Irrigation timer issue

Questions & Help
1

To water my garden I use a Rainbird controller with Wifi link.
I know that it is possible to control the Rainbird via an API. Unfortunately, there is no Homey app for that and I do not have the knowledge to create one.
There is an integration made for Home Assistant and something is made for PyRainbird.

I am trying something now with an 8 channel relay card and an ESP with Tasmota.
Controlling the valves goes without any problems. What I can’t figure out is the following:

If I want to operate a valve manually, I want to be able to specify a time (in minutes that the valve should be active). So actually being able to set a time for the hourglass.
Does anyone know if there is a solution for this within Homey to enter or select a number before the flow continues?
I thought I could use a virtual dim button (there are no visual numbers) or a virtual thermostat (can only be used between 5-50) . Maybe some slider wil work where you van define a min and max. i.e. 0 - 120 min.

Any help, support or suggestion is welcome. :slight_smile:

2

Use a timer app.
WHEN valve open THEN start a timer for 100 minutes.
WHEN timer empty THEN close valve.

3

I use a timer app and created timers for the automatic irrigation schedule. The challenge is that I have 8 zones (8 valves) and also want to operate them manually. In that case I need to enter somewhere the amount of minutes.
For my current Rainbird controller I do the same: I select i.e. Zone 1. Then I enter of slide a bar to enter the time. After confirming this the valve will be on/open for the time I have selected. The time I enter is not always the same. Therefore I need to enter it manually.

4

I have solved the problem with Siri Shortcuts. With Siri Shortcuts I was alble set manual enter the Zone number and the amount of minutes. On top of it, it works also voice controlled. :slight_smile:

5

Hey glad you worked it out as I’ve spent quite a bit of time getting nowhere! I’m new to Siri shortcuts and have been trying to command my 6 zone Rainbird TM2 (Only 4 connected at this stage) using this method. I can call up the Rainbird app using Siri but it’s selecting menus is where I’m stuck. I would like to start and stop manual watering on each of the zones if possible. Any help on how to do this would be much appreciated.
Cheers
Darryl.

6

Hi Darryl,

I’ve sold my Rainbird controller because it is not compatible with HomeKit and I could not link it to Homey. I bought an OpenSprinkler Irrigation controller and I am able to link it to Homey and control it via Siri Shortcuts. For me was the Rainbird a never ending story of issues.

7

How did you connect Opensprinkler to Homey, can u please explain? Thanks

8

Hi Ben,

I make use of MQTT in Homey and made a script in Homey to link with the OpenSprinkler.
For me it is also possible to use Siri to turn on/off sprinkler zones and add a duration to it.

The flow which triggers the script is very simple: Script Flow OpenSprinkler

This is the script I made to read the zone number and duration:
if (args[0] == undefined) {

  • console.log (‘Missing argument’)*
  • return false;*
    }

let bl = await Homey.apps.getApp({ id: ‘net.i-dev.betterlogic’ } );
if (!bl) {

  • console.error(‘Better Logic not installed!’)*
  • return false;*
    }

const [ full, topic, message ] = args[0].match(/(\S+)\s+(.)/);*

ZoneNumber = Number(topic.match(/\d+$/)[0]);
obj = JSON.parse(message);

bl.apiPut(“ZoneStatus/” + obj.state);
bl.apiPut(“ZoneDuration/” + obj.duration);
bl.apiPut(“ZoneNumber/” + ZoneNumber);

console.log('Zone Number: ’ + ZoneNumber);
console.log('Zone state: ’ + obj.state);
console.log('Duration: ’ + obj.duration);

To get this script working you nee to add 3 vars in Better Logic:

  • ZoneNumber {number}
  • ZoneDuration {number}
  • ZoneStatus {number}

The next 2 flows are for Zone On/Off

Flow 1: Zone On
Flow 2: Zone Off

With Siri Shortcuts I made 3 flow:

  • Turn Zone {X} on for {Y} time
  • Turn Off Zone {X}
  • Turn Off All Zones

I hope this helps you a bit.

9

Hi Rob,

Dank je !!

Ben Busser
[Mod break: removed private information -caseda]

10

Rob,
Thanks for removing the info

11

Why not using Shelly plus 1 devices for controlling your valves, additional using the Shelly addon for measuring the soil moisture level?

Its fail-safe, because you can configure the Shelly devices to auto-off after certain period.