Question about automatic sprinkler system...

[Schfifty Five]

Hey all,

Noob question here, but Wife and I just bought a house (first house for either of us) and there's an automatic sprinkler system with the house. I read through the manual and played around with it to get a feel for how to set it up for the most part. Not too difficult and works well.

My question is, there is a main button on the control panel that cycles between "Off, Water, and Sensor". "Off" is pretty self-explanatory, but I'm not sure what the difference between the "water" and "sensor" settings are. I looked through the manual and didn't see anywhere explaining the difference. I assume this type of button is common on other sprinkler systems.

Does anyone know what the "sensor" setting does as opposed to just "water" setting?

Thanks!

 

[Mixolydian]

Sensor is just that...it senses how dry the grass/soil is and determines how long/when to water.

 

[Schfifty Five]

Sensor is just that...it senses how dry the grass/soil is and determines how long/when to water.

I see, does it still follow the program I have scheduled but just tailors it some?

For example, if I have the system programmed to water 2 days of the week for 10 minutes, is the sensor setting supposed to judge if it needs the full 10 min, or if it needs less/more?

 

[Mixolydian]

I see, does it still follow the program I have scheduled but just tailors it some?

For example, if I have the system programmed to water 2 days of the week for 10 minutes, is the sensor setting supposed to judge if it needs the full 10 min, or if it needs less/more?

I'm pretty sure that will depend on your particular system. Which may not even have the sensor installed depending on the previous owner/who installed it.

 

[Schfifty Five]

I'm pretty sure that will depend on your particular system. Which may not even have the sensor installed depending on the previous owner/who installed it.

Cool. Thanks for the response!

 

[dullard]

On my system, the watering follows my schedule exactly UNLESS the sensor is wetter than a setpoint that I control. If the sensor is drier than the setpoint, it waters as if there were no sensor. If the sensor is wetter than the setpoint, then it skips that watering period and waits until the next watering period.

That said, your sensor may not be there, or it may be broken.