Generation 3 owner and loving it!
Originally purchased Gen 2 when on sale at Costco and had to return it because it only works with wifi 2.4
Gen 3 rectified this.
Love the app that makes it so easy to
change schedules using your iPhone.
So how does this even work? How does it control the flow of water?
I’ll take your Gen1 off your hands!
Agree with all the above positive comments - Best Woot offering ever. Set it and forget it. Or manually turn on zones when in bed, kitchen or out on the driveway.
Only nitpick is Rachio recently updated their app and made it harder to manually set the minutes - rather than dragging a slider around a clock (which was fast and super cool), now you must click, click, click the minutes button, like my 15 year old clunker controller.
I know for sure 2nd Generation does not all to turn on zone manually from the outside front of the unit. Only Generation 3 does.
Hi! At this time, we do are not able to set up the pump relay per zone unfortunately. There is a workaround option that is posted in our community if you would be interested to review it - Multiple pumps one controller? - #2 by DLane - Sprinklers & Irrigation - Rachio Community
Thanks!
Krista, Rachio Team
Look at the 3rd photo down on the main page. This Gen 2 does allow manual control of the zones from the box.
Another happy Gen 2 owner here.
Folks before me had a Rain Bird that was an absolute pain to keep up with. Got this and pretty much just set the schedule early spring and turn it off when it starts getting cold. The Rachio really handles all the rest. Skips at the right times, shortens the watering when needed, it’s a fantastic device. Don’t hesitate to get one if you think it’ll work for you.
Hey!
All three generations allow for our Shared Access feature. You can share access with your landscaper or sprinkler professional right within the app so they can control it without you being there.
You can also control the Generation 2 and Rachio 3 directly from the controller.
Best!
Lo
Rachio Team
Great question!
You can learn more about the Rachio 3 here or learn more about the Wireless Flow Meter here
Best
Lo
Rachio Team
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
Look at the 4th picture. It clearly shows the manual operation buttons. I have second Gen. Use the manual override all the time.
I have generation 1.
If you are on the fence, just buy this one. You won’t be disappointed.
Set and forget.
Doctors have weather forcasters beat by a mile. On the other hand, they paid a lot more to become a doctor though.
Bought the Gen II about a month ago. Easy to install, setup and operate.
I love the fact that you can take pictures of your zone, describe the landscape and daily amount of sunlight when setting up. This helps to factor in how much water is needed to actually use.
I used to have a manual control with no rain sensor so I was the dope with the sprinklers on during the rain. No more! When you setup your zones properly, Rachio gets an idea of your landscape and calculates your watering needs. It will know how much precipitation you need and if it rains enough it will skip. Also, if it hasn’t been sunny or much absorption happening, it will know it is still saturated and apply a skip. It just recently in the last week entered into the “Fall” mode and has reduced watering times that coincides with less direct sunlight and warm weather.
The Rachio II also let’s you test and run zones, or setup custom runs. I have custom runs setup so after I lay down seed or pesticides I run it to allow the granules to soak into the ground as needed if I apply on an off-schedule day.
If I had to have a dislike, it is the non-manual controls on the front for convenience if you need them. The Rachio III has them but honestly it’s not a deal break in any sense.
You can’t go wrong with a Gen II. It’s a very good and responsive system.
Former Hunter Pro C owner that upgraded to Gen 2 this summer and I know exactly what your talking regarding the programming. What PIA. Also love how you put in soil/grass type sunny/shade and it tells you when and how long to run
other cool features - you can have it run so that it is complete by sunrise. Also will divide the run time in half and run cycle twice to reduce run-off/increase absorbtion
I mean you could get a job at woot…
You can give your sprinkler company guest access to program the Rachio–if they are like Einstein crossed with Steve Jobs. I’ve gone back to school for a soil-science degree . . .
I picked up one of these the last time around and agree with most of the comments here - this thing is great. Rachio has a good user’s forum with lots of helpful people for support. Setup can be plug-and-play or, if you want, you can tweak settings to really customize the system to your specific soil conditions, yard slope, sun/shade, weather, etc. As mentioned it does only work with slower speed WiFi. Great product especially at this price.
These things sounds so good I may pick one up just in case I ever install an irrigation system!
My city has been giving these (gen 3) to residents this summer as part of a water conservation project. I couldn’t be more happy with mine. I think the city takes care of the schedule so the whole neighborhood isn’t running at the same time and adjusts the duration to compensate for seasonal changes and weather. I get an alert on my phone every time the cycle is about to begin or if it’s being skipped for weather and I can override the schedule via my phone if I want. I’m not sure how my gen 3 differs from gen 2, but they sound pretty similar.