Thursday, September 26, 2013

Got Sprinklers? Save Water!

This Weather Smart Pro is a real easy unit to set up! You can get fancy with the wiring to set it up as I did, I set it on the wall by my front door and ran wire thru plastic conduit to each of my 4 zones I have. Timer setting is real easy!! If you need to bypass it you can also do that too. I set the whole thing up in under 2 hours start to finish. I used CAT 5E cable thru the wall, then put a 1/2 inch conduit in out side and ran it to the control heads of each of the 4 stations I have for my system. When the set up was done, I did a test of the whole system. each leg worked fine manually. I set the rain meter on top of my fence post and did a test run to simulate rain with a hose. It did not let the system turn on the sprinklers. Then I did a quick shower and it came on for about 7 to 10 minutes per station. I set the final settings and did about 45 days of use. My water usage went down by almost 60% as we get a lot of rain in South Florida!!! I am very happy with the results and so is my wallet!!

The pictures posted are as follows:
1-Box as Weather Smart Pro comes in.



2-The main Control unit, Mount Bracket & access panel to set it up. (NOTE I had started the wiring, it was very simple!)


3-Close up of the Control unit wiring.


4-Rain Meter & Mounting Bracket.


5-Rain Meter with bracket installed.


6-Close up of the Smart Controller set-up buttons.


7-The Rain Meter with bracket installed on top of my fence.


8-Sprinkler Piping and zone valves (Shows old control box).


9-Closer view of Sprinkler Piping and zone valves and wiring.


10-Zoom shot of 2 of the Sprinkler Piping and zone valves and wiring.


11-Zoom shot of 2 of the Sprinkler Piping and zone valves and old wiring.


12-The old Sprinkler timer (Very out dated!)


13-One of the many Sprinkler heads.

This is the companies web site for this product:
http://www.raindrip.com/products/weathersmart-controllers/weathersmart-pro-controller






Suitable for Both Sprinkler & Drip Irrigation Systems 
This Is How It Works:
  1. Simply program using your ZIP code
  2. Included Wireless Weather Smart Pro Weather Station collects live weather data onsite
  3. WeatherSmart Pro receives rain & temperature data and automatically adjusts run times

Automatic Rain Shutoff
Automatically suspends programmed watering schedules during rainfall and when low temperature conditions occur.
Large Display with Touch-Pad Navigation
Easy to read and program.
See Your Water Savings
Displays daily and year-to-date water savings.
Percent Adjust
Function for adjusting run times for all zones.
Backup During Power Failure
Retains watering programs and settings when power fails.
Skip Feature
Allows you to interrupt and resume watering schedules for yard work or other activities .
Water Now Feature
Test cycle feature allows you to test each valve manually.
Optional Timer Mode
Allows you to switch from smart watering mode to a standard timer operation.
1 Year Limited Warranty
Features:
• “Smart” technology automatically adjusts watering based on current weather conditions
• Programs in minutes with your ZIP code
• Large, easy-to-read screen with touch pad navigation
• 6 Zone Capability / 4 Starts Per Day / 2 Run Times Per Zone