Please post pictures of your Rainmachine installation...
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Please post pictures of your Rainmachine installation...
Here's mine... Has anyone come up with a technique for hiding the stripped wires leading into the bottom of the controller... IMHO looks messy and unprofessional yet works wonderfully.. (The masking tape was my way of numbering each zone while transferring from the old controller)...
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This is my own idiosyncrasy: I can't stand seeing wires. I ran everything in the wall.
Edit to add:
I didn't do anything special. I just cut the hole in the drywall high enough that it was mostly covered by the Rainmachine. The wire cover then hides everything.
This was installed last year before there was a workaround for running wired ethernet and this was just out of reach of consistently good wireless signal, so I had to add another access point in the attic above this area. Since there was an AP that had to be plugged in, I also added a receptacle. This made running power in the same wall cavity easy. And since this was on a garage wall and is GFI protected, this makes it easy to cycle power on the controller when it occasionally locks up. Just hit the 'test' and 'reset' button on the GFI and you get a hard power cycle.
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I'm with Shrinks above... I don't like visible wires. I just got my installation done a few hours ago.
Made a mounting plate/spacer out of some scrap poplar. Made this a few days ago on a ShopBot.
Spray painted it white.
Attached the mounting plate/spacer on the wall (this happens to be a part of the garage that's covered with StoreWall) where the previous controller lived.
Fastened the HD-16 on the mounting plate/spacer, leaving the wires dangling underneath; excess wire can be pushed back up in-between the HD-16 and the custom mounting plate/spacer.
Screwed down all the wires to the terminal strips.
Powered it up.
Put the cover on.
Here's what it looks like like straight-on.
View from underneath so you can see how the wiring is done under the HD-16.
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Hi Nicholas,
the enclosure is a Legrand Plexo³ 12 TE (12 units wide), 2 rows. The Legrand part number is 001922.
I replaced the upper row with a mounting plate, part number 001962.
To leave the RM accessible, I did not put in a cover for the mounting plate and I drilled holes into the edges of the plate to mount it on the same level as the DIN rail, instead of the back of the enclosure.
The plate measures 150mm x 236mm (HxW). So yes, two minis will fit. Quite snug, if you mount it like I did, but it will fit if you move it more to the edge of the plate.
The enclosure and plate are also available as a 18 division units version, which would leave more room.
I bought this one with a possible upgrade to a touch screen model in mind. Not that I would need it. They are damn expensive here in germany....
(What are the shipping costs to MEX? Im there next week and would be able to bring a PRO back without having to pay customs)
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Nice guide thanks, the enclosures are also waterproof I might change my setup to Pro version with this enclosure.
Not sure about shipping to MEX but should be much, if you know the address I think you can use it on https://shop.rainmachine.com. Should also be available in EU (although not yet on the website but they should have it on stock) with similar prices and if you order from EU you won't pay customs taxes (https://shop.rainmachine.eu)
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Yes, the enclosures are IP65, if mounted correctly and all provided seals (for the mouting holes, cable inserts, etc.) are used.
Just, checked, shipping is 50USD to Mexico. Is rainmachine.eu affialiated with RainMachine? The pricing is very different. Guess I'll wait for the Pro-8 anyway.
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Mini-8 replaced RainBird ESP-6, which had a relatively roomy housing and 40VA transformer.
Swapped out RainBird guts for the Mini-8:
I considered anchoring the Mini-8, but adding metal would not improve Wi-Fi signal, and it's not going anywhere when the cover is closed...
FWIW, 40VA 26.5V transformer measures lower (30.3) than 31.2V from RainMachine transformer.
Similar transformers (Cin-Tran 30-BD24341) for attachment to conduit are available online for around $16.
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I was inspired by some of the photos here to try to conceal the wiring on mine. This is the end result. I've used a media outlet box which happened to fit the Touch HD nearly perfectly. (I did look for quite some time.) Still, I had to modify the box and even the Touch HD enclosure to make it work out.
I mounted a terminal block inside the box, and used a few switch plates on top of each other with cuts to cover the 1-gang cutout in the box but still allow wiring to fit under the controller. I metal tab in the top of the box secures the top so I just use two wood screws through the bottom to secure it.
I filed away a corner of the controller to create a wiring channel.
This is like, iteration 3 of the power supply which is now down in the crawl space, below and adjacent to the wall of the garage the controller is mounted on. At iteration 5 I'm just going back to the original rainmachine transformer though because it is the only one I've found so far that doesn't have that annoying 60 Hz hum I can hear a room away. Don't ask me why on earth I threw it away because I never do things like that and this is why!
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Hi All!
New here, and while I wasn't planning on it, got so excited to get mine yesterday, did the install late last night.
Some of you guys have done excellent work keeping things neat.
I was trying to figure out what to do, when I realized the guts of my (previous) Rain Bird could be removed by disconnecting a ribbon cable and a handful of screws. That box had the wires hidden through the PCV, so I decided to mount the Rain Machine inside the Rain Bird case. Still need to neaten up the wires inside the box, but at least when it is normally closed, it looks decent.
Sorry about the accidental spam for my irrigation installers, I'm not trying to "advertise" for them, just never took their sheet off the box, which now that I see how ugly it is in the pictures, I will soon.
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