Anybody know of a irrigation controller that does more than 4 start times per zone per day? Just picked up a Rainbird and it only does 4 starts per day, lame.
look into products marketed for greenhouses on a commercial scale.
The home depot etc versions never…EVER have lasted anywhere close to what they should.
I have been messing around with RainMachine. It has a REST API, and is open source.
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for some reason automation on that level freaks me out more than most it seems. Same reason I don’t like the idea of autopilot in cars.
Different strokes I suppose
They seem well priced for what they do. So you have unlimited start times per zone? and what’s the minimum duration? Manual leaves those questions unanswered.
Not looking for anything with wifi but this is well priced.
Hunter node is excellent
look up “open sprinkler” they are great.
I can confirm open sprinkler is great. It’s open source, so incredibly easy to modify.
I just checked the GUI, and it allows a 1 second duration.
I don’t see any limit to the number of start times per zone. I just tried to create 8 per zone per day, and that worked.
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I’ve used the galcon AC-6S. It works well for the price of $130 canadian.
Change your search to “propagation controllers” and you’ll find more products with seconds duration and high frequency watering capabilities.
We are switching to the trolmaster aqua x in the new year
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1sec is nice! Thanks for checking on that for me. Still weary of wifi though.
Trolmaster Aqua X is great for the price
Open sprinkler can be hard wired cat5 and has unlimited starts and timing down to one second. My main gripe is a lack of moisture sensor integration unless you are a coding genius.
I’m going to try a trolmaster very soon. The moisture sensors are spendy and the moisture sensors can’t be split in to zones, it gives an average of all sensors. So you would essentially need one controller per zone to effectively use moisture sensors. I just intend to use the moisture sensors as an insurance policy…if it dips below x amount I get an alert and it auto waters.
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I’m gonna have to look into this unit more, thanks… Right now I have my eye on a Rainbird 4-22 station with 8 start times per zone and 4 overlapping programs. So I’m hoping that translates to 32 start times.
Is your setup outside? Curious as to why the moisture sensor is a big deal. I just made the switch to coco so I’m basically watering same times everyday. My big issue right now is I’m trying to have all the valves open after each watering to allow any built up water to drain out but if I’m at say 5-6 waterings a day that’s 10x-12x start times. I think with this rainbird I’m looking at I can accomplish that with overlapping programs.
The added features of the trolmaster seem handy. I’m going to have to look into this more.
I’m in a commercial greenhouse. Moisture sensors are important to me as an insurance policy. We’ve had a couple issues with bad valves and an idiot cutting the relay wire to the main pump. When I’m on vacation SOP’s aren’t necessarily followed and issues like these haven’t been caught. SOP states an individual is to physically observe every zone water once per day. If I get an alert and it automatically waters we can potentially save a literal ton of flower. I can fix overwatering if a sensor fails, I can’t fix crispy plants.
To be clear 99% of the time watering will be done by timer. The sensors are just to notify if something is very dry. I don’t think the technology is quite there to do all waterings based on moisture sensors
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I see I see, makes a lot of sense.
If your working with soil, u cna skip the contollers all together and use Blumat irrigation system, it automatically waters and runs off pressure operated moisture sensors in the ground. No electricty needed, just 10-15psi constant water supply. You can hook it up to a dosatron, and have a constant nutrient feed into your water supply
I’m not sure how I’ve never come across those. Just ordered 100 for my r&d location. Thank you.