-
ence will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause interfer-
ence to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equip-
ment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or
more of the following measures:
• reorient the receiving antenna
• move the controller away from the receiver
• Plug the controller into a different outlet so that controller and receiver are on dif-
ferent branch circuits
•
If necessary, the user should consult the dealer or an experienced radio/ television
technician for additional suggestions. The user may find the following booklet pre-
pared by the Federal Communications Commission helpful:
"How To Identify and Resolve Radio - TV Interference Problems"
This booklet is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
The following DEFAULT program will be in effect at the time of initial power "UP" or
any time that set programs are lost.
DEFAULT PROGRAM
DAYS TO OPERATE
Day "A" "B"
(M) 1Yes -
(Tu) 2Yes -
(W) 3Yes -
(Th) 4Yes -
(F) 5Yes -
(Sa) 6Yes -
(Su) 7Yes -
(M) 8Yes -
(Tu) 9Yes -
(W) 10 Yes -
(Th) 11 Yes -
(F) 12 Yes -
(Sa) 13 Yes -
(Su) 14 Yes -
START TIMES
"A" "B"
8:00 A.M. -
- -
- -
STATION TIMES
Sta.# "A" "B"
110 mins. 0
210 mins. 0
310 mins. 0
410 mins. 0
510 mins. 0
610 mins. 0
710 mins. 0
810 mins. 0
* If clock is set to cor-
rect time of day.
Otherwise, program
will start 8 hours after
power is applied.
© 1986 Rain Bird Corporation
Customer Support Center uu 6991 E. Southpoint Rd., Bldg. #1
Tucson, AZ 85706 uu 1-800-RAIN-BIRD