Issues with manual control of Master Valve
I have 2 RainMachine 16s, for 28 valves, with Zone1 of each RM controlling the same Master Valve (MV).
My MV also controls water flow to my pool refill valve (manual) and 3 hose bib valves scattered around the yard (for watering potted plants and the like). Of course, these non-irrigation manual valves won't work unless the MV is ON. In addition, I can't check for water leaks unless the MV is ON.
I've assigned one spare zone on one of my RMs to the MV so that I can "trick" the MV into turning ON by making it think a real valve (zone) is being activated. This works fine in general, but has these problems:
- I have to dedicate a dummy zone to the function; thus, between 2 RMs, I have to dedicated 3 zones to the MV (Zone1 on each for "normal" MV operation, plus a dummy zone).
- The + symbol on the RM only adds a minute per touch. To open the MV for an hour (e.g., to fill the pool) takes 60 touches. I personally can avoid this issue by using my phone. My gardener and pool guy are stuck pushing the + symbol a LOT. It would be nice if a constant press on the + symbol added time in larger units (e.g., 10 minutes for every second or two of constant pressing).
- Using the dummy zone to manually turn the MV ON causes conflicts with other zones or is in conflict with other zones. I'd like to be able to force the MV to an ON state for a set period of time regardless of whether or not other zones are running or queued.
I suggest an option in the Zone1 configuration that allows manual operation when designated as being for an MV -- thus avoiding having to dedicate a dummy zone. When selected, the option would "un-hide" Zone1 and allow time to be entered.
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Well that's a pretty smart workaround ! :)
If I understand this right what you need is to have MV (Zone 1) act as a normal zone (that can be added to programs with a duration) but still act as a master valve (remain open along with other zones from the program that is included). Would this master valve still open for other programs that don't have Zone 1 added ?
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In a Rev1.0, I'd be happy just to see an option for Zone1, when set to control an MV, to "Allow Manual Operation". That would unhide the Zone1 controller and allow manually setting time just like any other zone. An MV Zone1 would otherwise behave much as it does now -- whenever another zone is ON, Zone1 would automatically open the MV, and automatically close the MV when all other zones were OFF (unless the time manually set for Zone1 had not expired). Importantly, such an MV Zone1 (A) when ON, would not cause other valves to be "pending", OR (B) wait for all other valves to turn OFF before turning ON.
Example: I activate the "new" control, "Allow Manual Operation", for one of my RMs. I now see Zone1 in the list of zones. If I want to turn the pool filler valve ON for 60 minutes, at the RM, I press the + symbol for Zone1 60 times (see my other complaint), and manually turn on my manual pool filler valve (and set a timer on my watch to remind me to close it). If my 10-minute raised bed program comes on before the 60 minutes expires, the MV is already open and that program will run (assume I have sufficient water pressure for the pool filler valve and the raised bed bubblers). However, at the end of 10 minutes, if the original 60 minutes for Zone1 had not already expired, then when the raised bed program expires, the MV would NOT turn OFF. Thus: MV OFF = longer of {Zone1 set time} OR {program duration}.
In a Rev2.0, it would be nice if an MV Zone1 could be scheduled to be ON for a duration (but also behave "normally" for other programs). Example: I might want the MV to be ON for 2 hrs every Friday morning to enable the yard hose bibs for the gardener. What I wouldn't want to see is forcing inclusion of an MV Zone1 in every program, which would be a step backward in user friendliness. A possible solution is to not allow an MV Zone1 be included in any program other than its own (i.e., it would be the only zone in a program). However, there might be some benefits to others to allow programmatic control of an MV Zone1 (again, so long as the current automatic ON/OFF behavior as a function of other valves is retained).
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