Rainmachine Forecast Sprinkler User manual

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RainMachineUserManual
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RainMachine
The Forecast Sprinkler
USERMANUALv.1.6h 
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RainMachineUserManual
1. INSTALLATION
1.1. Fasteningunit
1.2. Electrical
1.3. Powerup
1.4. Setup
2. HOWITWORKS
2.1. BaseWateringDuration
2.2. Protectingyourplants–HiandLowtemperatures
2.3. MissingInternetweatherdata
3. USERINTERFACE
3.1. Homescreen
3.2. StatisticsScreens
3.3. WaterNowScreen
3.4. Settingsscreen
3.5. SystemSettingsscreen
4. SMARTPHONEAPP
4.1. Installingmobileapp
4.2. ConnectingtotheRainMachine
4.3. Login
4.4. Howtheapplicationworks
4.5. ZonesManualwatering
4.6. Programs
4.7 Zones
4.8 RainDelay
4.9 Security
4.10 Date/Time
4.11 Units
5.Specification
5.1. Controllerfeatures
5.2. Programmingfeatures
5.3. Zonesfeatures
5.4. Mechanicalspecs
5.5. Electricalspecs
5.6. Warranty
6. Appendix1
6.1. Evapotranspiration(ET)
6.2. QuantitativePrecipitationForecast(QPF)
6.3. CropCoefficientKc
6.4. TheRainMachineAlgorithm
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RainMachineUserManual
1. INSTALLATION
1.1. Fasteningunit
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●PlacetheRainMachinecontrollerclosetoanelectricaloutlet.Werecommendplacingit
indoors(i.e.garage).
●Thequickinstallguideisalsoafasteningtemplate.Placetheprovidedtemplateonthe
wall.Markanddrillthroughtheholeslabeled“DRILLHERE”.
●Usingprovidedscrewsfastentheunittothewall.
● Indooroperatingtemperaturerange*:32Fto122F/0°to50°C
1.2. Electrical
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●Removethewhiteplasticterminalslidbypressingonthe2edgedimpleswhitepullingup
thetabsbelowthem.
●Connectyourvalvewirestothegreenterminalslabeled1through12.
●Youcancontrolupto12valveswithoneRainMachineunit.
●CisCommonterminal–allvalvesshare2commonterminalslabeled“C”.Thecommon
terminalsareelectricallyconnectedtogether.OneorbothCommonscanbeused.
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Note:OKtouseonlyoneCommonterminal(eitherone)forall12valvesasthetwo
Commonterminalsareinternallyandelectricallyconnectedtogether.
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1.3. Powerup
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●Replaceterminalwhiteterminallid.
●Connectthe24VACpowercablestotheterminalsmarked“24VAC”.
●Plugtransformer(includedinthepackage)intoACwallsocket.
●Systemwillboot(12minutes)andlaunchthesetupwizard.
1.4. Setup
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ThesetupwizardwillwalkyouthroughthebasicRainMachineinformation,suchas:
machinename,WiFiconnectionandlocationinformation.
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Note:Inordertocompletethesetup,youneedaworkingInternetconnectionandWiFi
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AfteryoucompletedthesetupwizardyouneedtoaddwateringProgramsandeditZone
Properties.
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Congratulations!Yourunitisupandrunning.
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RainMachineUserManual
2. HOWITWORKS
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Anirrigationcontrollerisadevicetooperateautomaticirrigationsystemssuchaslawn
sprinkler.Controllershavemeansofsettingthefrequencyofirrigation,thestarttime,andthe
durationofwatering.
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Whilemostsprinklershaveafixeddurationofwatering(e.g.5minutesperzone,asdefined
bytheuser),theRainMachineautomaticallyadjustsyourbasewateringdurationbylowering
itonrainyorcolderdaysandincreasingitonhotsummerdays.
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BecausethesystemdynamicallyadjustthewateringdurationtheRainMachinenotonly
saveswaterbutitalsoprotectsyourplants.
2.1. BaseWateringDuration
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TheBaseWateringDurationisthedurationofwateringrequiredforeachzone,duringa
normal,summerday,asdefinedbytheenduser.
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Initialcalibrationeffortsusingcomplexformulasthattakeinconsiderationsoiltype,inclination
andhypotheticalsolarirradiationamountsarepossible,buttheyarenotpractical.Variable
citywaterpressureaswellasunevenwaterdistributionamongallsprinklerheads,coupled
withlocalshadingconditionscreateanimpracticalandinaccuratemodelingaugingwhat’s
bestforyourgarden.
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Note:Ourdeviceguaranteesseasonallyanddailywatersavingsbasedoncalculationsthat
takeinconsiderationvegetationtype,variabilityoftheweatherandtimeofyear,butitcannot
preventwaterwaste,shouldyousettheBaseWateringDurationtosomethingmuchhigher
thannormal.
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GivenaBaseWateringdurationpereachzone,asdecidedbyyou,theRainMachinewillthen
dynamicallyadjustthewateringduration,upanddown,asneeded.Theseadjustmentsare
theresultofEvapotranspirationcalculationsbasedonyourvegetationtype(Lawn,Bushes,
Flowers,Vegetables,Citrus,etc)andfeedbackfrommeteorologicaldatasuchas: 
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RainMachineUserManual
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● ForecastedTemperaturefromNationalWeatherService.
● QuantitativePrecipitationForecastfromNOAA’sNationalWeatherService.
● SolarRadialLevelsadjustedtoEarth’srotationandinclinationduringtheyear.
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Note:SeeAppendix1foradetailedexplanationoftheEvapotranspiration(ET),Quantitative
PrecipitationForecast(QPF)algorithms.
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2.2. Protectingyourplants–HiandLowtemperatures
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WhilesavingwaterisoneoftheRainMachine’smaingoals,growingahealthylawnorgarden
isequallyimportant.RainMachineprotectsyourplantsagainstextremeweatherconditions,
likefreezingtemperaturesorunusuallyhotdays.
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NavigatetoSetting>Hi/LoTempsandyoucaninstructtheRainMachinetoavoidwatering
whentheminimumtemperaturedropsbelowacertainlevel,ortoaddmorewaterinextreme
hotconditions.Inaddition,youcanselectindividualmonthsoftheyearwhenthecontroller
preventsstartingofanywateringcycle.
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Note:BysettingupfreezeprotectyouinstructRainMachinetonotstartwateringcycles
underaspecifiedtemperatureoronspecificmonths.Thatdoesnotprotectyourpipesor
otherpartsofthesystemagainstfreezing.Ifyouliveinazonewherefreezingoccurs,please
winterizeyoursystem.
2.3. MissingInternetweatherdata
TheRainMachinecanproperlyworkevenwhenyourInternetconnectiontemporarilygoes
down.Thecontrollerdownloadsforecastdataforupto7days;therefore,itcancontinue
normaloperationseveraldayswithintermittentInternetfailures.
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Note:YouneedaworkingInternetconnectionwhenyousetupthecontrollerforthefirst
time.DuringthefirstsetupanduntiltheconnectionwithNOAAweatherdataserversis
establishedanddatadownloaded,theNOAAlogoisred.
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Inaddition,RainMachineusesahistoricaldatabasewithyourlocalweatherconditions,and,if
noInternetweatherdataisavailable,itstillssavesyousomewaterbyusingalocallystored
historicalaveragestable.
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RainMachineUserManual
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Note:UsingForecastdataand/orHistoricalaveragescanbedisabledforanyspecificzone.
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IfbothForecastdataandHistoricalaveragesaredisabledforaspecificzone,the
RainMachinewillactasaregularsprinklercontroller,wateringtheamountyouprogrammed
(theBaseWateringDuration)foreachzone,withoutanyadjustment.
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3. USERINTERFACE
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IMPORTANT:AvailabletouchactionstonavigateandmakechangesontheRainMachine
applicationare:onefingertapandonefingerswipeleft,right,topandbottom.Whenthe
screenentersintosleepmode,onefingertapwillopenitbackupinto“Home”screen.
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OntheRainMachine6.5"glasscapacitivetouchscreenthereare5backlitilluminatedtouch
buttons,3ontheleftsideand2ontherightsideofthecolorLCDscreen.
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?Helpthisbuttonwillopenacontextual“Help”screen
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WaterNowtappingthisbuttonitwillopenthemanualwateringapplicationscreen.
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Note:TheWaterNowbuttonwillstartflashingwhenawateringactivityit’stakingplace(i.e.
programstarts,manualwateringisset.
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 Tapthisbuttonanditwillopenthe“Settings”applicationscreen.
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Backtappingthisbuttonitwillgobacktothepreviewsapplicationscreen.
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RainMachineUserManual
Hometappingthisbuttonitwillalwaysopenthe“Home”applicationscreen.
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3.1. Homescreen
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Fromtoptobottom:
● Topscreen5weatherforecastdays,startingfrom“TODAY”,showingtheaverageHigh
andLowtemperatures.
● Middlescreeninpercent,averagewaterthatcouldbeconsumedforeachday.
● BottomscreenLastweatherupdatestatusforthesetuplocationandNOAA*status.
(*NOAANationalOceanicandAtmosphericAdministration).
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Note:Untiltheconnectionisestablishedandweatherdataissuccessfullydownloadedfrom
NOAAservers,theNOAAlogowillshowinredcolor.Itmighttakeupto1hourto
synchronizewiththeNOAAservers.
If,foranyreason,RainMachinedoesnothaveinternetconnectionandthelinkwithNOAA
serverscouldnotbeestablished,theNOAAlogoonthescreenwillturnred.
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RainMachineUserManual
3.2. StatisticsScreens
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Tappinganywhereonthe“Home”screenitwillopenthe30daysaveragewater
consumption.Tapingagainonthisscreenitwillshow1yearstatistics.Toreturntothe
“Home”screen,tapagainonthegraph.
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  
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Ontherightsideofthescreenyouwillseeanindexwiththeaveragewaterconsumption
forthespecificperiod(inthisexampleitis74%).
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3.3. WaterNowScreen
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TappingthisbuttonwillopentheManualWateringscreen.Thisactionallowsyouto
startwateringononeormorezones.
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Note:IfZone1issetas“MasterValve”itwillnotshowupinthemanualwateringzonelist.
OnlyZone1canbesetas“MasterValve”fromtheZone1propertiesscreen.
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Tapthezonecardyouwanttowaterandthensetthewateringtime,inminutes,bytapping“
+”or”–“.Thevalveassociatedwiththezonewillstartwatering.Cancelanytimethisaction
bytaping“Cancel”.
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RainMachineUserManual
 
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Startingazonewhileanotheroneisrunning,itwillautomaticallyplacetherespectivezonein
“Pending”modeuntiltheactivezonefinisheswateringoritiscancelled.
Anytimeyouwanttocancel/stopallthemanualwateringactivitiestapthe“STOPALL”
button.
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3.4. Settingsscreen
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 Tappingthisbuttonwillopenthe“Settings”applicationscreen.
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 
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Note:Thisbuttonwillstartflashingifsomethingit’snotcorrectlysetupintheRainMachine
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9
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
RainMachineUserManual
settings.(i.e.theWiFiconnectionit’snotactive,orincorrectlysetup)
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3.4.1.Programs
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Tappingthe“PROGRAMS”carditwillopentheProgramList.
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 
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TapaProgramcardtochangeitsproperties.
Tapping“AddNewProgram”cardtoaddanewprogramandthe“ProgramSummary”
screenwillopen.
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Note:Thereisnolimitofthenumberofprogramsyoucanset. 
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 
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Active/Inactive:UsethisfeaturetoenableordisableaProgram.
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10
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