Irrigation Controllers

[marcin]

I hope everyone is staying safe. I'm looking to upgrade my Irrigation Controller. I was thinking about Rain Machine. Does anyone has any recommendation? I want something that would integrate with ISY either directly or thru polisy. Moisture sensors would be a plus. 

[glarsen]

Both the Rainmachine and Rachio are supported by nodeservers available for the Polisy or RPi.  I've had a Rainmachine for about 3 years and find it very functional and reliable.  I have no experience with the Rachio, but others on these forums have.

[Bumbershoot]

There are a few things that pushed me to Rainmachine: 1) it uses an entirely local API to communicate with your ISY, no cloud needed, but cloud connectivity is available through the Rainmachine app and website;  2) if the company goes belly up, then the firmware will be released under an open source license; 3) it can make use of personal weather stations.

Rainmachine supports rain sensors and flow sensors, but I don't think it supports 3rd party soil moisture sensors currently. 

https://support.rainmachine.com/hc/en-us/articles/227832747-Sensors

I've made use of Wireless Tag moisture sensors and my ISY to perform irrigation enhancements based on soil moisture, so it's doable.  It requires that you get their data into your ISY (covered below).  I shrouded the tag electronics with a desiccant pack inside a small baggy, but they lasted three years that way.  I'm about to buy some new tags and do the same again.  I don't put them in places where they can get stepped on.

On the subject of Wireless Tags, there are three ways to get data into your ISY: 1) URL Calling, 2) KUMOApps 3) the Wireless Tag nodeserver.  I run a Polisy, so I make use of the Rainmachine and Wireless Tag nodeservers to make the data available to my ISY.

Operationally, the Rainmachine does a very adequate job of managing my irrigation.  I only supplement using the ISY is some hot areas (direct sunshine) that contain sensitive plants.

[marcin]

Thank you. I went with RainMachine and planning on using wireless tags.

[arw01]

On 5/7/2020 at 9:29 AM, marcin said:

Thank you. I went with RainMachine and planning on using wireless tags.

Marcin, how was your experience and would you buy this route again?  Have an ez-flora now and looking for something the wife could handle on her own or a sprinkler guy should I be gone.

[lilyoyo1]

1 hour ago, arw01 said:

Marcin, how was your experience and would you buy this route again?  Have an ez-flora now and looking for something the wife could handle on her own or a sprinkler guy should I be gone.

I use Rain machine and love it. Its even better for the wife(or sprinkler guy) as it it really simple to use. While it works spectacularly on its own, the ISY does allow you to dial it in even more.

I use my wife to test everything for me when it comes to simplicity. Technology comes easy for me shes like a fish out of water with them.  When I choose products, I try to use things that work well outside the ISY such as the ISY and rainmachine. She tests those for me to make sure the interface and usage of them are easy for the avg end user. With that said, she had no issues with it.

[marcin]

I love my RainMachine. I did not had a chance to hook it up to ISY but its really user friendly on front end. My wife likes it as well.  There is a lot of configuration on the back end with each zone, size soil type and sprinkler type etc. 

[GDavis01]

I am about to buy the RainMachine HD16... I am using NodeLink for DSC alarms and Venstar thermostats and I see that NodeLink handles the RainMachine also... Is this the way to go or should I consider setting it up using Polyglot?

[midrar]

I had a Racho 3 in my previous house probably would not go that route again for two reasons. Everything is cloud based and it’s a little difficult to operate from the controller without the app. 
 

I will be buying a rain machine because of the positive reviews, the interface from the control panel, and the support for a flow meter. Rachio does come with a flow meter and I never had any issues with it. 

[Bumbershoot]

On 6/19/2020 at 10:40 AM, GDavis01 said:

I am about to buy the RainMachine HD16... I am using NodeLink for DSC alarms and Venstar thermostats and I see that NodeLink handles the RainMachine also... Is this the way to go or should I consider setting it up using Polyglot?

You can actually use either NodeLink or Polyglot for the devices you listed.  I'm not qualified to describe the technical advantages/shortcoming of either, but since you're already using NodeLink (and I assume you're happy with it), you should keep using it.  NodeLink occupies only one nodeserver slot on your ISY, and it will handle your Rainmachine easily.

[srjacob]

Interesting discussion.  I, too am looking for an irrigation controller, and the RainMachine seems like the one to get.

However,

I have the ISY994ZW, integrated with my Elk system, and have no knowledge of Polyglot or Nodelink.  Where can I find information  on these, and how can I integrate the RainMachine in with my automation.  I currently have the ISY, and Elk M1G and all-Insteon lighting.  Do I have to purchase a Polyglot, or is there a less expensive way to do this?

[srjacob]

Has anyone used the RainBee8 5010Z 8-Zone ZigBee/Insteon/X10 Irrigation Controller directly on the ISY994?  You can see it here at: https://www.orchestratedhome.com/shop/pc/8-Zone-ZigBee-Insteon-X10-Irrigation-Controller-30p25.htm

[LFMc]

41 minutes ago, srjacob said:

Has anyone used the RainBee8 5010Z 8-Zone ZigBee/Insteon/X10 Irrigation Controller directly on the ISY994?  You can see it here at: https://www.orchestratedhome.com/shop/pc/8-Zone-ZigBee-Insteon-X10-Irrigation-Controller-30p25.htm

You can not run Zigbee on the ISY. The Insteon interface on this is powerline only which is a formula for lots of issues. I.e. there is no insteon wireless on it. Also I just don't think this device will be supported on the current ISY or even future releases. Also the 5010 series of devices are just PLMs and most die after 2-3 years. 

I just scored a lightly used RainMachine Mini-8 on Craigslist for $50. They are unobtainable new for some reason right now, but you can get the 16 zone version new I think. It works GREAT.  I upgraded to ISY 5.x recently and put Polyglot on a Raspberry Pi 4 and the Rainmachine node server is great too. I allow it to talk to the internet (cloud) and it is really accurate for my area on the weather predictions, especially rain fall. It is better than most of the weather NS in the store. 

[srjacob]

How do I find out more info on Polyglot and the Rainmachine node server?  I don't want to have this talk to a cloud, but keeping everything local to my network.  If I want remote control, I use a VPN (I don't trust clouds).  I use a VPN (my router has a VPN server), and that's how I access the ISY remotely.

I really no nothing about Polyglot and node servers.  Also, how would I install Polyglot on an RPI?  Please tell me how you did that.

Thanks,

Steve

[lilyoyo1]

1 hour ago, srjacob said:

How do I find out more info on Polyglot and the Rainmachine node server?  I don't want to have this talk to a cloud, but keeping everything local to my network.  If I want remote control, I use a VPN (I don't trust clouds).  I use a VPN (my router has a VPN server), and that's how I access the ISY remotely.

I really no nothing about Polyglot and node servers.  Also, how would I install Polyglot on an RPI?  Please tell me how you did that.

Thanks,

Steve

There's a polyglot subforum that has a tremendous amount of information including videos on how to get it running on a Rpi. Rain machine also has its own forum here which runs locally. 

Personally, I'd order Polisy from UDI since Rpi's will not be able to access the new store once released. 

I only use the nodeserver to stop the sprinkler system should it be running and we have to go outside where we could get wet. The system works great without outside assistance

Edited May 27, 2021 by lilyoyo1

[carealtor]

32 minutes ago, lilyoyo1 said:

The (RainMachine) system works great without outside assistance

This is a really good point.  I have RainMachine and use the Polyglot to integrate with my ISY, but I don't actually do anything with it.  The RainMachine does such a good job on it's own.

[LFMc]

2 hours ago, srjacob said:

How do I find out more info on Polyglot and the Rainmachine node server?  I don't want to have this talk to a cloud, but keeping everything local to my network.  If I want remote control, I use a VPN (I don't trust clouds).  I use a VPN (my router has a VPN server), and that's how I access the ISY remotely.

I really no nothing about Polyglot and node servers.  Also, how would I install Polyglot on an RPI?  Please tell me how you did that.

Thanks,

Steve

It seems you are uncomfortable with the Raspberry Pi. As others mentioned, you are probably a great candidate for a Polisy.  I was already running one for other purposes.

[srjacob]

I don't know where you got that idea.  I have 2 PIs.  One running Octoprint, and one with a touch screen I use as a network test machine.  I run both PIs off 12V with a little buck converter.

All want with an irrigation controller is to be able to change the programs remotely (not using their cloud).  I just don't know anything about Polyglot, since what I have works fine.

My Elk is connected to the ISY994 with Insteon lighting and a bunch of Elk and ISY programs.  The Elk runs a remote gate and functions

1 hour ago, LFMc said:

It seems you are uncomfortable with the Raspberry Pi. As others mentioned, you are probably a great candidate for a Polisy.  I was already running one for other purposes.

as security and access control.

[Goose66]

2 hours ago, carealtor said:

This is a really good point.  I have RainMachine and use the Polyglot to integrate with my ISY, but I don't actually do anything with it.  The RainMachine does such a good job on it's own.

+1 Once I got all of the zone settings right in my RainMachine, it is really set and forget. It starts on May 1, waters our new annuals for 2 months, and shuts it self off after September 30. Plus it has its own Alexa skill so my wife can run zones manually (she doesn't trust adaptive watering algorithms), and she will even go out in the garage and use the intuitive touchscreen to setup a manual run of a string of zones. There's really no point to the ISY integration here. Maybe if I needed to coordinate my pool filler with the irrigation system?

[marcin]

Here is another idea if you don’t want to go with controller you can use your Elk with relay board (ELK-M1RB) connect the wires from your irrigation valves and write couple programs in ISY or ELK to control the irrigation process.

 I’ve been with my rain machine for almost a year, I found it to be very easy to use. Initially it took little bit of configuration, but once set is very easy. I actually just upgraded my Touch HD from 12 zones to 16 zones since we set up some micro drips for flowers and garden.