Evapotranspiration setup

[ryarber]

Here is what I've done. I'd just like to make sure I'm on the right track.

 

I bought 4 rain gauges that can stick into the ground and measured and calculated how long each zone has to run in order to deliver 1/2 inch of water to the lawn. Some zones have more and different kinds of heads, so each zone run time came out quite different than the others. For instance, the ones with rotating spray nozzles that watered a larger area require up to 90 minutes of runtime to deliver 1/2 inch, whereas some of the zones that have the fan nozzles and cover a smaller area have smaller runtimes, some as low as 15 minutes.

 

After all that was done, I set the "wait" times in the irrigation program to reflect the runtimes of each zone and changed the timeout interval in the EZRain device to be 2 minutes longer than the actual run time for that zone. That way, if there is a communication problem, the zone will only run 2 minutes longer than it was intended to run.

 

I plugged into the irrigation module the soil absorption factor. I have sandy clay so I used 81%. I plugged in the water applied per irrigation to be 0.5 inches, and set my region to "Interior Plains." The ISY, I guess, calculated the allowable depletion to be 0.405 inches.

 

For the program, I wrote the following program...

If
          From 12:01:00AM
          For 6 hours
    And   Status 'Master BR KP / Irr Hold.MBK' is not On
    And   Module 'Climate' Irrigation Requirement >= 0.50

Then
           Set 'Irr - 1' On
           Wait 90 minutes
           Set 'Irr - 2' On
           Wait 90 minutes
           Set 'Irr - 3' On
           Wait 60 minutes
           Set 'Irr - 4' On
           Wait 30 minutes
           Set 'Irr - 5' On
           Wait 54 minutes
           Set 'Irr - 6' On
           Wait 15 minutes
           Set 'Irr - 7' On
           Irrigation Cycle - Complete
           Wait 21 minutes
           Set 'Irr - 7' Off

Else
           Set Scene 'Irrigation Hold' Off

 

The other code there is for a KPL button that I use when I want to purposefully hold an irrigation cycle for 24 hours. For instance when my chemical guy comes and sprays for weeds, I don't want to irrigate that day. The program will turn the button off if it is turned on and reset it daily.

 

Does the "For" line in the If statement need to be there? Can I strike it?

 

Also, I shortened the zone names above to save time typing it.

 

Thanks.

[oberkc]

Does the "For" line in the If statement need to be there? Can I strike it?

 

I don't believe one can simply "strike" lines in the ISY code. The first two lines in your "if" statement are part of a single time condition that can, however, be changed to a different time condition. Rather than using the "from/to" time condition, simply use the "time is" condition. I, too, believe this would be a better solution:

 

 

If
          Time is 12:01:00AM
     And   Status 'Master BR KP / Irr Hold.MBK' is not On
    And   Module 'Climate' Irrigation Requirement >= 0.50

then

.....

[TJF1960]

Unless of course there is a power outage at 12:00AM and lasts longer than the "Missed Schedule Grace Period" time set in the ISY in which case the irrigation program wouldn't run that day. With the "For 6 hours" added in to the code the irrigation should run when power was restored within the 6 hour window.

 

Tim

[oberkc]

Unless of course there is a power outage at 12:00AM and lasts longer than the "Missed Schedule Grace Period" time set in the ISY in which case the irrigation program wouldn't run that day.

 

So...you think the original program would be more likely run at 0100 after a 59 minute power interruption? I would not expect this to happen, but you may be correct.

 

I thought that if you chose the system option to get programs caught up after power failure, it would run this program regardless of the duration of the power failure. I had forgotten (or failed to notice) the missed schedule grace period.

[TJF1960]

Well, I would think it would run based on my understanding….but I could be wrong….its been known to happen…..After a reboot the ISY evaluates programs. If the power fail/restore occurred within the 6 hour window shouldn’t that program evaluate true and run?

 

Perhaps someone with direct knowledge could chime in.

 

Tim

[oberkc]

After a reboot the ISY evaluates programs.

 

I was not sure that restoration of power after a loss would trigger a program evaluation and program execution. If so, what would happen to the OP sample program if power failure happened at, as an example, 0400, well after it runs the first time. Would it run again?

 

I am not sure that I experience enough power failures to be able to say with any degree of certainty how my programs react, but I do not recall any cases where they ever got off schedule. Perhaps I have gotten lucky and not had power loss during any critical program times.

 

Perhaps a definitive answer will come from those with direct knowledge.

[TJF1960]

The OP’s sample program takes 6 hours to fully run. If the power was restored at 0400 the program would start then stop at 0601 because the 6 hours were up, thus leaving his Irr – 2 on until the timeout ended in the EZFlora for that zone. One thing I am not sure of is whether the ISY acknowledges the zone time out (entered and saved to EZFlora using ISY console)and then would change the status after the EZFlora timeout.

 

I created this program to test what happens after reboot:

If
       From    11:20:00AM
       For      1 hour 
   And Status  'Devices / WR1 KPL 1 Ceil Lite' is not On
   And Module 'Climate' Temperature >= 80 °F

Then
       Set 'Devices / WR1 KPL 1 Ceil Lite' On
       Send Notification to 'Tim'

Else
  - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

 

After reboot the “Devices/WR1 KPL1 Ceil Lite†turned on and notification was sent.

 

As another test I deleted all of the IF conditions except the time from/for and rebooted. The Light didn’t turn on. The program was true as per the Program Summary page but by itself it didn't execute the program. In order for the program to excute it needs a trigger- other than just the time from/for.

 

Tim

[LeeG]

"whether the ISY acknowledges the zone time out (entered and saved to EZFlora using ISY console)and then would change the status after the EZFlora timeout."

 

No. The EZFlora does not send a message when a Zone has turned Off because of the maximum run time expiring nor does the ISY keep track of how long a particular Zone has run and mark it Off on the assumption the EZFlora has turned it Off.

[TJF1960]

Thanks LeeG,

 

That’s what I wasn’t sure about, if the ISY turned the status of the zone off based on the assumption due to the timeout.

 

Tim

[ryarber]

I ran into a problem with the above program. When I would activate the Irr Hold.MBK button on the KPL, it would cause the program to trigger the "Else" statement and immediately turn off the button. I had to delete the "Else" statement and add another program to just turn off the button at 12:05 AM.