When you get your new unit there are a few things to consider before setting up the unit. The first would be where you are going to place the unit. This will be determined by a couple of factors, the biggest being where your current controller is installed.

Indoor vs Outdoor

If this is outdoor you will want to get an outdoor enclosure. We recommend the Orbit 57095.

Outdoor Installation Tips:

- Please install box in a place that is sheltered from long periods of direct Sun Exposure.

- Avoid installing unit in South or West facing walls in order to avoid direct sunlight exposure. Ensure that temperature inside the box does not exceed 125 F (50 C) on daily basis as this can shorten the RainMachine operating life due to repeated thermal stress. Occasional temperature excursions up to 150 F are tolerated but not not recommended.

- Excessive and repeated moisture accumulation (condensation) could damage electronics, especially in Coastal Environments. Avoid using our RainMachine Touch device in such outdoor environments as moisture and salt accumulation, in rare occasions, can be harm the touchscreen electronics.

Indoor Installation Tips:

If you are like me then you had your previous controller in the garage. So you won't need to have an outdoor enclosure. You still want to be sure that the temperature conditions in your garage don't exceed the 125 degree conditions on a daily basis. Garages tend to have unique wall compositions. This means that they have lots of piping and wiring going through the walls attached to the house. These can lead to our next consideration.

Wifi Survey

Before you set up your machine you are going to want to make sure you have signal where you want to place the unit at. We have placed a decibel meter to measure the available bandwidth. To get there you would press the wrench symbol from the Home screen. 

It will take you to the Settings page.

From there you navigate to System and then WiFi.

You can see all the networks in the area that RainMachine can see. Above each networks name is a -dBm number. This number lets us know how much interference there is. We require that number to be -58 or lower. Using this tool you can plug the machine in without taking the time to hook up your sprinkler system yet and find the ideal location. Because of the composition of your homes walls you may find that a few feet in a different direction will get you within tolerance.