Rain Bird ESP-4 Assembly instructions

1Technical Support: 1-800-RAIN BIRD
BBIRDIRD®
RRAINAIN
PREFERRED BY PROFESSIONALS WORLDWIDE
Installation,
Programming,
& Operation
ESP-4
ESP-6
ESP-8
¨Change the time of day............................ page 4
¨Turn the controller off and on
(for example, because of rain).................. page 8
¨Adjust watering times for all stations
(for example, during a hot or cool period)... page 9
¨Start the sprinkler system manually.......... page 9
¨Run the test program............................... page 10
¨Install a new battery................................ page 14
¨Troubleshoot a controller problem............. page 14
Quick Reference Guide
If you want to:
INTRODUCTION
Congratulations on purchasing a Rain Bird ESP solid state controller. This manual describes how to in-
stall, operate, and maintain your controller. Please read these instructions carefully. For your conve-
nience, we have included a Quick Reference Guide below, so you can quickly find instructions for com-
mon tasks.

2Technical Support: 1-800-RAIN BIRD
Controller Stations
The controller has several stations as shown in the illustration below. Each station is connected to a re-
mote control sprinkler valve. The valve opens when it receives a signal from the controller, and the
sprinklers connected to the valve turn on. When these sprinklers have run for their allotted time, the
controller shuts off the valve and opens the next valve in sequence.
For example, the illustration shows that station 1 is currently watering. When station 1 is finished, the
controller will shut it off and start station 2. In the same way, station 3 will begin watering when station 2
is finished.
Sample Station Layout
Controls and Switches
The illustration shows the programming controls on
the face of the ESP. These controls include:
ŒLCD Display — during normal operation, displays
the time of day; during programming, shows the
results of your commands; during watering,
shows the station that is running and the minutes
remaining in its run time.
•Arrow ON-OFF Buttons — used to set times and
days, and to make program changes.
ŽA / B Program Button — used to select watering
program A or B. (On some ESP models, this but-
ton is labeled PGM.)
•Manual Start / Advance Button — used to start
the irrigation program manually or to manually
advance watering from one station to the next.
•Programming Dial — used to turn controller off
and on, and for programming.
‘Schedule Slide Switch — used to select one of
the fixed-interval watering schedules or a custom
watering schedule.

3Technical Support: 1-800-RAIN BIRD
PROGRAMMING THE CONTROLLER
Your ESP controller is an electronic clock that controls when your sprinkler system turns on, and how
long the sprinklers run.
Programming is the process of telling the controller exactly when and how long you want to water. The
controller opens and closes the remote control valves according to the program you set.
Each program contains:
n Watering days — the specific days of the week on which watering takes place (for example, Mon-
day, Wednesday, Friday), or the watering interval (for example, every third day).
n Start time — the time of day that the program begins; this is the time that the first station in the pro-
gram begins watering; all other stations then follow in sequence.
n Run time — the number of minutes that each station runs.
Programming Checklist
To program the ESP- controller for the first time, we recommend that you complete the following steps
in order:
Fill out Program Schedule Sheet................................... page 3
Select watering schedule............................................... page 4
Set the current time....................................................... page 4
Set the current day........................................................ page 5
Select the program (A or B)........................................... page 6
Set station watering days.
(custom schedule only).................................................. page 6
Set station run times...................................................... page 7
Set watering start times.................................................. page 7
Set controller to automatic operation............................. page 8
Fill Out Program Schedule Sheet
Before you begin programming, fill out the ESP Con-
troller Program Sheet and attach it to the label on the in-
side of the controller door. A sample Program Sheet is
shown in this illustration.
ŒEnter a brief description of each station on the con-
troller.
•In the Program A column, mark the watering sched-
ule. Either circle one of the fixed intervals, or fill in the
watering days in the “Custom” row.
ŽEnter the starting time(s) for Program A. You may
have up to three separate start times for each pro-
gram.
•Enter the run time for each station assigned to Pro-
gram A. Enter “0” for stations that are not used in Pro-
gram A.
•Repeat steps 2 - 4 for Program B. If you are using a
fixed schedule, Program B will have the same water-
ing days as Program A.

4Technical Support: 1-800-RAIN BIRD
Select Watering Schedule
The ESP has two types of watering schedules, either
fixed or custom. The fixed schedule sets watering to oc-
cur every second, third, or fifth day. The custom sched-
ule lets you select specific days of the week on which
watering is to occur.
The type of schedule you select applies to both pro-
grams, A and B. For example, you cannot set Pro-
gram A to a fixed schedule and Program B to a cus-
tom schedule.
ŒTo use a fixed schedule, move the Schedule Slide
Switch to one of the FIXED positions:
2 = every other day
3 = every third day
5 = every fifth day
•To use the custom schedule, move the Schedule
Slide Switch to the “C” position.
Set Current Time
ŒTurn the dial to “HR.”
•The display shows the hour that is currently set,
either AM or PM.
ŽPress ñor òto set the current hour.
•Turn the dial to “MIN.”
•The display shows the minute currently set.
‘Press ñor òto set the current minute.

5Technical Support: 1-800-RAIN BIRD
PGM
A
DAY
AUTO
OFFON B
A
MAN
START
ADV.
OFF
ADJUST WATER %
CURRENT TIME
AND DAY
WATERING
START TIMES
CUSTOM
SCHEDULE
SCHEDULE
FIXED CUSTOM
2 3 5 C
ESP-6Si
DAYS TO WATER
MON
DAY
HR
MIN
TUE
WED
THU
FRI
SAT
SUN
1
12
2
3
3
4
5
6
WATERING TIME PER STATION
2
1
3
4
Set Current Day
Setting the current day varies somewhat depending on
whether you are using a custom schedule or a fixed
schedule.
Custom Schedule
ŒMake sure the Schedule Slide switch is set to “C.”
•Turn the dial to “DAY.”
ŽThe display shows the day of the week that is
currently set (for example, “MO” for Monday).
•Press ñor òto change the display to the cur-
rent day of the week.
Fixed Schedule
ŒMake sure the Schedule Slide switch is set to a
fixed-
day schedule: 2, 3, or 5.
•Turn the dial to “DAY.”
ŽThe display shows “1” for the first day of the watering
cycle. Day 1 is always the watering day.
•Press ñor òto change the current day from
1. If you want tomorrow to be the watering day,
change the current day to the last day in your
fixed schedule.
For example, if you’re using a two-day schedule and
you want to start watering tomorrow, set the current day
to “2.” If you’re using a three-day schedule and you
want to start tomorrow, set the current day to “3.”

6Technical Support: 1-800-RAIN BIRD
Select Program
The ESP controller has two programs, A and B. Each
program operates independently.
If you are using the custom watering schedule, each
program can have different watering days. For exam-
ple, Program A might run on Monday, Wednesday, and
Friday; Program B on Tuesday, Thursday, and Satur-
day.
If you are using a fixed watering schedule, both pro-
grams will have the same “ON” days. For example, if
you are using the three-day fixed schedule, Program A
and Program B will both run every third day.
You can assign any station to Program A, Program B,
or both.
ŒThe program that is currently selected appears in
the far left corner of the display. The display will
show either “PGM A” or “PGM B.”
•To select the program, press the A / B (or PGM)
button until the program you want appears in the
display. Pressing the A / B button switches back and
forth between the two programs.
Set Station Watering Days
NOTE: You must set station watering days only if
you are using the CUSTOM Schedule. If you are
using one of the FIXED schedules, skip to the steps
in Set Station Run Times
ŒTurn the dial to “MON.”
•The display shows the day of the week (for exam-
ple, “MO” for Monday) and either “ON” or “OFF.”
ON means the selected day is a watering day. OFF
means watering doesn’t take place on the selected
day.
ŽPress the ON or OFF button to set the selected
day of the week on or off.
•Turn the dial to the next day of the week. Repeat
steps 2 and 3 until you have set each day of the
week either on or off.

7Technical Support: 1-800-RAIN BIRD
Set Station Run Times
ŒTurn the dial to Station 1.
•The display shows the selected station and its
run time. If you are programming the controller
for the first time, or after a long power outage,
the built-in run time of 10 minutes will appear.
ŽPress ñor òto change the display to the run
time you want (up to 99 minutes). Set any un-
used stations to 0 minutes.
•Turn the dial to the next station in sequence.
Repeat steps 2 through 4 until you have set the
run time for each station.
2
1
3
4
AUTO
OFFON B
A
MAN
START
ADV.
OFF
ADJUST WATER %
CURRENT TIME
AND DAY
WATERING
START TIMES
CUSTOM
SCHEDULE
SCHEDULE
FIXED CUSTOM
2 3 5 C
ESP-6Si
DAYS TO WATER
MON
DAY
HR
MIN
TUE WED
THU
FRI
SAT
SUN
1
12
2
3
3
4
5
6
WATERING TIME PER STATION
PGM
ASTATION
WATERTIME
Set Watering Start Times
Each program on the ESP can have up to three
watering start times, which tell the controller when
to begin the watering program. The start time ap-
plies to all watering days for that program.
If you want to water more than once a day, you can
set the second and third watering start times. For
example, if you are growing new lawn seed, you
might want to water several times a day. To do so,
you could set a program to run at 6:00 A.M., 11:00
A.M., and 4:00 P.M.
ŒMake sure the program you want appears in the
display. Either “PGM A” or “PGM B” will appear.
To switch to the other program, press the A / B
(or PGM) button.
•Turn the dial to 1 in the “Watering Start Times”
section.
ŽThe display shows the start time currently set for
this program.
2
13
4
5
AUTO
OFFON B
A
MAN
START
ADV.
OFF
ADJUST WATER %
CURRENT TIME
AND DAY
WATERING
START TIMES
CUSTOM
SCHEDULE
SCHEDULE
FIXED CUSTOM
2 3 5 C
ESP-6
DAYS TO WATER
MON
DAY
HR
MIN
TUE WED
THU
FRI
SAT
SUN
1
12
2
3
3
4
56
WATERING TIME PER STATION
PGM
A
AM

8Technical Support: 1-800-RAIN BIRD
Set Watering Start Times (Continued)
•Press ñor òto change the start time. The
time setting moves forward or backward in 15 -
minute increments.
To eliminate a start time, press ñor òuntil
the blank setting between 11:45 PM and 12:15
AM appears.
•If you want to set additional start times for this
program, move the dial to 2 or 3 in the
“Watering Start Times” section. Then repeat
steps 3 and 4.
If you are following the programming checklist on
page 6, you have now completed all programming
steps for Program A. At this point, you may:
n Enter Program B by following the steps that
begin on page 3, or
n Set the controller to automatic operation, as
described on page 8.
Turn Controller On and Off
ŒTo set the controller to automatic operation, turn
the dial to AUTO. The display will show the cur-
rent day and time until the next scheduled auto-
matic start. When a program is running, the dis-
play will show the station currently turned on
and the minutes remaining on its run time.
When the entire program is complete, the dis-
play will change back to the current day and
time.
If you forget to turn the dial to AUTO, the con-
troller will eventually set itself to automatic op-
eration. The only setting that prevents auto-
matic operation is OFF (see step 2).
•To turn the controller off and prevent all water-
ing, set the dial to OFF. The display will show
the current day and time. In addition, the right-
hand minute digit will blink to show that the con-
troller has been turned off.
The OFF setting can be used during rainy
weather, seasonal shutdown, or system mainte-
nance.
OPERATING THE CONTROLLER
1
AUTO
OFFON B
A
MAN
START
ADV.
OFF
ADJUST WATER %
CURRENT TIME
AND DAY
WATERING
START TIMES
CUSTOM
SCHEDULE
SCHEDULE
FIXED CUSTOM
2 3 5 C
ESP-6
DAYS TO WATER
MON
DAY
HR
MIN
TUE
WED
THU
FRI
SAT
SUN
1
12
2
3
3
4
5
6
WATERING TIME PER STATION
PGM
A
DAY
AM
2
AUTO
OFFON B
A
MAN
START
ADV.
OFF
ADJUSTWATER%
CURRENT TIME
AND DAY
WATERING
START TIMES
CUSTOM
SCHEDULE
SCHEDULE
FIXED CUSTOM
2 3 5 C
ESP-6
DAYS TO WATER
MON
DAY
HR
MIN
TUE
WED
THU
FRI
SAT
SUN
1
12
2
3
3
4
56
WATERING TIME PER STATION
PGM
A
DAY
AM
2
13
4
5
AUTO
OFFON B
A
MAN
START
ADV.
OFF
ADJUST WATER %
CURRENT TIME
AND DAY
WATERING
START TIMES
CUSTOM
SCHEDULE
SCHEDULE
FIXED CUSTOM
2 3 5 C
ESP-6
DAYS TO WATER
MON
DAY
HR
MIN
TUE WED
THU
FRI
SAT
SUN
1
12
2
3
3
4
56
WATERING TIME PER STATION
PGM
A
AM

9Technical Support: 1-800-RAIN BIRD
Adjust Water Budget Percent
The Water Budget feature on the ESP lets you increase or
decrease the run times of all stations by a selected per-
centage. You may adjust the run times as low as 10 per-
cent and as high as 200 percent. Adjustments must be
made in increments of 10 percentage points.
The percentages are calculated on the normal pro-
grammed run times for each station. For example, if a sta-
tion is programmed to run for 10 minutes, and you set the
water budget percent to 80%, the station will run for 8 min-
utes (80% of 10 minutes). If you set the water budget to
120%, that same station will run for 12 minutes (120% of
10 minutes).
The water budget feature can be useful for cutting back
watering during cool winter months, or for increasing wa-
tering during periods of unusual heat. Keep in mind that
the percentage you set applies to all stations on both pro-
grams.
ŒTurn the dial to ADJUST WATER %.
•The display shows the current water budget setting
(between 10% and 200%). A setting of 100% means
that all stations will run according to their normal pro-
grammed run times.
ŽPress ñor òto increase or decrease the percentage
in 10-point increments.
When water budgeting is set above or below 100 percent,
the words WATER BUDGET PERCENT will appear in the
top of the display.
To turn off water budgeting, repeat steps 1 to 3, and set
the percentage to 100%.
Use Manual Start / Advance
ŒSelect the program you want to start. Press the
A / B (or PGM) button to switch back and forth
between the two programs.
•Press the MAN START / ADV. button to begin the pro-
gram with the first assigned station. To advance through
the stations in the program, press MAN START / ADV.
repeatedly until the station you want is displayed.

10Technical Support: 1-800-RAIN BIRD
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 opera-
tion of all the sprinklers in the system.
ŒTurn the dial to AUTO.
•Press both arrow buttons at the same time and
hold them down.
ŽThe 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.
REPLACING THE BATTERY
The ESP controller features a rechargeable battery
backup, which will preserve the controller's pro-
gram in the event of a power failure. A fully
charged battery will maintain the controller's pro-
gram and keep current time for up to three days.
However, the battery cannot operate the system.
To replace the battery:
ŒOpen the controller door and swing the face
panel out on its hinges from right to left.
•Remove the old battery from the battery holder
and disconnect it from the battery clip. Connect
a new 9-Volt rechargeable, NiCad battery to the
battery clip. Then insert the battery into the bat-
tery holder.
CAUTION: DO NOT use 9-Volt alkaline batteries.
They may burst or leak when subjected to the con-
tinuous charging circuit of the ESP. Use NiCad bat-
teries only.