Programs don’t run when they should

[rhc]

Hi folks

I bought a pre-assembled Opensprinkler system about a month ago. All worked fine until last week. For some reason, it has stopped reliably running the sprinkler programs. I’ve checked and I can run the sprinklers just fine manually, and the program “preview” shows that the unit thinks it should be running them. But it simply isn’t turning on the valves.

I’ve tried rebooting the unit, and doing a hard reset, but the problem persists. It works for awhile, and then quits opening the valves during a scheduled program.

Any ideas on what could be the problem?

[Ray]

@rhc: if I understand correctly, you can activate sprinklers in manual mode, but in program mode it does not run, is this correct?

There are several potential reasons that could cause this:
– First, check the controller’s homepage and make sure it is not disabled because ‘Operation’ is set to off, or because ‘Rain delay’ is on.
– Next, check your programs and make sure they are not disabled (each program can be individually set to enabled or disabled).
– Keep in mind that due to the way program matches are detected, if you restarted the controller during a program run, or switched it from run-once or manual mode back to program mode during a program run, that program will not run again. This is because a program is only scheduled when the current time passes through the program’s start time.
– Also, check the LCD status when a program is supposed to be running, do you see any .oO animation on the station that’s supposed to be on? If not, then the program has not been scheduled, possibly due to the reason above.

[rhc]

@ray wrote:

@rhc: if I understand correctly, you can activate sprinklers in manual mode, but in program mode it does not run, is this correct?

There are several potential reasons that could cause this:
– First, check the controller’s homepage and make sure it is not disabled because ‘Operation’ is set to off, or because ‘Rain delay’ is on.

Checked and all is supposed to run

@ray wrote:

– Next, check your programs and make sure they are not disabled (each program can be individually set to enabled or disabled).

Yep, all are enabled

@ray wrote:

– Keep in mind that due to the way program matches are detected, if you restarted the controller during a program run, or switched it from run-once or manual mode back to program mode during a program run, that program will not run again. This is because a program is only scheduled when the current time passes through the program’s start time.

No, that isn’t it. The system runs fine for a few days, automatically running the programs as it should. Then, with no external influences, it simply fails to open the valves. The system “thinks” it is running the program, at least on the web interface, but the valves aren’t operating.

@ray wrote:

– Also, check the LCD status when a program is supposed to be running, do you see any .oO animation on the station that’s supposed to be on? If not, then the program has not been scheduled, possibly due to the reason above.

Will check that on tonight’s scheduled run. It all works fine when I manually run the program, so I’ll have to wait for the schedule to cycle again.

Thanks!
Ralph

[rhc]

Hmmm…I was reviewing the user manual to see if it offered any hints, and I noticed that I am missing the “run once” button. I also see that my home page is the “manual operation” as opposed to the “status” page. In fact, I can’t seem to find the status page shown in the manual.

Is it possible the system is locked into manual mode? The “manual” button on the bottom of the page shows “off”, but I’m wondering if it is wrong.

I’m running firmware version 2.0.0, and this is the Arduino system, if that helps.

[rhc]

Aha! I hit “stop operation”, and that popped up the status page. So now I’m wondering if, having done a manual operation, it was stuck in manual mode – even though the button indicated “manual off”?

[rhc]

Looks like I have this solved. The problem was that the system was locked in manual mode. The button wasn’t showing me the state, but rather indicating that manual mode was “on” and I should push it to turn it “off”.

Further examination showed the root cause. I had operated under the assumption that the system behaved the same as a commercial sprinkler controller – you set your manual times, turn to “run”, and when it completes that cycle, the unit reverts back to “program” mode. So whenever I rebooted the unit, it would come up and run the programs. Then I would do something manually, and it would remain in “manual” mode – thus, not running the programs.

Now that we have this figured out, we know what to avoid. Thanks for the earlier suggestions.

[Author]

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