Rain Delay hardware 1.3u

[steelcity]

I have version 1.3u which is working great – until I tried to add a rain sensor (activated and configured as normally closed). I have installed that latest firmware for this hardware version.

My board has terminals for a rain sensor, but the LCD display, web UI, everything shows RAIN DELAY – regardless of the status of the rain sensor. Does this hardware version support the rain sensor? I found on your website where it mentions that rain sensors were supported when the terminals were added in 1.4u (but I have 1.3u with terminals).

I have the orbit wireless rain sensor – but I also have been testing by shorting out the rain sensor contacts with no joy.

Thanks,

[Ray]

When you changed the status of the rain sensor, did you refresh the webpage? Note that the homepage is static and does not refresh automatically. The LCD does update in real-time though.

[steelcity]

Yes – I did refresh the browser. I was also looking at the LCD display.

[steelcity]

One more odd thing. When I first added the rain sensor and had issues – I was on firmware version 1.8.2. I thought I would upgrade to the latest before asking for help. I just noticed, however, on version 1.8.3, if I try to add an interval program, the sprinkler basically locks up.

The only solution which seemed to work was to go back to 1.8.2 (which I did) at which time everything worked as expected (with the exception of the rain sensor).

Not sure any of this is related to my rain sensor problem, but thought I would add it as additional information. I am now back on software version 1.8.2

[Ray]

on version 1.8.3, if I try to add an interval program, the sprinkler basically locks up.

This is strange. Would doing an EEPROM / hardware reset help? (although when you upgrade 1.8.2 to 1.8.3 it should trigger an automatic EEPROM reset). How did you upgrade the firmware: using the firmware updater tool that we provide, or uploaded the program in Arduino IDE?

There is no difference between 1.8.2 and 1.8.3 regarding the rain sensor functionality. If it doesn’t work in 1.8.2, I think it may be a hardware issue.

[steelcity]

I used your GUI firmware updater. Everything seemed to go smoothly. Any suggestions on the hardware issue? Am I correct in assuming that a jumper wire across the rain sensor terminals should emulate a normally closed sensor?

[Ray]

A jumper wire across the rain sensor terminals indeed simulates a closed sensor. However, the type ‘normally closed’, or ‘normally open’ is a software thing defined in the options. For example, if you choose the rain sensor type as ‘normally closed’, then the controller assumes:
– there is no rain when the two pins are shorted (i.e. jumper wire is inserted)
– rain is detected when the two pins are open (i.e. jumper wire is removed)

If you choose the rain sensor type as ‘normally open’, then the logic is reversed.

[steelcity]

Thanks – That is the way I assumed it would work.

If the unit is set to “normally closed” – it is on constant rain delay. Changing the state of the terminals has no impact. Similarly, Having it set to “normally open” the controller thinks it is always sunny.

To summarize, it seems as the controller is not detecting a closed circuit across the terminals.

Any ideas on where to look?

Thanks!

[Ray]

The hardware part of rain sensor is quite simple: one pin is tied to ground, the other pin is connected to the microcontroller’s digital pin 0 (assuming you have 1.3u). So other than checking the solder joints of the rain sensor terminal, and the microcontroller pins, I can’t think of anything else that would cause the issue.

[steelcity]

Thanks for the clue- I now have it fixed. In this version- the firmware has rainsense configured for pin a1 and it seems the rain sense connector was just wired to a stub out hole in the Pcb. Once I added a jumper from that hole to a1 everything works great.

[Ray]

Ah, glad to hear you’ve fixed it. Sorry, there are too many versions that I can’t keep my own head clear about them :). I checked the PCB of 1.3u and you are right: on this version you need to solder a wire from the Rain Sensor pin to A1 — this was left as an option so if you don’t need rain sensor you have one extra analog pin to do something else. Anyways, thanks for figuring it out on your own.

[Author]

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