Stupid Irrigation Controllers

After getting back from the trailer expedition I finally got to work on getting the rain sensor installed and hooked up to the irrigation controller. The installation went easily, no major issues at all. That should have been a warning because getting it wired up to the controller wasn’t as easy as I thought it was. First off, even though Rain Bird said a rain sensor could be connected, the manual had no instructions on how to do it. Nor did their web site have much info until I finally went over to the contractor side and found the instructions for their sensor. It turns out that on controllers like mine, which don’t have dedicated rain sensor connections, you need to put it in line with the common wire, and be darned sure that the sensor is an “always-on” type. Once I did that and got back up on the ladder I confirmed that it was working the way it should, so now I shouldn’t be wasting water by running the sprinklers after a rain storm. And it also has a freeze sensor so it should also keep from icing up the sidewalk during our schizo springs and falls.