Flow Meter Issues
Hi
I have an 8 port Pro and have a 2 wire flow meter connected to sensor 1 port. The unit gives lots of random errors with flow reports when system is not watering. Sometimes it will say leak detected and 0 or 0.01 cubic metres of flow, sometimes it will say 100 cubic metres (or other large number).
I use cat5e twisted pair to connect the 2 wires from the meter and connect to the S1 and GND terminals. I have also tried with resistor between 5V as pullup (found on forum search as possible solution) but this did not work for me.
Issue is random as to what time it will occur but it is continuous as it occurs daily/or at least every second day.
Also tried disconnecting wires at rain machine (left flow meter selected on) and it does same thing, so maybe unit is faulty.
PS - should mention that when watering flow is always correct in operation and very accurate.
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I've had the same issue on my Pro-16. I have a pretty long run to my flow meter, so I always assumed it was interference. I've also tried the resistor without any luck.
For me it has been very sporadic. I saw it happen over the winter when the water was shut off to the system, but it stopped this spring and worked fine all summer. It just started again in Sept. I did upgrade to Beta Firmware version 4.0.1151 right before it started again, but I suspect that is a coincidence.
I've never tried removing the sensor wires completely from the RainMachine to see if it keeps happening. If it continues for me, that's something I may try and report back.
As far as false leak detection alerts, there is a separate issue that you may also be encountering depending on your flow meter. My flow meter measures .01 of a gallon per pulse, so right after my programs end, it will measure .01 gallon as the final valve closes and pressurizes the supply pipe. This small amount of water is normal and should not be alerted. I've made a request to have the leak detection logic allow for a 2-3 second delay after a program ends, but I haven't seen any progress on that. For most people with flow meters that measure 1 gal per pulse, this would never be an issue as it is unlikely that their meter would measure a full gallon while their valve is closing.
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My flow meter measures 1 pulse per litre, the cable run is around 30m,
I took the plug pack power supply off the UPS and put it into a normal socket and now the issue has been less frequent but it still occurs around every 3 or so days. It is spring at the moment so we still get enough rain that the device does not want to water so this issue occurs irrespective of actual watering or valve operations.
There are 2 more steps I can take before writing the unit off and getting something else:
1. Replace the plug pack supply, maybe to one with a higher current/better 24v output.
2. Replace cable with 2 core screened one to try and reduce noise interference, although I never had an issue with the current setup when I used the Hydrawise HC Pro 8 which is what the RM replaced.
I tend to believe my unit has a fault but it would be cost prohibitive to try and return it from Australia.
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Ok, ran the shielded cable and have tested the contrroller over the last week.
It does exactly the same thing, random bursts of flow detection when nothing on. Once again always works fine when actually watering.
Well that is conclusive enough for me, I either have a dud or the engineering design is crap.
Either way I am ripping it out this weekend and re-installing the Hydrawise. Adios RM
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