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Kyle Giacomini

Lives in: Madera, CA, US
Using: SPARK-16
Growing: Bermuda, Raspberry

Questions

Soil moisture adjustment

3
Kyle Giacomini
Updated at 2023-09-12 01:34:23 UTC
Topic: Smart Watering
Is there a way to manually adjust the soil moisture levels? For example, I have a zone that is reading as saturated (above 80). However the irrigation in that zone has not been connected prior. It would be useful in the app to be have the user adjust soil moisture levels manually to help with issues like this in the future. I do not have any soil moisture probes installed so the moisture levels are being automaticaly calculated by the smart watering algorithm. 

Controller will not operate valves

3
Kyle Giacomini
Updated at 2023-07-24 00:54:03 UTC
Topic: Troubleshooting
I cannot get the controller to turn on any valves. I have a netro spark 16 and I can't get the controller to open any valves. Programs, manual runs or manualy at the controller itself. Please advise. Do I need to reset or reboot something? Or is it a server related error. 

Netro weather

3
Kyle Giacomini
Updated at 2022-08-10 15:48:18 UTC
Topic: Netro App

Hi there, 

I'm noticing a very large difference (greater than 5 degrees) in the temperatures forcasted  provided by NetroWeather. Maybe my region isn't covered or forcasted accurately by the netro weather service. I didn't know if I am only experiecing this issue or if it is more widespread. Why is the recommendation 5 stars? 

Limit irrigation duration of a specific zone, water run off issues

3
Kyle Giacomini
Updated at 2022-07-26 05:14:15 UTC
Topic: Smart Watering

Hi there, 

I'm currently using the smart watering feature on all my zones. However, I have a few zones with turf that are on a slope. It seems like the smart watering feature uses long duration watering sets (more than 25 minutes) that's causing unwanted runoff. Also, since I'm on a well, the longer irrigation sets really taxes my water pressure. My pressure drops after 13 minutes or so making the spray pattern uneavenly distributed with less water and also changing the application rates. Having shorter duration irrigation would help my well recharge and maintain pressure during the irrigation.  Is there a way to minimize the duration or set a max duration irrigation setting for a group of zones so I don't continue sending water down the road? Ideally, having many shorter sets rather than one long set would be helpful, a cycle and soak approach. Thank you! 

Customized watering feature, specifications

3
Kyle Giacomini
Updated at 2022-07-15 12:27:12 UTC
Topic: Smart Watering
I would like to be able to customize the smart watering feature. Unfortunately, the application rate calculation for the sprinkler specifications seam to be incorrect. For example, I use hunter mp rotator rotary spray nozzles to irrigation a specific section of grass. They have a really low application rate at about 0.4 inches per hour. In comparison, I have another section of lawn where I use Rainbird RVan rotary sprays with an application rate closer to 0.68 inches an hour. Using the default settings for rotary sprays does not account for this range of application rates. When I use the customized mode smart zone function and I input the application rates for the sprinkler specifications, the calculation for duration increases to above 3000 minutes! Am I missing something? It would be incredibly helpful if I could be able to customize smart watering based on the application rates of my sprinklers.

Schedule intervals by the hour

3
Kyle Giacomini
Updated at 2022-05-23 14:33:07 UTC
Topic: Watering Restriction

I want to set up a repeating program schedule to run every 4 hours to establish a new lawn. At this point I have found the repeating programs will only allow a minimum interval of 1day (24hrs). Is there a way to schedule a repeating program with a shorter interval time? 

Manual run for more than 60mins

3
Kyle Giacomini
Updated at 2022-05-21 17:31:03 UTC
Topic: Netro App

Hi there,

Is there an option to set a manual run or a one time run for more than 60 minutes? I would like to perform a deep soak on some of my older trees. The smart schedules will only run water less than an hour as well. Is there an explanation why zones will not run for more than an hour? 


Thanks

Controller consistently goes offline

3
Kyle Giacomini
Updated at 2019-07-12 15:05:29 UTC
Topic: Troubleshooting

Hi there,

My controller has been losing connection to the internet everyday for about two weeks. The controller light stays solid and my app says the controller is offline. I can only reset the controller by physically disconnecting the power supply for 10 seconds and rebooting. This is getting anyoying and is  becoming a daily routine. I have a wifi extender 2 ft from the controller location as well. If I can't depend on the controller to stay online, what's the point of having an internet based sprinkler system? What steps can I take to make the controller stay connected to the internet?

Smart schedule failed/ watering outside perameters

3
Kyle Giacomini
Updated at 2019-07-01 16:32:17 UTC
Topic: Troubleshooting

My controller keeps losing connection to the wifi. Is there a way the app can send a notification when that occurs? 

Also, my smart watering program skipped the zones during this time. I thought if the controller was offline the programs would continue as  scheduledt? it would be nice to know why the program was skipped, like a diagnosis log of the errors.

Additionally, the controller randomly started the irrigation programs outside my set time peramerters. I'm afraid the controller is glitching out. I believe this all occured when the controller was disconnected from the internet.