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    HomeSeer controlled sprinkler hose valve?

    Fairly soon I'll be installing sod to cap off a drainage swale I've been constructing to avoid erosion from flash floods. Being new sod in hot July, it will neeed to be irrigated multiple times per day until the roots grow in, or it will get destroyed by the heat. Technically, I don't need to irrigate the entire zone but just the section with the new sod, and so I'm wondering if there's an HA controlled hose valve I can use for that purpose? Then I could position a portable sprinkler to cover just the area that needs it.

    If push came to shove, I suppose I could hack a regular irrigation valve to work with hose fittings, but I'd rather not if I could buy something off the shelf. I have seen battery operated hose valves with their own timers and scheduling built in, but no access from a HA controller. I suppose I could fall back to that also if there isn't anything else.

    Suggestions?

    #2
    I haven't seen anything other than a 4-hose wifi enabled controller by Melnor. You could potentially interface HS into their web-interface. However, given the cost, I would buy the same type of valve you have in your main irrigation system and splice that into a hose. If you have any spare zones on your controller, you could use it, otherwise an Arduino with a relay would be pretty cheap. Once you no longer need the extra watering, you have spare valve for your system.

    Cheers
    Al
    HS 4.2.8.0: 2134 Devices 1252 Events
    Z-Wave 3.0.10.0: 133 Nodes on one Z-Net

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by NeverDie View Post
      Fairly soon I'll be installing sod to cap off a drainage swale I've been constructing to avoid erosion from flash floods. Being new sod in hot July, it will neeed to be irrigated multiple times per day until the roots grow in, or it will get destroyed by the heat. Technically, I don't need to irrigate the entire zone but just the section with the new sod, and so I'm wondering if there's an HA controlled hose valve I can use for that purpose? Then I could position a portable sprinkler to cover just the area that needs it.

      If push came to shove, I suppose I could hack a regular irrigation valve to work with hose fittings, but I'd rather not if I could buy something off the shelf. I have seen battery operated hose valves with their own timers and scheduling built in, but no access from a HA controller. I suppose I could fall back to that also if there isn't anything else.

      Suggestions?
      If you can install a standard ball valve, then perhaps the new Econet EBV105 valve controller will do the trick? Those will be shipping from our store next week.
      💁‍♂️ Support & Customer Service 🙋‍♂️ Sales Questions 🛒 Shop HomeSeer Products

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by sparkman View Post
        I haven't seen anything other than a 4-hose wifi enabled controller by Melnor. You could potentially interface HS into their web-interface. However, given the cost, I would buy the same type of valve you have in your main irrigation system and splice that into a hose. If you have any spare zones on your controller, you could use it, otherwise an Arduino with a relay would be pretty cheap. Once you no longer need the extra watering, you have spare valve for your system.

        Cheers
        Al
        Yup, one of these (or similar) to convert from hose to PVC and then a male to convert back again:

        http://www.amazon.com/Lasco-Hose-Ada...6Q99TMH6WC7BE4
        Last edited by NeverDie; July 11, 2015, 01:43 PM.

        Comment


          #5
          all of the connected faucet timers I have investigated are Zigbee protocol and not z-wave. Zigbee is an ugly animal and usually implemented with proprietary controls, so not something that is likely to interface to HS.

          I'd also go with the hose thread to NPT adapters and use a standard 24Vac sprinkler valve. In fact I have this exact setup for a couple of container gardens that get broken down in the wither. the extra valve is connected to my opensprinkler which HS3 can control.

          I don't think I would use a motorized ball valve, too many ways for it to fail. at least with a automatic sprinkler valve they fail shut, ie: it takes positive actuation to flow water, and if that actuation is interrupted for any reason, they shut off. If a motorized ball vale misses its shut off command for whatever reason, it is going to just sit there and continue to happily water forever.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by ORNVM View Post
            all of the connected faucet timers I have investigated are Zigbee protocol and not z-wave. Zigbee is an ugly animal and usually implemented with proprietary controls, so not something that is likely to interface to HS.

            I'd also go with the hose thread to NPT adapters and use a standard 24Vac sprinkler valve. In fact I have this exact setup for a couple of container gardens that get broken down in the wither. the extra valve is connected to my opensprinkler which HS3 can control.

            I don't think I would use a motorized ball valve, too many ways for it to fail. at least with a automatic sprinkler valve they fail shut, ie: it takes positive actuation to flow water, and if that actuation is interrupted for any reason, they shut off. If a motorized ball vale misses its shut off command for whatever reason, it is going to just sit there and continue to happily water forever.
            You raise a good point. Which sprinkler valve do you like the best? I once had one fail open on me because a small amount of sand from the city water line had gotten into it and somehow prevented the diaphragm from closing shut. IIRC, there exist self-cleaning valves which attempt to avoid that possibility by somehow flushing the mechanism during the close process, but I have no idea how much improvement, if any, that is.

            I notice a lot of irrigation controllers are wired to support the use of a master valve, plumbed in series, which seems like a common way to mitigate the risk..

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by ORNVM View Post
              If a motorized ball vale misses its shut off command for whatever reason, it is going to just sit there and continue to happily water forever.
              very good point
              Tom
              baby steps...starting again with HS3
              HS3Pro: Z-NET & 80 Z wave Devices,
              HSTouch: 4 Joggler (Android Kitkat), 2 iPhone, 3 iPads
              Whole House Audio: 5 SqueezePlay Jogglers w Bose Speakers
              In The Works: 10 Cameras Geovision, new Adecmo/Envisalink Alarm, Arduinos
              System: XP on Fanless Mini-ITX w/ SSD

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by TomTom View Post
                very good point

                Yep. But just make a clean up event.
                IF device shouldn't be on
                THEN turn device off

                I hate to say it but sometimes we need to do this kind of thing. I lost (at least!) one event today due to a HS3 restart while trying to track down a bug. Lame. In general such open ended event triggers are a no no. but in this case it's perfect.
                Originally posted by rprade
                There is no rhyme or reason to the anarchy a defective Z-Wave device can cause

                Comment


                  #9
                  Fortrezz sells water valve controllers that are Z-Wave. You can get them in 3/4 NPT, and then simply get an NPT-GHT adapter. In fact, I'm going to be doing this for a drip irrigation system we have. The hose bib will serve as the master/manual control (we're having an extra hose bib put in just for the system), and then will have the Fortrezz connected directly to the bib.

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