EZRain INSTEON Questions

Just replaced my x10 irrigation controller with the EZRain INSTEON unit. Set-up was easy and software very intuitive. So much more reliable than the older x10 system. Two questions.

1) Is there a way to ad a short duration between zones when running a schedule?

2) Is there a way to turn off a specific zone when an event occurs. Seems like you can turn all zones off or turn a specific zone on but not turn a specific zone off.

Thanks,
Jim

[matt (support)]

Hello Jim,

1) Is there a way to ad a short duration between zones when running a schedule?

Not if you are using the Run Schedule action -- it always starts up the next zone immediately after the previous. You can use the Turn On Specific Zone action though to schedule individual zones whenever you want. Thus, you could hand calculate when to turn on zones such that there would be delay between zone activations.

Lastly, note that you can do multiple Run Schedule actions and use a duration of 0 to skip zones. So if you just wanted a delay between zones 4 and 5, then you could have 2 Run Schedule actions: one that has durations for zones 1 to 4, and another one that has non-zero durations for zones 5 to 8.

2) Is there a way to turn off a specific zone when an event occurs. Seems like you can turn all zones off or turn a specific zone on but not turn a specific zone off.

You can only turn off all of the zones at once. The EZRain only allows a single zone to be active at once, which is why I only provided an action to turn off all of the zones. Can you give me an example of how you would use a new action that turns off a specific zone?

Regards,
Matt

I now understand Matt. The stop and clear schedule will do the trick. Again nice job on the UI.

Jim

I have had two instances of EZ rain missing the off command on a zone in the last 4 months. What is also puzzeling is that the max on time of all zones are set to 30 minutes. Yet I have had a zone remain on for hours. Simply clicking on all zones off fixes it. I understand the odd missed command. I have a light in the far corner of the house that does this. I need more of the wireless repeaters since I have a large electrical system, Main and two sub panels, and a 4500 + SQ FT house. But a light running all night doesn't make the mess that a 4 hour runaway sprinkler does. Why doesn't the max on times catch this?

[matt (support)]

Open the device dialog and force a ReSync for your EZRain. After you do so, what maximum zone duration is shown in the Device dialog AND in the Event Log for that zone? If it shows 30 minutes, then we know for sure that the EZRain has the correct value written into it because the sync pulls all of the current values out of the EZRain.

If that value is correct, then the EZRain should definitely be automatically turning itself off after 30 minutes regardless of when/if it receives the OFF command from Indigo. If it doesn't, then it sounds like you have stumbled upon an EZRain firmware issue that I've never seen before.

Regards,
Matt

Did as you asked. Both the device list and event log showed 30 minutes on all 8 zones. I have shut the sprinklers off for the year. Will probably be next spring before I have a chance to try this again unless I put some dummy loads (light bulbs) on the ez rain outputs and try that way.

I have had EZFlora working with Indigo, but I just installed a rain sensor , and now nothing works...any ideas as to what I should do?

Cheers
Sean

[matt (support)]

Hi Sean,

What rain sensor did you install, and how exactly is it wired?

Have you tried removing the rain sensor to see if it starts working again?

What exactly is not working, and how is it failing? Copy/paste the contents from the Event Log window so we can see any error messages.

Hi,
It was wired wrong..I thought it must have been an Indigo issue, because when the sensor was installed, I couldn't access the system through my iphone!
Anyway, thanks for responding..

But I have another question regarding the iphone app (iphone GS). It usually takes 2-3 taps on an EZFlora zone to get it to turn on manually (using Devices)--it's quicker turning one off manually. I've noticed that if I set up an Action Group, lights come on/off much quicker, but that doesn't seem to be the case if I set up EZFlora zones as an Action Group. On the iPad, however, it's much quicker, so I'm assuming it must have something to do with the iphone or iPad processor.

Any suggestions on this? I do have regular watering times set up in my computer (they work flawlessly), but it's nice to be able to water a zone when standing nearby.

Cheers
Sean

[matt (support)]

I haven't noticed that type of lag using Indigo Touch (on my iPhone 3G). I wonder if it is some type of power line noise issue. The next time a single tap doesn't update the zone, wait 10 seconds to see if it eventually updates (before tapping again). Also check the Event Log window for errors and copy/paste what you see when it occurs.

Ok,
Just tried turning on a zone--failed 2-3 times, but eventually did turn on. Turning off took a couple of times..what's interesting is that I only clicked on the "Front & Herb". I also see that it didn't record successful attempts..

Here's the event log for this episode:
2010-05-18 10:32:35 Error "EZFlora - Front & Herb" on; send failed (no acknowledgment)
2010-05-18 10:33:27 Error "EZFlora - Front & Herb" off; send failed (no acknowledgment)
2010-05-18 10:33:29 Error "EZFlora - North Front & Back" off; send failed (no acknowledgment)
2010-05-18 10:33:32 Error "EZFlora - Driveway South" off; send failed (no acknowledgment)
2010-05-18 10:33:34 Error "EZFlora - Patio & Pool" off; send failed (no acknowledgment)
2010-05-18 10:33:36 Error "EZFlora - Kitchen Garden" off; send failed (no acknowledgment)
2010-05-18 10:33:39 Error "EZFlora - -" off; send failed (no acknowledgment)
2010-05-18 10:33:41 Error "EZFlora - -" off; send failed (no acknowledgment)
2010-05-18 10:33:43 Error "EZFlora - -" off; send failed (no acknowledgment)

[matt (support)]

This definitely looks like a power line noise issue. See our Signal Troubleshooting page for some tips.

Indigo didn't log any successful attempts, because as far as Indigo is concerned none of them were successful. That is, the command might have made it to the EZFlora (thus turning it ON), but the acknowledgment for the command never made it all the way back to Indigo.

Hi,
Thanks! I'll start troubleshooting...
Sean

I just installed my EZflora and have it synced with Indigo. Have a question about duration. I currently have all 4 zones to a max duration of 20 minutes. However, I set up a schedule to run every three days for an hour each zone. Will the schedule override the max duration? Or do I need to increase the max duration? The reason why I want to keep it at 20 minutes is because I like to give my lawn a little shot of water with the 20 minutes each zone on random occasions.


I'm a complete noob to the Applescript scene so forgive my ignorance on setting them up.

[matt (support)]

You need to increase the maximum zone durations. Once set the EZFlora itself enforces that limit. Indigo knows that, so I believe Indigo won't request more than the current max (I think it logs the discrepancy when it occurs, if I remember correctly).