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RKS User Manual

1. Select Flow Sensor Type FS 100 Use the item selectors to select one of the five built in profiles FS 100 FS 150 FS 200 FS 300 FS 400 Push the enter button to save your selection If your sensor doesn t fit any of the built in profiles you have to enter your own manually Procedure C 3 Using a custom calibration profile 1 Turn the mode selector to apvancep use the item selectors to scroll to item number 3 FloGuard and push the enter button Now you ll see this display FloGuard l 1 station Status Select 4 Flow Sensor Setup and push the enter button Now you ll see this display 77 Setting the Flow Sensor Adjustment Flow Sensor Setup 1 Flow Sensor Type 3 Use the item selectors to locate the custom option and select it by pressing the enter button Now you ll see the calibration screen Flow Sensor Calibration K factor 000 000 offset 000 000 EY Note A bit of background on how calibration affects the calculated flow The RKS needs to know the K factor and Offset values of your sensor as the actual flow will be calculated from this formula ActualFlow K Pulses Offset About the two values you need to enter The Offset value is to correct the input from your sensor e The K value can be looked up in the data sheet for your sensor 4 Use the item selectors to enter your values and push the enter button to s
2. Upon MPF alarm shutdown all Pumps Mvs 3 Use the item selectors to choose between Pumps Mvs All pumps and master valves will be shut down when an alarm goes off The programs will still be finished even if the pumps are turned off in order not to interrupt the irrigation schedule since an MPF alarm will be cleared next time a program has to start Programs All running programs will be shut down when an alarm goes off 4 Push the enter button to save your selection C 2 5 Setting Expected Station Flow In order to be able to calculate when the current flow is deviating from the expected flow the RKS needs to know how much flow you expect each station to pull To teach the controller about the expected flow you can either enter a value for each station or run the automated learn flow feature that will assess the flow for each station in turn 84 Setting Expected Station Flow Procedure C 11 Entering expected flow for a station 1 2 3 4 Turn the mode selector to apvancep and select 2 FloStack Now you ll see the following display Figure C 1 FloStack Menu RKS FloStack 1 system Flow Capacity Scroll down and select 2 Expected Flow by pushing the enter button Now you ll see a scrollable list of stations and their expected flow in gallons per minute Figure C 2 Expected station flow menu RKS Use the item selectors to locate the station you wish to configure and p
3. 20 Configuring Irrigation Programs Procedure 5 3 Setting the language 1 Turn the mode selector to apvanceD Figure 5 6 Mode selector in apvancep AUTO MANUAL PROGRAM IRR OFF SETUP TEST ADVANCED The display will now look like this Figure 5 7 Display message on switch to avvancep mode RKS Advanced Setup 1 Select Language 2 Selectitem select Language and push the enter button 3 Now use the item selectors to select your language and push the enter button The language is saved and the display returns to the default for this mode Figure 5 8 Selecting the language RKS Select Language l 1 English 5 2 Configuring Irrigation Programs Once your stations are configured and placed in the field it s time to start configuring the irrigation programs The RKS holds 10 programs that can each activate 100 stations in turn Each program can run 12 times a day on odd even or selected days in a two week period Additionally each program can activate a booster pump and a master valve throughout the duration of the program There is also a test program which can not be modified This program is primarily used to troubleshoot the system and is described in Section 7 2 Running the Water Test 51 21 Configuring the stations To start configuring a program turn the mode selector to PROGRAM A Important Throughout this section we will assume that the R
4. September 3 02 00 AM Runs as expected September 3 05 00 AM Runs as expected September 3 06 00 PM Runs as expected September 3 11 00 PM Will not run despite the odd date your irrigation window has closed All ET calculations are based on the irrigation period be it the standard one or your custom period 2 You can define a non water window by not letting the period span 24 hours If you define the start to 06 00 PM and the end to 08 00 AM no programs or stations will be started between 08 00 AM and 06 00 PM EY Note You can still run both stations and programs manually in the non water window 93 Programs that try to start in the non water window will spawn an alarm And if a program is running when the non water window starts the program is halted and an alarm is raised You can read more about alarms in Section 6 3 Alarms 39 Here is how you actually define the irrigation period at the controller Procedure F 1 Configuring the Irrigation Period 1 Turn the mode selector to apvancep use the item selectors to scroll to item number 5 Irrigation Period and push the enter button Now you ll see this display RKS Irrigation Period start 12 00 AM End 12 00 AM 2 Use the item selectors to set the start and end time and push the enter button to save your settings 94 Appendix G Advanced Irrigation Misting Cycle amp Soak The RKS lets you go
5. 3 Turn the mode selector to apvancep use the item selectors to scroll to item number 7 Program Station Run Sequence and push the enter button Now you ll see this display Station Sequences lt 1 Edit Select 2 Reset to factory default and push the enter button Now you ll see this display This will reset station sequences to run from 1 to 100 Are you sure Push the enter button to acknowledge that you re resetting the sequence numbers or cance to exit 90 Appendix E Using Simple Flow Management The RKS allows for simple flow management by comparing the current flow to system capacity and preventing too many stations to run at once E 1 Configuring for Flow Management Setting up your system for flow management only involves two things 1 Defining the expected flow for your stations as described in Section C 2 5 Setting Expected Station Flow 84 2 Set the maximum system capacity as described in Section E 3 Setting the System Flow Capacity 91 E 2 How the Flow Management Works Whenever a station is about to start the RKS will try to determine whether the system has sufficient capacity to start the station by doing a little calculation A station can be started if Required Capacity Capacity in Use lt Total Capacity In plain words the capacity required by the station plus the capacity already used must not exceed the total system capacity The req
6. The maximum run time is 17 59 50 5 Use the item selectors to select the number of minutes you wish the station to run and push the enter button to save your setting Now the controller returns to the main screen for editing the run time Say you just set station number five to run 10 minutes in program two the display will look like this Figure 5 13 station setting saved Program 2 Total run time 0 05 00 select station f STS Run time 00 05 00 Pushing the cancer button when adjusting the run time will discard the new run time and keep the original one even if this is zero Now you can select other stations and repeat steps four and five to determine how they should run in this program 6 Once you have configured all the stations you need and are back at the default position push the run TIME button to exit the configuration of programs all together 5 2 2 Setting Water Days There are three ways to determine which days a program will run e On all odd dates 1 3 5 etc Onall even dates 2 4 6 etc e On selected days in a 14 day cycle You select the days and the RKS will loop through the 14 day schedule 24 Setting Water Days To make the configuration as intuitive as possible the 14 day period always starts with the current day Procedure 5 5 Setting the water days 1 4 5 Use the item selectors to navigate to the program you wish to adjust the water days for and push the WATER Da
7. 14 Buttons and Controls The controls on the RKS can be divided into five groups e Property action selectors When configuring an irrigation program these buttons let you select which properties of the program you want to edit In setup test mode they have different functionality Note that when in Program Mode the functions corresponds to the text on top of the buttons In Setup Test mode the functions corresponds to the text below the buttons Figure 4 4 Different roles of property action selectors RKS RUN WATER START WATER ACTIVE TIME DAYS TIMES BUDGET PASSIVE AUTO e p o o o eo MANUAL e PROGRAM ET e e e IRR OFF SETUP DATE SENSORS STATION TEST TIME TEST ADVANCED PAUSE CANCEL PROGRAM STATION RESUME STOP e e e ENTER Sr 2 Read more about the different modes in the following section Type selectors These buttons let you select between programs and stations when in auto or manual mode Item selectors These buttons are used in pretty much every mode They let you scroll up down and sideways in the various menus the RKS shows you In the middle is the ENTER YES button that is used for confirmation CANCEL STOP NO Button Is used whenever you need to answer reject a suggestion made by the controller or when you need to exit menus Mode selector This is a selector knob used to switch between the six different modes of the RKS When you change to a new mode allow up to one second before the
8. 7 67 Using a Connected Device Weather Station 2 Turn the mode selector to ADVANCED Figure B 7 Mode selector in apvancep AUTO MANUAL PROGRAM IRR OFF SETUP TEST ADVANCED Now the display looks like this Figure B 8 Display message on switch to avvanceo mode Advanced Setup I 1 select Language 3 Select 4 Intelliset Now the display will look like this Figure B 9 Intelliset Menu Intelliset 1 Current Accumulated ET and Rain 4 Select 6 Device Setup Now the display will look like this Figure B 10 Intelliset Device Setup Menu Device Setup 1 ET Input Method 5 Select1 ET Input Method Now the display will look like this 68 Using a Connected Device Weather Station 6 7 10 11 12 Figure B 11 Intelliset Device Input Method ET Input Method Local weather Station Use the item selectors to select Local Weather Station and push the enter button Select 3 ET Base Setup fromthe menu and push the enter button Now you ll see the following screen Figure B 12 ET Base Setup ET Base Setup 1 00 Now use the item selectors to determine how many inches of water a program will provide when running at a 100 water budget The controller needs this in order to re calculate run times based on ET corrections Push the enter button to save the value Push the CANCEL button once to return to the main
9. soak irrigation Manage your license codes to upgrade your controller Erase the entire controller s data in case you re setting up a new system from scratch 17 18 Chapter 5 Programming the RKS Like conventional controllers the RKS must be programmed to control your irrigation The controller itself needs to be configured with date time and language and in addition the stations need to be configured and tested Finally you need to create your irrigation programs and possibly configure the system for sensor inputs All of this happens at the controller and this chapter walks you through all the tasks 5 1 Basic Controller Configuration The controller will remember date time for up to two weeks when not connected to a power outlet Most likely it will have lost this information when you first receive it so the very first thing you have to do to get going is to set the date and time Procedure 5 1 Setting date and time for the first time 1 Turn on the controller The display will ask you to set the date and time Figure 5 1 Controller s first message RKS The Date Time needs to be set Press enter to set it 2 Push the enter button and you ll see the a display along these lines Figure 5 2 Setting the initial date time RKS 01 01 2013 12 24 22 AM week day wednesday 3 Now use the item selectors to adjust the date time up down changes the values left right moves between the f
10. use the item selectors to scroll to item number 3 FloGuard and push the enter button Now you ll see this display RKS FloGuard J 1 station Status Choose 2 Alarm Thresholds and push the enter button Now you ll see the following display Alarm thresholds 1 Alarm Reaction Delay Use the item selectors to select 5 Master Pump Failure Now you ll see the following display RKS Master Pump Failure Master Pump Failure limit 0000GPM 83 Setting Alarm Actions 4 Use the item selectors to set the minimum flow that must be in your pipe if the master pump is working correctly You can decide whether this alarm should result in all programs to be halted or all pumps and master valves should be turned off see Section C 2 4 Setting Alarm Actions 84 The action you choose will be in effect until the next station gets activated manually or by a program 5 Push the enter button to save your selection C 2 4 Setting Alarm Actions The only flow alarm for which you can decide the action is the master pump failure alarm you get to decide whether this should cause all programs to be halted or all pumps and master valves to be shut down Procedure C 10 Configuring alarm action for MPF 1 Turn the mode selector to apvancep use the item selectors to scroll to item number 3 FloGuard and push the enter button Now you ll see this display MPF action selection
11. How to Configure for Misting or Cycle amp Soak 3 Ena Dis cycle and End Time Enable Use the item selectors to select Enable and push the enter button to save your setting And then you re ready to configure the program Procedure G 2 Setting the Start Times With Count and End Time 1 Create your program as explained in Section 5 2 Configuring Irrigation Programs 21 but when you get to Section 5 2 3 Setting Start Times 26 swap that part out for the instructions in this procedure instead Use the item selectors to navigate to the program you wish to adjust the start times for and push the START TIMES button Now you ll see the following display Figure G 1 Ready to select start time Program 1 Total run time 0 01 00 t 1 start cyc End Use the item selectors to locate the one of the four runs you wish to set a start time for and push the ENTER button Now the cursor will jump to the right letting you set the start time Figure G 2 Selecting a start time Program 1 Total run time 0 01 00 t 1 start 08 00 AM Cyc End Use the item selectors to set the start time to 08 00 AM and push the right arrow to jump to the cycle field cye Use the item selectors to set the count to four and push the right arrow to jump to the end time field End 98 Things to Keep in Mind 6 Note As soon as you enter the End field the controller will set the
12. Intelliset menu Use the item selectors to select 2 ET Limits Min and Max and push the enter button Now you ll see the following screen Figure B 13 Minimum and maximum ET RKS Minimum ET Maximum ET 0 00 0 00 Now use the item selectors to determine the two values and push enter to save your settings Minimum ET The ET figure must exceed this value in order for the controller to irrigate at all Maximum ET If the ET balance for a program exceeds this value the program will only irrigate to that limit and the remaining water will be added to the ET figure for the following day Turn the mode selector to SETUP TEST 69 Using a Connected Device Weather Station Figure B 14 Mode selector in serur tzst AUTO MANUAL PROGRAM IRR OFF SETUP TEST ADVANCED Now the display looks like this Figure B 15 Display message on switch to serup resr mode Setup and Test Functions choose action from buttons below 13 Push the sensors button Now you ll see the following display Figure B 16 Sensor setup menu Sensor Setup Wiad SGEU 14 Use the item selectors to select 1 eT and push the enter button Now the display looks like this Figure B 17 Selecting the ET sensor input ET Sensor Setup ET device Pulses 15 Now you can choose between four settings ET device Pulses Select this if you use a connected ET device that provides dynamic ET data for the
13. Minute and Hourly Rain 1 Turn the mode selector to ADVANCED Figure A 10 Mode selector in apvancep AUTO MANUAL PROGRAM IRR OFF SETUP TEST ADVANCED Now the display looks like this 58 Setting 10 Minute and Hourly Maximum Rain 2 3 4 Figure A 11 Display message on switch to apvancenv mode RKS Advanced Setup l 1 Select Language Select 4 IntelliSet Now the display will look like this Figure A 12 Intelliset Menu RKS Intelliset l 1 Current Accumulated ET and Rain Select 3 Max Hourly Rain and Rate of Rain from the menu and push the enter button Now you ll see the following screen Figure A 13 Max Rain Settings Hourly Max Rain 10min Rain Rate 0 40 0 08 EY Note Setting a value to zero is the same as disabling the feature Use the item selectors to set the desired values and push the enter button to save your settings 59 60 Appendix B Adding an ET Device Evapotranspiration ET devices can help the RKS adjust irrigation based on weather conditions You can either let an ET device provide daily input on how the irrigation should be adjusted or you can enter historic ET data on how the weather usually behaves throughout the year and the controller will adjust its irrigation accordingly E Note Historical ET data acts as fall back data for the controller if the communication with a connected weather station should fail Thus
14. Type 4224444440nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nn nnnnnnannnnnennnnnnnnannnnnnnn 76 C 2 2 Setting the Flow Sensor Adjustment uusssnnsnsnnnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnannnen 78 0 2 3 Setting Alarm Thresholds 4 4442444404HBnnnnnnnnnnnnnenennnnnnnannnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnnennnn 79 G2 4 Setting Alarm A6tions tn ein EEE Eh inte steed 84 0 2 5 Setting Expected Station Flow 4 2mnssnnnnsnnnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nn nnnnnnnnnnnn nn 84 6 3 Viewing the Current Flow nee kesbtkrletinthishn 86 C 4 Inspecting and Toggling Station Status 44444440snsnnnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnannnnnenn 87 D Changing Station Run Sequence uu usssnsssnnnnnennnnnnannnnnannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnennnnnnnnnannnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnnenn 89 E Using Simple Flow Management uusssssssssnnnnennnnnnnnnannnnnennnnnnnnnannnnnennnnnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnannnnnenn 91 E 1 Configuring for Flow Management sussssssssnsenennnnnnnnannnnnennnnnnnnnannnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnnnennnn 91 E 2 How the Flow Management Works cceeeeeeneeeeeee ee eeeeeeaaeeeeeeaaeeeeeeaaeeeeeeaaeeeeeeaaeeeeeeaaaeees 91 E 3 Setting the System Flow Capacity 0 cccccececeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeae eae eeeeeeeeeeaaaaeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaeneeeeeeees 91 F Defining a Custom Irrigation Period 0cccececeee eee eee eeeeeeee eee ea eee cesses ee ae aaeateeeeeeeeeaeaaaateeeeseeeeaeaae 93 G Advance
15. active see Section 5 2 5 Activating deactivating a Program 30 for details on program status Procedure 5 6 Setting start times 1 Use the item selectors to navigate to the program you wish to adjust the start times for and push the START TIMES button Now you ll see the following display Figure 5 16 Selecting a start time Program 1 Total run time 0 40 00 t 1 start E Note If you are using the misting feature of RKS you will also see cyc and Ena fields Figure 5 17 Selecting a start time with misting Program 1 Total run time 0 40 00 1 1 start cyc End Misting allows you to determine a more complex irrigation scheme where each start time is repeated a number of times within a specified time frame it is all explained in detail in Appendix G Advanced Irrigation Misting Cycle amp Soak 95 2 Use the item selectors to locate the one of the 12 runs you wish to set a start time for and push the ENTER button Now the cursor will jump to the right letting you set the start time 26 Adjusting Water Usage Water Budget or ET Figure 5 18 Selecting a start time RKS Program 1 Total run time 0 40 00 1 start 12 00 AM 3 Use the item selectors to select the start time and push the enter button Tip If you push the up and down arrow at the same time in this field you will delete the current start time all together 4 Now the controller will return to the defaul
16. and ends with two pound signs and each parameter is separated by one pound sign A Important Unfinished commands can be cancelled by pressing pound star Once you have finished a command by pressing the pound key twice you can no longer cancel the command If you enter a command that the does not understand you will hear one error beep H 1 System Commands Syntax 4 Ccommand Table H 1 Command Reference Command Action OK ERROR 00 Stop everything 2 1 10 Stop all schedules 2 1 11 Stop all stations 2 1 H 2 Station Commands Syntax 4command Station Time Table H 2 Command Reference Command Station Time Action OK ERROR 21 1 60 1 999 Activate station 2 1 22 1 60 0 Deactivate 2 1 station H 3 Schedule Commands Syntax Ccommand Schedule 101 Schedule Commands Table H 3 Command Reference Command Schedule Action OK ERROR 31 1 4 Activate schedule 2 1 32 1 4 Deactivate schedule 2 1 33 0 1 4 0 pause all 2 1 1 4 pause schedule 34 0 1 4 0 Resume all 2 1 1 4 Resume schedule 102 Glossary Cable Two wire Wire Two wires surrounded by insulation Synonym for a cable An individual copper wire 103 104
17. beyond regular irrigation and build misting and Cycle amp Soak programs A Important The basics are the same as when building a regular irrigation program so make sure to read Section 5 2 Configuring Irrigation Programs 21 and pay particular attention to Section 5 2 3 Setting Start Times 26 before carrying on here G 1 How is This Different from Regular Programs Misting and Cycle amp Soak programs are configured the same way as regular programs see Section 5 2 Configuring Irrigation Programs 21 for a walk through except for one point The program start times have a more elaborate configuration In addition to start time you configure an end time and a cycle count for how often you want the program repeated within this time frame The controller will then even out the repeats within your time frame leaving identical breaks between them So if the total run time for your program is ten minutes and you configure the program to run three times between 10 00 AM and 11 00 AM your program will run at 10 00 10 25 and 10 50 leaving 15 minute breaks at 10 10 and 10 35 The terms Misting and Cycle amp Soak refer to two variants of this concept e Misting typically describes a program that runs its stations for a very short time run times are in seconds e Cycle amp Soak typically describes a program that uses longer run times measured in minutes Both will run a number of cycles per start
18. controller 70 Using a Connected Device Weather Station ET enabled N O or N C If your ET device simply tells the controller whether to irrigate or not you need to tell the controller if the input is normally open N O or normally closed N C Whenever the device is then in the opposite mode the controller will hold its irrigation Disabled Don t use the ET input Use the item selectors to locate the setting you want and if you chose anything but ET device Pulses push the enter button to save your selection and the sensors button to exit sensor configuration If you do chose ET device Pulses you need to tell the controller how many inches to subtract from its irrigation per pulse it receives please proceed to the next step 16 Turn the mode selector to ADVANCED Figure B 18 Mode selector in apvancep AUTO MANUAL PROGRAM IRR OFF SETUP TEST ADVANCED Now the display looks like this Figure B 19 Display message on switch to avvanceo mode RKS Advanced Setup 1 Select Language 17 Select 4 IntelliSet Now the display will look like this Figure B 20 Intelliset Menu RKS Intelliset l 1 Current Accumulated ET and Rain 18 Select 6 Device Setup Now the display will look like this 71 Checking the Current Aggregated ET and Rain Figure B 21 Intelliset Device Setup Menu Device Setup 1 ET Input Method 19 Select 2 ET and R
19. default end time to total run time count start time 08 04 You must extend the end time in order get the breaks in between the four cycles Figure G 3 Default end time Program 1 Total run time 0 01 00 1 start 08 00 AM cyc 4 End 08 04 AM If you cut the end time shorter the cyc field will automatically decrease in order to fit in the cycles possible before the end time you ll see it when you have saved the start time Set the end time to 09 00 and push the enter button to save your settings now the cycles will be evenly spread out in the hour between 08 00 and 09 00 E Note When running this program the controller still considers the program to be running even though it is waiting between two cycles here s what the display will look like right after the first cycle in the first run Figure G 4 Soaking break RKS Pgm 1 1 SOAK cycle 1 4 08 01 PM Remain 0 14 00 End 09 00 PM OGPM G 3 Things to Keep in Mind When using misting or cycle amp soak programs there are a number of things to consider that don t apply to regular programs If you re using ET Each cycle still obeys the water budget dictated by ET This means that each cycle might have to run for so long that the time frame for the start time doesn t have enough room to fit in all the cycles In this case the number of cycles is cut down adequately The cut out irrigation is added to tomorrow s ET figure If you re using a maximum syste
20. display Figure 6 4 Confirm pausing a program RKS To Pause Program 1 Press Program e Ifthe program you select is one of several running programs you ll see this display 34 Pausing a Running Program 2 Figure 6 5 Confirm pausing one of more programs Pause All Use Pause To Pause Program 2 Press Program Ifthe program you select is not running but other programs are you ll see this display Figure 6 6 Confirm pausing a program Pause All Use Pause Program 2 is neither Paused nor Running Push the button that suits your intentions PAUSE RESUME Or PROGRAM and the controller will pause the program s and return to the list of programs Figure 6 7 Paused program Prog 13 PAUSED Station ST2 09 04 PM Remain 0 01 52 Remain 0 00 30 Once you re ready to resume the program follow this procedure Procedure 6 2 Resuming a paused program 1 Use the item selectors to locate the program you wish to resume and push the pause RrEsumz button Depending on whether one or more programs are paused you ll see different displays according to what you did when you paused the program s Push the button you need according to the instructions in the display When the program s resume s the display will look as if the program s had just kept running Ec Note The last ten seconds of a program might be re run so each pause resume will potentially add ten seconds to the total run time for t
21. for Program mode EY Note Making a program passive does not erase the program In fact a passive program can still be run manually More about this in Section 6 2 Running RKS in Manual Mode 38 and Section 6 1 3 Running Extra Programs in Auto Mode 37 5 2 6 Adding a Booster Pump The RKS lets you configure two stations to activate booster pumps see for instructions and each irrigation program can have one of these booster pumps associated Here s how you assign a booster pump to a program Procedure 5 10 Assigning a booster pump 1 Turn the mode selector to anvancen mode Now the display looks like this 30 Adding a Master Valve Supply Pump Figure 5 26 Display message on switch to apvancep mode RKS Advanced Setup l 1 select Language 2 Push the enter button to assign a booster pump to a program 3 Use the item selectors to select one of the 10 programs and push the enter button 4 Now use the item selectors to select between Non BO1 or BO2 Figure 5 27 Selecting a booster pump RKS 5 Once done push the enter button to save the setting Program Booster 4 1801 6 Now you can repeat steps three and four for to assign booster pumps to more programs or push the CANCEL button to return to the main display for Advanced mode 5 2 7 Adding a Master Valve Supply Pump You might want to have the RKS control the opening of your supply pump when irrigation is a
22. gt AR water management lan its DECOM i ER u RKS User Manual Tucor Inc 518 Wallace Road Wexford PA 15090 8642 Phone 800 272 7472 Phone 724 935 6850 Fax 724 935 8233 www tucor com tucormail tucor com 337 230 0001 A The information in this document may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies All rights reserved Neither the whole nor any part of the information in this publication may be reproduced in any material form except with the written permission of Tucor Inc This publication is intended only to assist the reader in the use of the RKS controller Tucor Inc shall not be liable for any loss or damage arising from the use of any information in this publication or any error or omission in such information or any incorrect use of the product 1 1ntrodUCtEN 4 4 es ent enslitdehsehieenbssallesiet ee aara aa aa aaa raaa ses 1 EIE ELA onito EI EEEE A E A E E AET 1 1 2 Imngati n Features ee EER EE Babe id hae a EEEE 1 2 Systemilnstallation a ee een ae hen a ded n E heen os 3 2de Mounting the Controler iiien araea aeia E aA EA iiaa 3 2 2 Connecting the Controller s0nnnnsnnnnnenennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnennnnnnsnnnnnnnenn 6 2 2 1 Grounding the Controller isien aa a Wa aa Weel 6 2 2 2 Connecting Sensors sasea aaa aaa h i saaa Aaaa AALAN Kaaa aiai Saaana a AEE Aiak ai 7 2 2 3 Connecting an expansion boar
23. is activated all running programs will be halted but the next program will be started normally when it is scheduled Of course if the next program also generates a high flow alarm it is halted too Push the enter button to save your selection Procedure C 7 Setting the Flow Deviation 1 Turn the mode selector to apvancep use the item selectors to scroll to item number 3 FloGuard and push the enter button Now you ll see this display RKS FloGuard 1 station Status Choose 2 Alarm Thresholds and push the enter button Now you ll see the following display RKS Alarm thresholds 1 Alarm Reaction Delay Use the item selectors to select 3 Flow Deviation Now you ll see the following display 81 Setting Alarm Thresholds 5 Flow Deviation Flow deviation 000 Use the item selectors to set the deviation percentage from expected flow The controller will raise an alarm if the flow exceeds or falls short of the expected flow with this many percent If this alarm is activated all running stations will be halted and blacklisted marked as failed Any programs that include failed stations will simply skip those stations and run the next one in the program To clear a station you need to mark it OK on the controller see Managing station status 87 for instructions You can read more about the expected flow in Section C 2 5 Setting Expected Station Flow 84 Pu
24. minus or you won t see the expected behavior from the connected devices See Appendix A Adding a Rain Sensor 55 for more details on how to configure the controller to work with a rain sensor 2 2 2 3 Connecting an Alarm or Flow Sensor The grey terminals labeled AUX are intended for either a regular auxiliary alarm or a flow sensor You connect either one to the RKS via the grey terminals labeled AUX Connecting an expansion board Figure 2 8 Connecting an alarm N Important Be aware of the polarity when you connect devices to the RKS Connect plus to plus and minus to minus or you won t see the expected behavior from the connected devices See Appendix C Adding a Flow Sensor 75 for more details on how to configure the controller to work with a flow sensor 2 2 3 Connecting an expansion board The RKS allows for expansion through RKXT 25 expansion boxes An RKXT 25 looks exactly like the RKS cabinet except that it has no display and controls TUcOR mnnbnbnhannmn 1 2 345678 sion 1291914151617 1819202122292575 b Connecting the RKXT 25 is straight forward 1 Connect and ground the RKXT 25 exactly like the
25. of 40 characters Since the limit is 40 characters per row sometimes words are abbreviated but all messages should still be easy to understand if in doubt about a message consult this manual The text layout in the display varies from mode to mode more about modes in Section 4 2 1 The Six RKS Modes 16 though in several layouts you ll find the current time in the upper right hand corner A typical message is the following that is displayed when the RKS is idle waiting for the next program to run Figure 4 2 A standard display when idling in Auto mode RKS Program 1 Start Tue 09 44 PM 08 40 PM Total Stations 2 Total run 0 40 00 13 Buttons and Controls This simply states that the next program to run is program number one the program s total run time is 17 minutes and it willrun on Tuesday at 09 44 PM activating two stations in turn In the top right you see the current time You will learn all about programs in Section 5 2 Configuring Irrigation Programs 21 Tip If the display does not seem clear and easy to read try turning the contract adjustment knob to the left which will increase light in the display Contrast adjustment knob 4 2 Buttons and Controls Figure 4 3 Controls on the RKS front plate START TIMES IRR OFF BATE TEST TIME ADVANCED PAUSE CANCEL Mode Line Activity Property Action Selector Indicator Selectors Type Item Selectors Selectors
26. push the right arrow in the item selectors to move on to select which station should be the first to run Figure 6 11 Prompting for first station RKS Use the item selectors to select the station you wish to start with and push the enter button Select program 1 Start with statio 1 Total Stations 4 Total run 0 28 00 37 Running RKS in Manual Mode Now the controller will run the selected program keeping you informed of the status of the program Figure 6 12 Manual program execution Program 11 Station STL 12 20 PM Remain 0 28 00 Remain 0 08 00 3GPM You can browse through the status of running programs with the item selectors If you want to run more programs manually just go through this procedure again for each program you want to activate To stop a manually started program before the end of its run time use the item selectors to locate it and push the stop button Tip You can always get an overview of running programs and stations by using the item selectors Use the left right arrows to select between programs and stations and the up down arrows to browse through the items programs or stations 6 2 Running RKS in Manual Mode The RKS allows you to run all programs and stations manually only not obeying the schedules for the 10 programs To enable this feature turn the mode selector to manua Figure 6 13 vanuau mode AUTO MANUAL PROGRAM IRR OFF SETUP TEST ADVANCED Now the c
27. rain sensor and react in three ways Simply stop irrigating if it rains at all e Stop irrigating if the rain level exceeds a certain threshold e Adjust irrigation based on the amount of rain The following procedure walks you through configuring the controller for rain sensor input it is identical to parts of the procedure for ET read more in Configuring ET Input 67 Procedure A 1 Configuring for a Rain Sensor 1 Before moving on make sure you have connected the rain sensor as described in Section 2 2 2 2 Connecting a Rain Sensor 8 2 Turn the mode selector to SETUP TEST Figure A 1 Mode selector in serup tzst AUTO MANUAL PROGRAM IRR OFF SETUP TEST ADVANCED Now the display looks like this Figure A 2 Display message on switch to serur resr mode RKS Setup and Test Functions choose action from buttons below 3 Push the sensors button Now you ll see the following display 55 4 Figure A 3 Sensor setup menu Sensor Setup 1 1 EF Use the item selectors to select 2 Rain and push the enter button Now the display looks like this Figure A 4 Selecting the rain sensor input RKS Now you can choose between four settings Rain Sensor Setup current status Disabled Open Rain gauge Pulses If your rain sensor provides dynamic data in the sense that it sends a pulse for each unit of rain it detects select Pulses Rain contact N O
28. sending in real time From the main Monitor Data menu Select Queue send delay and you will see the following display Queue send delay Event send delay Minutes 000 Select your preferred delay in minutes using the arrow keys and press ENTER Finally you can configure how often the controller should poll the board for problems 46 Monitor Data 7 From the main monitor Data Menu Select Board surv log interval and you will see the following display Board surv log interval TMonthly Select your desired interval and press the enter button 47 48 Chapter 7 Troubleshooting from the Controller 7 1 Testing Stations This section describes the various ways you can troubleshoot your controller and stations 7 1 1 Enabling current readings The most important tool in day to day troubleshooting is the built in current readings To enable current readings in the display of the RKS follow this procedure 1 Turn the mode selector to apvaNcED mode Figure 7 1 Mode selector in apvancep AUTO MANUAL PROGRAM IRR OFF SETUP TEST ADVANCED 2 Selects Enable Disable line mA display and push the enter button 3 Use the item selectors to select Enable and push the enter again When you return to either auto or ManuaL mode you ll see the line status in the upper right hand corner Figure 7 2 Line status in manual mode Manual Operations I 290mA Select Program
29. starting the test at the station you selected ST1 and running it for the selected duration 3 minutes Figure C 5 Running Learn Flow Station auto learn flow in progress Station STl1 2 57 Flow 4GPM When a station is done running its measured flow will be stored as the expected flow for that station Pushing cancet at any time will abort the learn flow feature but the stations measured so far are still saved This means that you don t have to measure all stations in one sitting simply re run the learn flow feature with a new Start from setting to finish what you may have been abrupted from earlier C 3 Viewing the Current Flow Given that you have configured your flow sensor correctly the RKS lets you see the real time flow directly in the controller display 1 Turn the mode selector to apvancep use the item selectors to scroll to item number 3 FloGuard and push the enter button Now you ll see this display FloGuard 1 station Status Select 4 Flow Sensor Setup and push the enter button 86 Inspecting and Toggling Station Status Now you ll see this display RKS Flow Sensor Setup 1 Flow Sensor Type 3 Select 3 current Flow Pulses and GPM and you ll see the current system flow in both pulses per second and gallons per minute RKS Pulses per second Gallons per minute 0 0 Note The RKS can measure correctly up to a flow of 250 pulses per second If
30. stations you need to know the ID you see in this display keep this ready when ordering 3 Now use the arrow keys to enter your license key and press the enter button If your license code is correct you will see a message like the following 11 License verified controller size is 36 Press any key to continue In this case the license is valid for 36 stations which means that you need an expansion board to utilize them all see Section 2 2 3 Connecting an expansion board 9 Your new license will take effect immediately and you can start building irrigation programs with all your licensed stations right away see Section 5 2 1 Configuring the stations 22 12 Chapter 4 Operating the Controller It is essential that you feel comfortable with the interface of the RKS before you start configuring stations irrigation programs etc This section explains what all the controls are for in the different modes in Chapter 5 Programming the RKS 19 and Chapter 6 Running the RKS 33 you will learn how to actually use the controls to operate the system Figure 4 1 RKS front plate RKS RUN WATER START WATER ACTIVE TIME DAYS TIMES BUDGET PASSIVE AUTO J i J J MANUAL 6 PROGRAM ET IRR OFF SETUP DATE SENSORS STATION TEST TIME TEST ADVANCED PAUSE CANCEL PROGRAM STATION RESUME STOP e e eo ENTER B B 4 1 The Display The RKS has a back lit LCD display with two rows
31. the ground increased risk of the cabling picking up surge Both must be connected to the screw sitting to the left of the power cords the green wire from the power cable is already connected to this Figure 2 5 Connecting a ground rod 8 i lelele e 6 Warning You will void the warranty by not grounding your RKS properly either by connecting the controller to common and or by using a ground rod 2 2 2 Connecting Sensors The RKS takes input from different sensor types ET devices rain sensors flow sensors and regular auxiliary alarms This sections shows you how to connect these sensors to the controller 2 2 2 1 Connecting an ET Device The RKS supports ET in two ways 1 ET Enabled mode in which the controller just lets an external device tell it when to irrigate and when to stay passive In this mode the controller supports two ET devices WR 7 and WR100i To make the controller receive instructions from an ET device connect the ET enable A from the device to the grey terminals labeled ET 2 ET Pulses mode where you connect a weather station that continuously tells the controller how much water is evaporatin
32. you should enter historical ET data even if you are using a weather stations B 1 How ET Works with the RKS The RKS will receive ET data from an external weather station or from a historical ET report describing the evaporation throughout the year Combining this data with the input from a rain sensor and the expected level of irrigation the controller can calculate exactly how much water to use for irrigation Here s a rough breakdown of how ET works with the RKS the items are in no particular order but should all be considered when planning for ET adjusted irrigation The controller needs a number of inputs in order to calculate the ET correction Amount of water that have evaporated and transpired The ET figure Amount of rain fallen The rain figure e How much water the soil can retain Soil holding How much water is used for irrigation under normal circumstances The ET and rain figures are provided by a weather station and a rain sensor the rest is entered by you at the controller if you use historical ET data this is entered at the controller as well Every day at midnight the controller adds up the ET and rain input it has received and calculates how to adjust tomorrow s ET Budget the amount of water that the irrigation should provide E Note If you use a custom irrigation period this happens at the start of your irrigation period which might not be midnight Please refer to Appendix F Defining a Cus
33. your flow exceeds pulses per second you should use a sensor that has a higher water amount per pulse ratio However a higher frequency is to prefer over a lower one as it provides the most accurate measuring so in an ideal world your frequency closes in on 250 pulses per second without ever exceeding it See Section C 2 1 Selecting Sensor Type 76 for instructions on how to configure your flow sensor C 4 Inspecting and Toggling Station Status Stations can be blacklisted if the controller suspects that they are faulty and cause deviations in the expected flow see for Setting the Flow Deviation 81 details However the controller might blacklist an innocent station since all stations that are running when the deviation takes place are blacklisted So to enable these stations again you need to toggle their status from Failed to ox Q Tip Since blacklisted stations are simply skipped when running programs that require them marking a stations as failed is an excellent way of taking a single station out of use without having to redo the program all together This can be useful if you just need to check or replace the station in the field This procedure explains how you toggle station status Procedure C 13 Managing station status 1 Turn the mode selector to apvancep use the item selectors to scroll to item number 3 FloGuard and push the enter button Now you ll see this display 87 Inspecting and Tog
34. 0 minutes Program 1 Start Tue 09 44 PM 08 40 PM Total Stations 2 Total run 0 40 00 You don t have to do anything more just leave the controller in auto mode and the program will be run automatically Once the program starts the display will tell you what station is running and the remaining run time for both the running station and the entire program 33 Pausing a Running Program Figure 6 3 Running program Current Time Running Program Running Station Program 1 Station Suri Seals TEM Remain OSS 70M Reman Oro 20 ie GPM i Current Flow Remaining Remaining Program Run Time Station Run Time Once this program has finished the next one in line will appear in the display Up to 10 programs can run in parallel Q Tip You can always get an overview of running programs and stations by using the item selectors Use the left right arrows to select between programs and stations and the up down arrows to browse through the items programs or stations 6 1 1 Pausing a Running Program From time to time it may be necessary to pause the irrigation Here s how you put a running program on hold Procedure 6 1 Pausing a program 1 Use the item selectors to locate the program you wish to pause and push the pause REsuMme button The response from the controller will vary depending on the status of the program and the number of programs running Ifthe program you select is the only one running you ll see this
35. But if you decrease the water budget to 80 percent each station will only run eight minutes and if you set the water budget to 120 percent each station will run for 12 minutes E Note If the water budget is zero the station will not run at all 27 Adjusting Water Usage Water Budget or ET Letting ET adjustment decide how the irrigation should be carried out This way you tell the RKS how much water you want the program to provide per day and then the controller will adjust for any ET and Rain input it receives See Appendix B Adding an ET Device 61 for details on how to configure the controller for ET The following two procedures walk you through configuring a program for each of the two options Procedure 5 7 Adjusting the water budget 1 Use the item selectors to select the program you wish to set the water budget for 2 Pushthe water Budget button Now you ll see the following display Figure 5 19 Choosing method for irrigation adjustment RKS Program 1 Total run time 0 40 00 Choose method water Budget EY Note Please see the note below On switching between Water Budget and ET adjustment 29 3 Use the item selectors to choose Water Budget and push the water Budget button Now you ll see the following screen Figure 5 20 Adjusting the water budget Program 1 Total run time 0 40 00 select program water Budget 100 0 250 4 Use the item selectors to set the appropriate water budget and
36. Fl Sensor Setup 1 Flow Pulses 3 Push the enter button to save your selection Now the RKS is ready to accept input from your flow sensor but before you can use it to anything meaningful you need to configure threshold values and actions read more in the next section C 2 Configuring for Flow Sensor Input In the previous section you enabled the RKS to accept flow sensor input now you need to configure what to do with it and this section walks you through the relevant procedures C 2 1 Selecting Sensor Type By telling the RKS which type of sensor you are using the controller can calibrate the input it receives from the input terminals The RKS knows the calibration profiles for five different sensor types if you re not using one of these you ll have to skip to the next procedure to perform a manual calibration for your sensor Using a known sensor type to enable a built in profile Procedure C 2 Using a built in calibration profile 1 Turn the mode selector to apvancep use the item selectors to scroll to item number 3 FloGuard and push the enter button Now you ll see this display RKS FloGuard 1 station Status 2 Select4 Flow Sensor Setup and push the enter button Now you ll see this display 76 Selecting Sensor Type 5 RKS Flow Sensor Setup 1 Flow Sensor Type Choose 1 Flow Sensor Type by pushing the enter button Now you ll see this display RKS
37. Intelliset menu 7 Selects Historic Data Settings in the menu and push the enter button Now you ll see the following screen Figure B 6 Entering Historic ET Data RKS 8 Use the item selectors to browse the months and set the daily ET adjustment for each Historic Data Settings Month January Daily ET 0 00 9 Push the cancer button to return to the main Intelliset menu B 3 Using a Connected Device Weather Station Connecting an ET device on site gives you the most accurate adjustments as the ET device will monitor the exact weather condition right where irrigation will take place N Important If for some reason your weather stations fails and does not provide any input for the RKS the controller will fall back on historical ET data and use these instead The same goes in case of a power failure the controller will use the historical data for the part of today that lies before the power failure and then use real time ET data from when it is powered up again Bottom line you should always enter a set of historical ET data even when running with a connected weather station Configuring for ET is a rather lengthy procedure with a lot of steps Make sure you read Section B 1 How ET Works with the RKS 61 before starting this procedure Procedure B 2 Configuring ET Input 1 Before moving on make sure you have connected the ET device as described in Section 2 2 2 1 Connecting an ET Device
38. KO s a a aa aa aaa E a ETSER 33 621 Running RKS n Auto Mode a e aae Rerik ena 33 6 1 1 Pausing a Running Program cece ianen eter ee eee EEEE AAA RAES 34 6 1 2 Running Extra Stations in Auto Mode esseseessessessesenrirsirssstrrrrrrrrsstsrrrrrrenesssnsrnnns 36 6 1 3 Running Extra Programs in Auto Mode 2 24444444sen anne senate sees nn nnnnnnennnnnnn nn nnnnnnen 37 6 2 Running RKS in Manual Mode 444s04nnnsnnnnnenennnnnnnnnnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnen 38 6 3 Alarmssau een na ste dan BE na hohe AAEE 39 6 3 1 Becoming aware of alarms on site uumnnssennnnnnenennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn 39 6 3 2 Receiving alarm notifications on email uss4ssennnsennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nn nnnnnn nn nnnnnnen 40 6 3 3 Viewing the alarm Stree einne rE aE EEEE RE EEEE EEA EEEE EEEE REEERE 42 6 4 Nomor Data 2 2 EEA AEA A Geka ame als send Da ATR NA EAR 45 7 Troubleshooting from the Controller 44444444440nHannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnannnnnnnnnnnnnnnan nn nnnnnnnnn 49 Le 1ESUNG SLAUONS Arne neg doen ae TR gen dines donna sutubound ac cos E dante RDe 49 7 1 1 Enabling current readings cccceeceececeeeeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeeesaeeeeeeseeeeaeeeeeeneeeees 49 7 1 2 Running the Electrical Test nren e eaae nese KA r AANER KAA ARERIORIK VAAN 50 7 2 Running the Water Test osien eiren ee re eaea E AEEA EAEE IRRE RI 51 73 Tes
39. KS is in program mode Figure 5 9 Mode selector in procram mode AUTO MANUAL PROGRAM IRR OFF SETUP TEST ADVANCED Now the RKS shows you the configuration for Program 1 The first time you do this most settings are blank and the display will look like this Figure 5 10 Program mode Program Name Total Selector Run Time Program 1 Total run time 0 00 00 Sta 0 WTFSSMTWTFSSMT 0 100 P f Water Number of Stations Water Number of First Start Budget in Program Days Run Times Time i Active Passive The following sections walk you through everything you need to know in order to customize the 10 programs 5 2 1 Configuring the stations Each of the 10 programs can activate up to 100 stations in turn The stations are run in turn according to their IDs starting from STO1 STO2 etc To configure a program simply set the run times of each station to the number of minutes you wish it to run Here s an example of an irrigation program it you want the stations to run in a different order than this you must assign sequence numbers to each station and the sequence number will determine the order instead Read more about sequence numbers in Appendix D Changing Station Run Sequence 89 22 Configuring the stations Station Run Time ST01 10min ST02 5min ST04 100min ST16 10min E Note A station can appear in as many programs as you wish but obviously only one
40. RKS see Section 2 2 1 Grounding the Controller 6 for more information on grounding Connecting an expansion board Run an RJ11 cable from either expansion slot on the controller to either slot on the expansion board 2 yes you can freely connect 1 to 2 2 to 1 1 to 1 or 2 to 2 A close up looks like this RKXT 25 RKS eo ela e o eo e olo oeol 2 O ae oe 45 ag ExpQnsion 2 3 z Expansion N Important The RJ11 cables must be four wire mirrored cables 10 Chapter 3 System Activation The default license that ships with your controller allows for only one station Most likely you have purchased a license that allows for more stations and to unlock the RKS to control all your licensed stations follow this procedure 1 Turn the mode selector to ADVANCED Figure 3 1 Mode selector in apvancep AUTO MANUAL PROGRAM IRR OFF SETUP TEST ADVANCED Now the display looks like this Figure 3 2 Display message on switch to avvanceo mode RKS Advanced Setup 1 Select Language 2 Select 1 License and you will see a display like this your ID will be different RKS License setup ID 0200 00F8 14D7 A89E controller Size 1 Key FFFFFFFFFF EY Note To obtain a license key for more
41. ain Inch Pulse Settings Now you ll see something like this Figure B 22 ET and Rain inch per pulse settings ET Inch per Pulse Rain Inch per Pulse 0 00 0 00 20 Use the item selectors to set your values and push the enter button to save your settings B 4 Checking the Current Aggregated ET and Rain Every now and then you might wantto check out how much rain has fallen or how much water has evaporated the RKS has a screen that shows you the accumulated values in real time Procedure B 3 Reading current aggregated ET and Rain figures 1 Turn the mode selector to ADVANCED Figure B 23 Mode selector in apvancep AUTO MANUAL PROGRAM IRR OFF SETUP TEST ADVANCED Now the display looks like this 72 Checking the Current Aggregated ET and Rain 2 Figure B 24 Display message on switch to avancen mode RKS Advanced Setup l 1 select Language Select 4 IntelliSet Now the display will look like this Figure B 25 Intelliset Menu Intelliset 1 Current Accumulated ET and Rain Select 1 Current Accumulated ET and Rain from the menu and push the enter button Now you ll see the following screen Figure B 26 Accumulated ET and Rain figures Current Rain current ET Hour 0 07 Day 0 07 0 00 corr 0 00 These figures will be reset at midnight when they ll be used to calculate tomorrow s ET budget Please see Section B 1 How ET Works with the RKS 61 for an in dep
42. and Toggling Station Status 87 You can clear the notification by viewing the alarm list The alarm will be cleared once you have viewed the alarm list and acknowledged the alarm 10 Repeat The number of repeats has been reduced in a misting program This typically happens if ET expands the run time for repeats and the program can t fit all the repeats into the configured time frame You can read more about this in Appendix G Advanced Irrigation Misting Cycle amp Soak 95 The alarm will be cleared once you have viewed the alarm list and acknowledged the alarm 11 NW Prg A program has not been run because it was set to start in the non water time window You can read more about the non water window in Appendix F Defining a Custom Irrigation Period 93 The alarm will be cleared once you have viewed the alarm list and acknowledged the alarm 44 Monitor Data Short name in display Alarm type Full name Description How to clear alarm see note below 12 NW Stp A program was halted because it was running when entering the non water time window You can read more about the non water window in Appendix F Defining a Custom Irrigation Period 93 The alarm will be cleared once you have viewed the alarm list and acknowledged the alarm To exit the alarm list push the ararms button again or simply wait about 20 seconds and the cont
43. ave your settings C 2 2 Setting the Flow Sensor Adjustment If you want to adjust the overall effect of your flow sensor you can use the sensor adjustment to multiply the values from your sensor with anything between 0 00 and 9 99 This comes in handy if you have a standard sensor that behaves slightly different than the built in profile suggesis Procedure C 4 Adjusting the flow sensor input 1 Turn the mode selector to apvancep use the item selectors to scroll to item number 3 FloGuard and push the enter button Now you ll see this display 78 Setting Alarm Thresholds 4 5 RKS FloGuard 1 station Status Select 4 Flow Sensor Setup and push the enter button Now you ll see this display Flow Sensor Setup 1 Flow Sensor Type Choose 2 Flow Sensor Adjustment Now you ll see the screen for adjusting the flow sensor input RKS Use the item selectors to set your adjustment factor Flow Sensor Adjustment Adjustment factor f 0 Push the enter button to save your selection C 2 3 Setting Alarm Thresholds For each of the alarms described in Table C 1 Alarm Types 75 you must set a threshold value and you also need to tell the controller for how long the alarm must be on before the controller should take action E Note Setting a threshold to zero will disable the alarm This section describes how to enter these settings Procedure C 5 Setting
44. bit longer Table B 1 Irrigation levels per run time Station Name Inches per hour Run time MM SS Water used per run Total daily water usage ST1 0 5 60 00 0 500 2x 0 500 1 00 ST2 1 0 30 00 0 500 2x 0 500 1 00 ST3 1 5 15 00 0 375 2x 0 375 0 75 ST4 2 0 18 45 0 625 2x 0 625 1 25 Now let s say that yesterday it didn t rain a whole lot so today s ET budget is 1 20 to make up for the evaporated water This is 20 percent more than the 1 00 we just tried and the controller extends all run times with 20 percent in order to arrive at 1 20 Table B 2 ET corrected run times Station Name Inches per hour Run time MM SS Water used per run Total daily water usage ST1 0 5 72 00 0 600 2x 0 500 1 20 ST2 1 0 36 00 0 600 2x 0 500 1 20 ST3 1 5 18 00 0 450 2x 0 375 0 90 ST4 2 0 22 30 0 750 2x 0 625 1 50 It is possible to set a minimum ET value that determines whether irrigation will take place at all see Step 3 69 There can be several reasons to set a minimum ET value e If you only provide an insignificant amount of water the effect is useless 64 Using Historical ET Data If you have rotating valves maybe they won t make a complete rotation before their short run time is over and you ll get uneven irrigation But isn t a bit of water better than no water at all Yes but take a look at this e
45. controller doesn t seem to fit firmly on the screw take it down tighten the screw a bit more and try again Repeat until the controller seems stable on the screw EY Note The rubber pads you see on the bottom corners of the controller cabinet above might be delivered separately for you to assemble 3 Make sure the controller is in level Connecting the Controller 4 Use a pen to put marks on the wall through the two holes in the back of the controller cabinet Figure 2 4 Marking up the mounting holes Mounting holes N 5 If you re placing the controller on a concrete wall take down the controller drill out the holes for the two new screws possibly put in the wall anchors and put back the controller on the wall 6 Fasten the two last screws in the wall through the holes in the back of the controller cabinet Now the controller should be mounted firmly on the wall 2 2 Connecting the Controller 2 2 1 Grounding the Controller To secure your RKS against lightning you must ensure that the controller is grounded There are two ways of assuring this 1 Make sure that the main power supply is securely grounded 2 Connect a ground rod to the controller Connecting Sensors Do both for maximum surge protection Tip Though using a ground rod is optional you should definitely connect a ground rod if e Your mains is grounded a long way from where you connect the RKS If you have a lot of cable in
46. ctive and shut it down when irrigation is over To achieve this simply let one of your stations control the supply pump this station is then told to act as the master valve station see for instructions and will automatically open when irrigation starts and shut down when it is over E Note A station can not run a pump on its own you must attach a relay connected to an external power source and the station will then activate the relay 5 2 8 Testing a Program After setting up your programs you might want to test them without having to wait around for all of them to actually run Since this is the same approach as you would take in a troubleshooting scenario please refer to Section 7 3 Testing Programs 52 in the troubleshooting chapter for instructions 31 32 Chapter 6 Running the RKS Day to day usage of the RKS is pretty simple the whole point of having a system like this is to automate the irrigation so little or no intervention will be needed once your system is up and running 6 1 Running RKS in Auto Mode Once your system is configured turn the mode selector to auto mode Figure 6 1 AUTO Mode AUTO MANUAL PROGRAM IRR OFF SETUP TEST ADVANCED Now the display will tell you which program will run next Figure 6 2 Waiting for a program to run RKS In this case the next program that will run is number one It has two stations and will run on Tuesday at 09 44 PM for 4
47. d 4usmmsennnnsnnnnnenennnnnnnnnnnnnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nn 9 SIEI aE iLO 1 AEEA A EEE EE E EE E 11 4 Operating the Controller rc ee ies ee ee eta i ee 13 Ade THE Display na See cet ale peeve eat DD Dee urea REED 13 4 2 Buttons and Controls siesena a veh dengue dveSbabeehcudsbe dl aia aaa aiad Taaa 14 4 2 1 The Six RKS Modes 0 000 c cece eccceeee cece cece ee eee e ete ee nese ee ae aa aaa ceases eeaeaaaaaaeeeeeeeeaeaaaaeneeeees 16 5 Programming the RKS u eG ieee es eee i ian ta ese Le ok tea ale en ea aed 19 5 1 Basic Controller Configuration ccccceeeeeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeaaeeeeeeeeeeeeaeaaeaeceeeeeeeaeaaaaneneeeees 19 5 2 Configuring Irrigation Programs risina intiena iiie aaa a eA ahea a 21 5 2 1 Configuring the Stations uuussnssnssnnnnennnnnnnnnannnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nn 22 52 2 Setting Water DY Nee E E EA E A as ev nin ea 24 5 253 Setting Start MES zu 2 ri namen aA cds a E a AA 26 5 2 4 Adjusting Water Usage Water Budget or ET usmnnssensnnnsnenennnnnnnnnnnnnn anna 27 5 2 5 Activating deactivating a Program sassssssssssseerrssssrrrreerrrnssnnrinennnnnnnnrnneantnnnnnnnennnnne 30 5 2 6 Adding a Booster PUMP liere eee EAEE EEE rE e EEEE ER Ee 30 5 2 7 Adding a Master Valve Supply Pump s sssssssssssssssssrssrssesssssrrrrrrsrssssrtrrrrerssssrsrnrrenent 31 5 2 8 losing aA Progra Hesri ero AE RA EOE AEEA TEER EARE E NAET 31 Gx RUNNING e R
48. d Irrigation Misting Cycle amp Soak 22424442snnnnnnnnnnnnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnen nn 95 G 1 How is This Different from Regular Programs ccceseeeeeeeeeeeaeeeteeeeeeeeeaeaaeaneeeeeeeeeaeaaea 95 G 1 1 When the RKS Alters Your Program ccceeeeeeeeeeeaeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeaaeaeeeeeeeeeaeaaaaeenees 95 G 2 How to Configure for Misting or Cycle amp Soak rusunnnnssnnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnennnen 96 G8 Things to Keep in Mind 4e enter a a aaas 99 H RFA 200 Command Reference 44444444snnnnnnnnnnnnnenennnnnnnannnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnennnnnnnnnnnn 101 H 1 System Gommands 3 2 ni Diane ie ie etal ete 101 H 2 Station COMMANAS a A e a aaa aa aa a e aa oi aa AO a a aaae 101 H S Sched le Commands ia riena aeaaea a a a aa aa aaae adasen 101 GIOS Sal Viae mae a Ae E E E a ES 103 Chapter 1 Introduction The RKS is a microprocessor based irrigation control system A central controller and up to 100 field stations comprise a complete system In addition the controller will accept input from several external sensors in order to adjust its irrigation to the local weather conditions 1 1 The Controller The heart of a RKS based system is the controller This is a microprocessor controlled device that stores your irrigation programs and RKS individual stations in the field when to activate their valve s 1 2 Irrigation Features Here are the ma
49. de the RKS makes sure that all programs are run according to schedule Once everything is configured you switch the system to auto mode and leave it to do its job 16 The Six RKS Modes You also have the option of starting additional valves or programs manually while a program is running in auto mode This can be useful if you notice that an area needs a little extra watering but you don t want to create a new program to take care of it just turn on the nearest valve for a few minutes 4 2 1 4 Program This is the mode you switch to when creating programs you will learn more about this mode in Section 5 2 Configuring Irrigation Programs 21 4 2 1 5 Setup Test This mode lets you setthe date and time configure the controller for various sensor inputs identify and test your stations and test for shorts on your wiring 4 2 1 6 Advanced In advanced mode you can configure a lot of settings that you don t have to change in the daily work with the controller Select controller language English and Spanish are supported e FloStack plan and control system flow FloGuard monitor the controller for potential problems Intelliset manage ET devices and operations Define a custom irrigation period Assign booster pumps to programs e Manage the run sequence of your stations Enable disable whether or not to display the line current e Mist manager configure the RKS for misting or cycle amp
50. display reflects the change PAUSE RESUME Help Button This button serves two purposes It is used to pause and resume running programs and it will provide you with short help instructions for most of the options you encounter when programming the RKS For example if you turn the Mode selectorto SETUP TEST push the STATION TEST button and then push the Help button you ll see the following message in the display 15 The Six RKS Modes Figure 4 5 Help text for station test RKS Electrical test of station Both Idecoder and valve should be connected When you see arrows in the help text it s an indication that you can use the tem selectors to scroll for more help text 4 2 1 The Six RKS Modes Looking at the mode selector from left to right you see six possible modes for the RKS Figure 4 6 The mode selector AUTO MANUAL PROGRAM IRR OFF SETUP TEST ADVANCED 4 2 1 1 IRR OFF This is short for Irrigation Off practically this means that the connection to the field is shut down and no programs will be run The display will still be lit and you ll see this message Figure 4 7 Idling in Irr Off mode RKS 4 2 1 2 Manual Irrigation is OFF 08 39 PM Power to line has been shut off In manual mode you can start a program or a single station manually 4 2 1 3 Auto This is the normal operating position and is probably where your system will soend the most of it s time When in auto mo
51. f time for the alarm meaning that the alarm is still on Had the alarm ceased you would see the end time too Use the item selectors to scroll through the list The list contains information on the latest observed alarms of the 12 known alarm types N Note The alarm list will not survive a power failure if the controller loses power the list is wiped clean 42 Viewing the alarm list Table 6 2 Alarms in the RKS Short name in display Alarm type Full name Description How to clear alarm see note below 1 Rain Rain alarm Will automatically disappear when it stops raining 2 Alarm Whatever alarm you have The alarm stays on as long as the attached to the alarm termnial If attached alarm is active but you you re using the AUX terminal for can clear it by viewing the alarm a flow sensor you won t ever see list this alarm See Section 2 2 2 3 Connecting an Alarm or Flow Sensor 8 3 ET Evapotranspiration alarm Will automatically disappear when the ET enable device is no longer This will only ever be raised if controlling your irrigation you re running in ET enabled mode See Section B 1 How ET Works with the RKS 61 for in depth details about ET 4 Short Short alarm The alarm stays on as long as there is a short in your system You can clear the notification by viewing the alarm list 5 High F High flow alarm The alarm stays on as long as the flow is too hi
52. g Combined with the input from a rain sensor the controller will then on its own figure out how much to irrigate Running in this mode you still just connect the weather station to the ET terminals Connecting Sensors Figure 2 6 Connecting an ET device 8 jejo N Important Be aware of the polarity when you connect devices to the RKS Connect plus to plus and minus to minus or you won t see the expected behavior from the connected devices You can read a whole lot more about configuring the controller for ET input in Appendix B Adding an ET Device 61 2 2 2 2 Connecting a Rain Sensor You can connect a rain sensor pulse or switch to the RKS via the grey terminals labeled Rain Figure 2 7 Connecting a rain sensor 8 ER N Important Be aware of the polarity when you connect devices to the RKS Connect plus to plus and minus to
53. gh You can clear the notification by viewing the alarm list 6 MPF Main pump failure The alarm will be cleared once you have viewed the alarm list and acknowledged the alarm 7 USch F Unscheduled flow alarm This means that too much water is flowing in your pipes when you re not irrigating Such an alarm indicates that you have a leak Stays on as long as the flow is too high The cut off valve COV will be activated so the alarm will clear itself but you can clear the notification by viewing the alarm list 43 Viewing the alarm list Short name in display Alarm type Full name Description How to clear alarm see note below 8 St cher 9 Max St Station error alarm This means that one or more stations in the field have failed and will only be raised if you are using a flow sensor E Note This alarm only concerns flow related problems not any electrical errors that may occur in a station If you suspect that a stations has an electrical error please see Section 7 1 2 Running the Electrical Test 50 Maximum number of stations reached This means that a program tried to start a station when the maximum number of stations were already running This alarm can only be triggered if you have changed the power adjustment to something higher than the default value Stays on until all stations are labeled OK see Section C 4 Inspecting
54. gling Station Status 2 3 4 FloGuard 1 station Status Select 1 station Status by pushing the enter button Now you ll see a scrollable list of stations and their status Failed or OK Figure C 6 Station status list menu k Station status Station f stl Status Failed If you wish to toggle the status of a station locate it with the item selectors and push the enter button Tip Instead of browsing through the entire list of stations you can use the station button to browse only failed stations Using the item selectors again you can toggle the station between ox and Failed states Push the cance x button to exit the menu 88 Appendix D Changing Station Run Sequence Normally stations in a program will be run in the order indicated by their station ID numbers see Section 5 2 Configuring Irrigation Programs 21 for details but you can circumvent this by assigning sequence numbers to stations instead The typical scenario if when you want to add a station to an existing installation instead of this station always being run as the last one due to its high ID number you can merge it into the middle of the pack by using sequence numbers Example D 1 Putting a new station in the middle of the run chain Consider a scenario where you have 40 stations with ID numbers from 1 to 40 placed in the terrain You want to add number 41 but you would like it to be run after s
55. h 0 2 In other words we can never benefit more from fallen rain than the soil is capable of holding back So this example will end up with a 0 2 adjustment no matter how much more rain we have had If you don t connect a weather station but let your programs run from historical ET data the controller simply reads the historical data each midnight subtracts the rain figure and adds the result to the ET budget E Note If you use a custom irrigation period this happens at the start of your irrigation period which might not be midnight Please refer to Appendix F Defining a Custom Irrigation Period 93 for details EY Note You can still use a local rain sensor to measure fallen rain and have this affect the ET correction Soil holding is still a limiting factor on how much we can benefit from fallen rain When the RKS looks at the ET budget and has to figure out how long it has to irrigate it looks at the ET Base setting see Step 3 69 for instructions on how to set this value A bit of background is needed to understand how this works 62 How ET Works with the RKS When the controller is irrigating normally it is considered to be irrigating at a water budget of 100 see Section 5 2 4 Adjusting Water Usage Water Budget or ET 27 for details about water budgets In order for the ET figure to make sense to the controller you need to tell it what the ET figure would be when running at a 100 water budge
56. hat program 35 Running Extra Stations in Auto Mode 6 1 2 Running Extra Stations in Auto Mode When the RKS is running in auto mode you have the option of manually starting additional stations simultaneously This can come in handy if a certain part of the terrain needs a little extra watering but you don t want to reconfigure a program for just one times sake E Note The RKS supports up to 12 simultaneously running stations This means that if for instance two programs are running you can start nine more stations manually Procedure 6 3 Running a station manually 1 Push the station button and the following display appears Figure 6 8 Selecting station select station 1 ST1 Sel run 00 01 00 Press right arrow key to select run time 2 Use the item selectors to select the station you wish to activate If you re happy with the suggested run time push the ENTER button Otherwise push the right arrow of the item selectors to move the cursor to the right to adjust the run time and then push the enter button Now the station will start running immediately Figure 6 9 Manually activated station Program Station STL 12 58 PM Remain Remain 0 05 00 2GPM You can use the item selectors to browse through the list of running stations and programs from this display If you want to run more stations manually just go through this procedure again for each station you want to activate To stop a manually
57. hrough configuring the controller for both historical and weather station ET correction B 2 Using Historical ET Data If you don t have a local weather station you can use historical ET data to correct your irrigation instead Before you start this procedure you need to know how much water evaporates every month of the year on a daily basis Meaning that for each month you ll get to enter a figure that will be used each day that month 65 Using Historical ET Data Procedure B 1 Configuring for Historical ET Data 1 Turn the mode selector to ADVANCED Figure B 1 Mode selector in apvancep AUTO MANUAL PROGRAM IRR OFF SETUP TEST ADVANCED Now the display looks like this Figure B 2 Display message on switch to avvanceo mode Advanced Setup 1 Select Language 2 Select4 IntelliSset Now the display will look like this Figure B 3 Intelliset Menu Intelliset l 1 Current Accumulated ET and Rain 3 Select 6 Device Setup Now the display will look like this Figure B 4 Intelliset Device Setup Menu Device Setup l 1 ET Input Method 4 Select1 ET Input Method Now the display will look like this 66 Using a Connected Device Weather Station Figure B 5 Intelliset Device Input Method ET Input Method Local weather Station 5 Select Historic and push the enter button 6 Push the cancer button once to go back to the main
58. ields E Note You don t have to set the week day the controller will calculate this based on the date you enter 4 When you re happy with the setting push the enter button If you need to adjust the date time later on follow this procedure 19 Basic Controller Configuration Procedure 5 2 Setting the date and time 1 Turn the mode selector to SETUP TEST Figure 5 3 Mode selector in serur resr AUTO MANUAL PROGRAM IRR OFF SETUP TEST ADVANCED The display will now look like this Figure 5 4 Display message on switch to szerue rzst mode Setup and Test Functions choose action from buttons below 2 Push the patz time selector The button will start blinking and the display will look something like this Figure 5 5 Setting date and time 10 18 2004 08 50 42 AM week day Monday The blinking cursor indicate what you re about to edit In this example you re about to edit the month slot which is set to 10 October 3 You change the settings with the up and down item selectors and move between the day month and year slots with the left and right item selectors 4 Push the enter button to save your setting now the controller will save the date and return to the default screen for setup test mode E Note The week day will be calculated automatically from the date you choose The next thing you should do is to set the language the controller currently supports English and Spanish
59. igure A 9 ET and Rain inch per pulse settings RKS ET Inch per Pulse Rain Inch per Pulse 0 00 0 00 10 Use the item selectors to set your values and push the enter button to save your settings A 1 Setting 10 Minute and Hourly Maximum Rain The RKS allows for two precautions when you experience rain You can set a 10 minutes maximum value If this value is exceeded during any 10 minute period any running stations will be halted running programs will not be allowed to start new stations and the controller will raise a rain alarm E Note As long as the 10 minute maximum is exceeded rain measurement is suspended meaning that if you run any programs in ET corrected mode the rain that has fallen during this period will not be subtracted from the ET figure before adjusting tomorrow s ET budget If it rains intensively for more than an hour you may get so much water that the soil can not benefit from all of it the excess water will simply run off the surface So if you run programs in ET corrected mode the controller won t subtract all of the rain from tomorrow s ET figure it will cut off the amount of rain to subtract at the hourly maximum Example If the hourly maximum is 0 02 and it rains 0 03 per hour for three hours only 0 06 and not 0 09 will be subtracted from tomorrow s ET budget You can read a lot more about ET in Section B 1 How ET Works with the RKS 61 Procedure A 2 Setting max values for 10
60. in features that the RKS utilizes to help you automate your irrigation e Controls up to 100 solenoids attached to valves or relays via the built in connection board and up to three expansion boards Provides ET corrected irrigation for optimal adjusted water consumption e Measures water flow and raises alarms or halts irrigation on unexpected flow Allows for 10 independent irrigation programs In addition there is a fixed test program that activates all 100 stations in turn A program can activate up to 100 stations in named order Each station can run for up to 17 59 50 In fact you can boost this even further by increasing the water budget Read more in Section 5 2 4 Adjusting Water Usage Water Budget or ET 27 Each program can activate a booster pump in addition to the stations Master valves and booster pumps will be activated in parallel in all connection and expansion boards All programs have 12 start times per day All programs can run simultaneously You configure each program to run on any selection of days in a 14 day period or on odd even dates e You can activate one or more valves or programs manually while one or more programs are running up to a total of 12 simultaneously running valves maximum five per connection or expansion board A master valve can be selected that will open when any program or station is run You typically assign master valve status to the valve controll
61. ing access to municipal water or pumping station Chapter 2 System Installation Before you start the installation procedure please make sure that everything is included in your package Apart from the manual you re holding the RKS box should contain the following Figure 2 1 RKS Box Contents e One RKS controller Two keys for the controller cabinet Two mounting pads for the back of the controller cabinet The functionality of the first three items is obvious and as for the current tracker you will learn more about that in 2 1 Mounting the Controller Though the RKS is designed to resist both rain and direct sun light you should place it in a friendlier environment if possible Installing the RKS inside a utility room or a shed is the perfect solution but if this is not possible try to place it somewhere dry and out of sight Furthermore make sure that you place the controller in a location that meets these requirements The controller must have access to 120V AC Mounting the Controller You must be able to connect all cables to the controller at the location To minimize electromagnetic interference make sure that the controller is placed at least 15 feet away from any high draw motors like air conditioners refrigerators pool pumps etc Once you ve designated a suitable location for the controller you re ready to mount it on the wall or whatever vertical surface you have cho
62. m capacity see Appendix E Using Simple Flow Management 91 for details a cycle might be unable to run if the maximum capacity is reached If the program is ET controlled the cut out irrigation is added to tomorrow s ET figure 99 Things to Keep in Mind If you pause a misting program the cycles that should have taken place during the pause are dropped in order to fit the total number of cycles in the program run time window If the program is ET controlled the irrigation that is lost on this account is added to tomorrow s ET figure You should ensure that flow limits or reaction delay is set to consider the on off nature of misting programs in order to avoid false alarms Ideally you should use a separate pipe system without flow sensors for misting programs Please see Section C 2 3 Setting Alarm Thresholds 79 for details on alarm configuration e The RKS can handle up to five station starts within ten seconds so you should avoid starting more than five stations at once or you will start seeing alarms 100 Appendix H RFA 200 Command Reference This is a list of valid commands you can send the RFA 200 from your radio to the RKS The OK and ERROR columns indicate how many beeps you will hear on OK and ERROR respectively Normal behavior is two beeps for OK and one beep for ERROR The Syntax line tells you how you should enter the commands on the RFA 200 The general rule is that an instruction starts
63. n Now you see the following display RKS Here you can scroll between the different alarms emitted by the controller Alarm Notification settings TRain Select the alarm you wish to configure and press the enter button Now you see the following display RKS You can select each email address you have entered and determine if you want an email when this type of alarm is raised and or when it is recalled Rain E Mail TyourGemail com Select the email you wish to configure for the current alarm and press the enter button Use the arrow keys to set On and Off to either Yes or No see the explanation table below 41 Viewing the alarm list Table 6 1 Meaning of On Off Yes No Setting Selection Meaning On Yes Send email when the alarm is raised No No email when the alarm is raised Off Yes Send email when the alarm is recalled No No email when the alarm is recalled 6 3 3 Viewing the alarm list To view the list of alarms in the RKS follow this procedure 1 2 Make sure the controller is running in auto or manuaL mode Push the atarms button Now you ll see a scrollable list of the different types of alarms known to the RKS Figure 6 20 Alarm list Alarm On Date Time off Date Time 1 Rain 12 05 01 10 P E Note If you have an older version of the RKS that has no ararms button you need to push the WATER Days button instead In this case there is no of
64. ontroller is ready to run programs or stations manually and you re prompted to select one of the two 38 Alarms Figure 6 14 Prompting for station or program RKS Manual Operations 08 54 PM select Program or Station From here on the procedure for running stations is identical to Running a station manually 36 and running programs is explained in Running a program manually 37 Tip You can manually run programs and stations simultaneously 6 3 Alarms When running in auto or manua mode the RKS will react on a number of conditions by raising one or more alarms 6 3 1 Becoming aware of alarms on site If the RKS has received an alarm and is in auto or manuaz mode see Chapter 6 Running the RKS 33 for a description of the two modes the bottom row of the display will toggle between normal text and the alarm that has arrived For example if you had a rain alarm at 01 10 PM your display will toggle between normal mode and alarm notification Figure 6 15 Normal display Program 2 start Tue 05 00 am 03 14 PM Total stations 3 Total run 1 10 00 Program 2 Start Tue 05 00 AM 03 14 PM Rain sensor 01 10 PM The display will toggle between the two modes in short intervals If you had multiple alarms the controller will toggle to a different alarm each time it toggles to notification 39 Receiving alarm notifications on email EY Note If you had more than three alarms the f
65. or N C If your rain sensor simply tells the controller whether to irrigate or not if it s raining or not you need to tell the controller if the input is normally open or closed Whenever the device is in the opposite mode the controller will hold its irrigation Disabled Don t use the Rain input Use the item selectors to locate the setting you want and if you chose anything but Rain gauge Pulses push the enter button to save your selection and the sensors button to exit sensor configuration If you do chose Rain gauge Pulses you need to tell the controller how many inches of rain each pulse corresponds so please continue to the next step Turn the mode selector to ADVANCED 56 7 8 9 Figure A 5 Mode selector in apvancep AUTO MANUAL PROGRAM IRR OFF SETUP TEST ADVANCED Now the display looks like this Figure A 6 Display message on switch to avvanceo mode RKS Advanced Setup l 1 select Language Select 4 IntelliSet Now the display will look like this Figure A 7 Intelliset Menu RKS Intelliset 1 Current Accumulated ET and Rain Select 6 Device Setup Now the display will look like this Figure A 8 Intelliset Device Setup Menu RKS Device Setup l 1 ET Input Method Select 2 ET Rain Setup andthen 2 ET and Rain Inch Pulse settings Now you ll see something like this 57 Setting 10 Minute and Hourly Maximum Rain F
66. or Station EY Note The display will return to showing the time if you power down the controller The current reading will toggle between current readings for the internal connection board and any expansion boards you may have connected The reading will be prefixed with l for Internal board or a number for an expansion board 1 for the first expansion board 2 for the second and 3 for the third 49 Running the Electrical Test 7 1 2 Running the Electrical Test The RKS has a built in test that will activate each station in turn for just one second in order to check if they are responding correctly The stations must be connected to the solenoids that activate valves in the landscape and the test can tell whether the stations and solenoids are working correctly in conjunction Procedure 7 1 Running the station test 1 Turn the mode selector to serup TEsT mode Figure 7 3 Mode selector in serur resr AUTO MANUAL PROGRAM IRR OFF SETUP TEST ADVANCED 2 Push the station test button Now you ll be prompted to select the station you wish to start from Figure 7 4 Select first station for test RKS Station Test Start from ST1 3 Use the item selectors to select a station and push the enter button to start the test If the station is ok the display will look something like this Figure 7 5 station test OK Test of Station ST1 Station OmA 238mA In this case the s
67. original run time at least one minute per station 52 Chapter 8 Advanced Features 8 1 Intelliset With the Intelliset feature set you can allow external evapotranspiration ET devices to control your irrigation Intelliset comes in a couple of flavors e Simple ET which allows an external weather station to tell the RKS if it should irrigate today or not e Complex ET control which allows the RKS to adjust the irrigation level based on ET data from a weather station exact amount of rain and environmental conditions e Complex ET control based on historical ET data you enter the historical ET correction figures for the entire year and use these to adjust your irrigation throughout the year You can also use the historical data as a fall back mechanism for a connected weather station All methods ensure more efficient water consumption than you would see from using a flat irrigation scheme throughout the year You can read about Intelliset in Appendix B Adding an ET Device 61 8 2 FloGuard FloGuard is the RKS safety system that constantly monitors the controller for potential problems and raises alarms when needed FloGuard will detect things like pipe leaks faulty stations malfunctioning pumps and many other things that could otherwise go unnoticed and damage your system You will also get notifications of normal alarms like rain alarms ET input short curcuits and any alarms stemming from your own auxiliary in
68. ourth message in the bottom row of the display will say that you should visit the alarm list for details the display will look something like this Figure 6 17 Display with notification to visit the alarm list RKS Program 2 Start Tue 05 00 AM 03 14 PM Check Alarm List 6 3 2 Receiving alarm notifications on email If your communication subscription with your supplier allows it the RKS will support sending out alarm notifications to one or more email addresses To configure your controller to email alarms follow this procedure 1 Turn the mode selector to ADVANCED Figure 6 18 Mode selector in apvancep AUTO MANUAL PROGRAM IRR OFF SETUP TEST ADVANCED Now the display looks like this Figure 6 19 Display message on switch to apvancep mode RKS Advanced Setup 1 Select Language 2 Scroll down to alarm Notification and press the ENTER button Now you see the following display 40 Receiving alarm notifications on email 5 RKS Alarm Notification 1 Email addresses Select Email addresses and press the enter button If no email addresses are entered you can select Add new RKS Now you can enter an email address using the up down arrow keys to select the characters Once you are done press the enter button Email addresses Add new Next you configure which alarms should be emailed Select alarm Notification settings and press the ENTER butto
69. program can run a station at a time Now let s look at how you configure the individual stations in a program Procedure 5 4 Configuring a station in a program 1 Turn the mode selector to pRocRam On a blank controller the display will look like this Figure 5 11 Program Mode RKS 0 00 00 100 P Program 11 Total run time Sta 0 SMTWTFSSMTWTFS 0 2 Use the item selectors to scroll to the program you wish to configure a station for 3 Now push the run time button Say you selected program two then the run time button will flash red and the display look like this Figure 5 12 Selecting a station Program 2 Total run time 0 00 00 select station f STl Run time hh mm ss 4 Use the item selectors to select the station you wish to configure and push the enter button Now the cursor jumps to the right of the display allowing you to select the station run time 23 Setting Water Days Tip Instead of browsing through the list of available stations with the item selectors you can use the starron button to browse only stations with a defined run time This comes in handy when modifying run times of an existing program Note A couple of notes on run times Run times longer than four minutes is run in ten second blocks and will be rounded to the nearest block For instance run times of 00 04 14 and 00 04 18 will both be rounded to 0 04 20 e Run time shorter than four minutes are not rounded
70. push the enter button to save the setting and exit Q Tip Adjusting the water budget is an easy way to accommodate shifting weather conditions without having to reconfigure all programs to apply more or less water Just increase or decrease the water budget as needed and the proportions will stay intact Procedure 5 8 Adjusting the ET 1 Use the item selectors to select the program you wish to set the ET for 28 Adjusting Water Usage Water Budget or ET 2 3 Push the water Budget button Now you ll see the following display Figure 5 21 Choosing method for irrigation adjustment RKS Program 1 Total run time 0 40 00 Choose method water Budget Use the item selectors to choose ET and push the enter button Now you ll see the following display Figure 5 22 Setting program ET Program 1 Total run time 0 40 00 Adjust current ET 000 00 EY Note Please see the note below On switching between Water Budget and ET adjustment 29 If you want the program to run before it has received an ET budget from the controller you can provide one manually that will then be used as the starting point Moving on any ET figure that is received will be added to what you already entered thus you can also use this feature to do a one time adjustment of the ET Please read Section B 1 How ET Works with the RKS 61 to make sure you understand the ET concept Use the item selectors to set your desired ET budge
71. put devices You can read about FloGuard in Section 6 3 Alarms 39 8 3 FloStack The FloStack feature set helps you plan and control the flow in your system By entering an expected flow for each station and a maximum system flow capacity you can ensure that the RKS will not try to start more valves than the system can feed An extremely handy feature is the Learn Flow feature that automatically detects the flow of each station by running all stations in turn and comparing with measurements from a flow sensor You can read about FloStack in Appendix C Adding a Flow Sensor 75 and Appendix E Using Simple Flow Management 91 8 4 Mist Manager With the Mist Manager you can add an extra perspective on running irrigation schedules Instead of a program just running one station at a time for a fixed duration you can break each run into multiple cycles 53 Mist Manager Instead of telling the RKS to run a number of stations for three minutes each you can tell it to run each station in 18 second time slices 10 times with breaks in between This adds up to the same water consumption but allows the irrigation to sink in between the cycles Longer irrigation slots in misting is typically referred to as Cycle amp Soak You can read all about the Mist Manager in Appendix G Advanced Irrigation Misting Cycle amp Soak 95 54 Appendix A Adding a Rain Sensor The RKS can accept input from an external
72. roller will return to the normal display When you have viewed the list of alarms you will no longer be notified in the display about past alarms Of course you can always revisit the list 6 4 Monitor Data If your communication subscription allows you can enable the controller to send monitor data to your Web interface Turn the mode selector to ADVANCED Figure 6 21 Mode selector in apvancep AUTO MANUAL PROGRAM IRR OFF TEST SETUP ADVANCED Now the display looks like this To enable relaying monitor data to your Web interface follow this procedure Figure 6 22 Display message on switch to apvancep mode RKS Advanced Setup l 1 select Language Use the arrow keys to select Monitor Data and press the Enter button Now you see the following display 45 Monitor Data Monitor Data I 1 Enable Disable mon events Select Enable Disable mon events Now you get a list of all the events that can trigger monitor data For each of these you can select them using the enter button and enable disable them e Progams e Stations Daily Water Usage e Hourly Water Usage System Mode Change Alarms Installation Data Change Program Data Change e Clock Changed Water Window e Daily ET and Rain Daily Assigned Program ET e Hourly Rain Board Monitoring Next you configure whether or not to aggregate monitor data and send at certain intervals instead of
73. s in the program above For run time over four minutes the end time is aligned to ten second slots too so for example a run time of 0 05 13 will run for 0 05 20 And here s a program that start at various frequencies in different time intervals 96 How to Configure for Misting or Cycle amp Soak Table G 1 Full misting program example Start Details Irrigation will start 1 Start time 08 00 AM 08 00 00 AM End time 09 00 AM 08 25 00 AM Count 3 08 50 00 AM Repeat duration 10 minutes 2 Start time 09 00 AM 09 00 00 AM End time 10 00 AM 09 16 40 AM Count 4 09 33 20 AM Repeat duration 10 minutes 09 50 00 AM 3 Start time 10 00 AM e 10 00 00 AM End time 11 00 AM 10 12 30 AM Count 5 10 25 00 AM Repeat duration 10 minutes e 10 37 30 AM e 10 50 00 AM Finally let s see how you go about creating a misting program on the controller let s say you want to configure the first start time in the example program above here s how you would do it The first thing you need to do in order to use the misting features is to enable them Procedure G 1 Enabling Misting 1 Turn the mode selector to apvancep use the item selectors to scroll to item number 10 Mist Manager and push the enter button Now you ll see this display RKS Mist Manager 1 Ena Dis cycle and End Time 2 Select 1 Ena Dis Cycle and End Time Now you ll see this display 97
74. sen Here s what you are going to need in order to mount the controller properly Three screws to mount the controller N Important The screw heads must have a diameter of at least 3 8 inches and the screw bodies must be no wider than 3 16 inches A screw driver that matches the above screws A pen or a marker to mark up where to put the screws If you re mounting the controller on a concrete wall you will need an electric drill and three wall anchors for the screws Before you start mounting the controller you should remove the lower front plate inside the controller cabinet by twisting the two plastic screws loose with a coin the screws won t come off but remain attached to the plate even when twisted loose Figure 2 2 Front plate removed Se Twist loose with coin Mounting the Controller Now you re ready to get to work Procedure 2 1 Mounting the controller 1 Place one of the screws in the wall where you want to mount the controller N Important The screw must have a space of eight inches to the left of it in order for the controller to fit on the screw and the cover to be able to open once the controller is on the wall You should leave the screw head 1 8 inch out of the wall in order for the controller to fit 2 Place the controller on the wall by hooking the centered hole on the back of the controller onto the screw in the wall Figure 2 3 Centered hole for wall mounting If the
75. sh the enter button to save your selection Procedure C 8 Setting the unscheduled flow threshold 1 Turn the mode selector to apvancep use the item selectors to scroll to item number 3 FloGuard and push the enter button Now you ll see this display Choose 2 Alarm Thresholds and push the enter button Now you ll see the following display Unscheduled Flow usch flow limit 0000GPM 82 Setting Alarm Thresholds 5 Use the item selectors to set the unscheduled flow limit in gallons per minute This is an alarm that will be raised only when no stations are running You may have a minor natural leak of water in your pipes but here you can set the maximum flow allowed when no stations are running If this alarm is activated the cut off valve COV will be activated and remain on for 999 minutes It can be turned off just like any other station see Section 6 1 2 Running Extra Stations in Auto Mode 36 for instructions on stopping a station N Important In order for this alarm to take effect when raised you must assign one of your stations to control a cut off valve COV See for instructions Warning If you turn the mode selector away from auto or manuaL mode the COV will be reset and the water will no longer be cut off from your system Push the enter button to save your selection Procedure C 9 Setting the master pump failure threshold 1 Turn the mode selector to apvancep
76. started station before the end of its run time use the item selectors to locate it and push the stop button 36 Running Extra Programs in Auto Mode Tip You can always get an overview of running programs and stations by using the item selectors Use the left right arrows to select between programs and stations and the up down arrows to browse through the items programs or stations 6 1 3 Running Extra Programs in Auto Mode When the RKS is running in auto mode you have the option of manually starting additional programs in parallel E Note If you select programs that try to start the same station in overlapping periods the station will start when the first program asks for it and stop when the last program doesn t need it any more So if program 1 wants to run station 12 from 08 00 to 08 10 and program 2 wants to run that same station from 08 05 to 08 15 the station will be run from 08 00 to 08 15 Running a program manually has the advantage that you can select which station should be run first allowing you to skip a part of the program Procedure 6 4 Running a program manually 1 2 3 Push the procram button Now there will be an arrow next to the program number indicating that you should select the program you wish to run Figure 6 10 Selecting program RKS Select program 1 Start with Station 1 Total Stations 4 Total run 0 28 00 Use the item selectors to pick the desired program and
77. t so if the ET Base setting is 1 and today s ET budget says 0 8 the controller will run at a water budget of 80 percent meaning that programs will only run 80 percent of their configured run time The tricky part is to make your irrigation programs fit into this model If the ET Base setting is 1 00 you have to make sure that all your programs are configured to emit exactly 1 00 every day So you have to look at how much water is emitted in each zone and adjust run time and number of start times accordingly Let s look at an example 63 How ET Works with the RKS Example B 3 Fitting a program to ET based irrigation We assume the following Your ET Base setting is 1 00 and today your programs need to provide exactly 1 00 of water for simplicity e You have four stations you want to run in one program e ST1 has an application rate of 0 5 per hour you ll have to look up these values in the data sheet for the valve ST2 has an application rate of 1 0 per hour ST3 has an application rate of 1 5 per hour and irrigates an area that is mostly shadowed e ST4 has an application rate of 2 0 per hour and irrigates an area that is overly exposed to harsh sun light e The program must run two times per day Since your have two start times per day each station should provide 0 50 of water per run And then you want to adjust ST3 and ST4 to the local conditions and let ST3 run a bit shorter and ST4 a
78. t display for setting start times and you can repeat steps two and three for all the start times you wish to set 5 Once you re all done push the start times button to return to the main programming mode ay Note Your start times will be sorted by start time if the second start time you enter is before the first one they will be swapped around next time you browse the list Also if you select another number for your start than the next chronologically available one the RKS will save your start with the next chronologically available number anyway This means that if you have two starts assigned and assign a third one but to the 6 run slot this will be saved as start 3 and appear as such the next time you want to edit the program In short you can say that your start times are sorted by time and their numbers compressed chronologically 5 2 4 Adjusting Water Usage Water Budget or ET There are two ways of determining how to adjust the amount of water used by an irrigation program e Setting the Water Budget to a value between 0 and 250 percent Just as you would expect this determines how much water is used However since the controller simply tells a station to start or stop the water budget doesn t control the water flow as such but instead it determines the run time This means that if you have set up a program to run five stations for 10 minutes each this is what will happen with the water budget set to 100 percent
79. t for today Push the enter button to save your setting Programs that use ET adjustment instead of Water Budget adjustment will display the ET value instead of the Water Budget value in procram mode EY On switching between Water Budget and ET adjustment If you have previously set a program to be adjusted by either Water Budget or ET choosing the opposite setting will generate one of two warnings Figure 5 23 Shifting from ET to Water Budget RKS WARNING Accumulated ET will be 0 00 Press Enter to Accept Cancel to Reject 29 Activating deactivating a Program Figure 5 24 Shifting from Water Budget to ET RKS WARNING WB will be set to 100 Press Enter to Accept Cancel to Reject 5 2 5 Activating deactivating a Program You can toggle the Active Passive status of each of the 10 programs only active programs are actually run By default newly created programs are set to Active as soon as you assign the first start time to them To toggle a program between Active and Passive Procedure 5 9 Toggling the Active Passive setting 1 Use the item selectors to select the program you wish to toggle active or passive and push the ACTIVE PASSIVE button Figure 5 25 Toggle the Active Passive setting RKS Program 1 Total run time 0 40 00 Set program Passive 2 Use the item selectors to toggle between Active and Passive mode and push the act vE passtve to save your selection and exit to the main display
80. t program 51 Testing Programs 4 Once the test program starts running you ll see each station activated in turn starting at the station you chose in the last step Figure 7 9 Water test running Program T Station STL 08 20 PM Remain 0 09 50 Remain 0 00 10 OGPM E Note All 100 station identities will be asked to activate in turn this means that if you don t have connected stations to all slots in the connection boards you will experience empty intervals where no stations react to the instructions E Note The test will include Master Valves but not Booster Pumps Tip You can pause the test program just as any regular program This is described in Section 6 1 1 Pausing a Running Program 34 7 3 Testing Programs The easiest way to test whether a program is running correctly that is it activates the correct stations master valves and booster pump relays is to try to run the program manually Check out Section 6 2 Running RKS in Manual Mode 38 for instructions on how to do this Tip If you don t want to wait the entire program out just to see that everything activates in the right order you can decrease the water budget to 1 percent check Section 5 2 4 Adjusting Water Usage Water Budget or ET 27 for instructions before running the program This way you can follow the program by walking from station to station in the terrain as they activate for just one percent of the
81. tation 20 instead of in the end of a program cycle To achieve this you would alter the sequence number for ST41 to 21 Normal run sequence Run sequence after changing the sequence number for ST41 to 21 ST1 ST1 ST2 ST2 ST3 ST3 ST20 ST20 ST21 ST41 ST22 ST21 ST39 ST38 ST40 ST39 ST41 ST40 If station run sequences are changed this will show when you are assigning stations to a program if you changed the sequence like in the example above scrolling through the station list you would see ST41 appear right after ST20 in the list EY Note In all other places station test expected flow lists etc stations are listed according to station ID and not to run sequence The following two procedures show you how to alter and reset station run sequences Procedure D 1 Changing the station run sequence 1 Turn the mode selector to apvancep use the item selectors to scroll to item number 7 Program Station Run Sequence and push the enter button 89 2 3 4 Now you ll see this display Station Sequences 1 Edit Select 1 Edit and push the enter button Now you ll see this display xkkk Station Sequence Edit Station 1 ST1 Sequence al Use the item selectors to select the station you wish to re arrange and change its sequence number Push the enter button to save your sequences Procedure D 2 Resetting station run sequences 1 2
82. tation is pulling a current of 238mA to keep the valve open which is ok since this is typically in the 200 400 mA range If the station fails the display will look something like this 50 Running the Water Test Figure 7 6 station test Failed Test of Station ST1 Station OmA OmA If the station is not working correctly it is typically not pulling any current at all the current reading is 0 mA Regardless of whether the station fails or turns out ok you move on to testing the next station in line by pushing the enter button 7 2 Running the Water Test The water test is a built in program that will activate all 100 station identities in the system in turn This way you can walk through the landscape and ensure that all stations are actually pulling the valves open Procedure 7 2 Running the test program 1 Turn the mode selector to manuaL mode Figure 7 7 Mode selector in vanvau mode AUTO MANUAL PROGRAM IRR OFF SETUP TEST ADVANCED 2 Push the procram button locate the Test program at the end of the list and push the ENTER 3 Now you can set the time each valve should be pulled open and which station you wish to start from The interval must be at least 10 seconds Figure 7 8 Set the interval time for the water test Select program T Start with Station 1 Enter station test time in seconds 010 Once you ve set the interval time push the enter button to start the tes
83. th explanation of how these figures are used E Note If you use a custom irrigation period this happens at the start of your irrigation period which might not be midnight Please refer to Appendix F Defining a Custom Irrigation Period 93 for details Tip If you are running in auto mode and want to check the current accumulated values you can simply push the water Bupcet button and you ll skip right to the above display You exit back by pushing the water BuncEr button again This way you don t have to exit auto mode to check the values 73 74 Appendix C Adding a Flow Sensor The RKS can measure the flow of water in your system and react on any unusual situation by quarantining faulty stations stacking programs that exceeds the expected flow or even cutting off the water supply completely if it seems that you have a leak This works by letting a flow sensor measure the flow on the main pipe that feeds your system and connecting the flow sensor to the RKS There are four types of flow alarms three of which can go off when irrigating and one that is only relevant when no stations are running Table C 1 Alarm Types Alarm Name Description What happens High Flow Rises when your system is using more gallons per All running programs are minute than your defined threshold stacked Flow Deviation Rises when your flow is deviating more than a certain All running stations are percentage from the e
84. the alarm reaction delay 1 Turn the mode selector to apvanceo use the item selectors to scroll to item number 3 FloGuard and push the enter button Now you ll see this display 79 Setting Alarm Thresholds 5 Choose 2 Alarm Thresholds and push the enter button Now you ll see the following display Alarm Reaction Delay Time before reaction 03Minutes Use the item selectors to set the reaction time in minutes The controller won t raise any sensor alarms until they have been on for this period E Note A Master Pump Failure MPF will ignore this setting MPF alarms have a fixed delay of 30 seconds Push the enter button to save your selection Procedure C 6 Setting the high flow threshold 1 Turn the mode selector to apvancep use the item selectors to scroll to item number 3 FloGuard and push the enter button Now you ll see this display RKS FloGuard J 1 Station Status Choose 2 Alarm Thresholds and push the enter button 80 Setting Alarm Thresholds 5 Now you ll see the following display RKS Alarm thresholds 1 Alarm Reaction Delay Use the item selectors to select 2 High Flow Now you ll see the following display RKS rer High FLow High flow limit 0000GPM Use the item selectors to set the maximum flow in gallons per minute If this flow is exceeded the controller wil raise a high flow alarm If this alarm
85. ting Programs a E EE blade hades aoa 52 8 Advanced Features ee ici iad abit Bie eb ee Er ie ea ne we 53 BT INtelliset sis cae ae shee saeco ee hea boat esis Bene Hea hae eet 53 8 2 FIG GUAIG ar cocaed eeraa ar anatubestwerertsieahdneeh conan a aa a TAA aa raain 53 PRO FIO STACK ae a E O E a cndeb ota axeeuacesgowaiaee denne 53 gA Mer Manager eeka EEE AE EAEE EEEE en EE EE EAEE 53 A Adding a Rain Sensor e a a aE aaa ee Aa aE A a aaa a e Aaaa Aa anaa aaaea Ria 55 A 1 Setting 10 Minute and Hourly Maximum Rain uusssssssssnnnnenennnnnnnannnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn 58 B Adding an ET DeviCe IERFENB EPRELTERFREETTEFEPERTELNFERETREREFEFIERLFPEFIEUFLEEEEEEREEEITTLEFFRUEERELFLLLLERERTEREEPEILTELFEFFRFERRPR 61 Bat How ET Works with the AK Sinaia hi alta iia nae 61 B 2 gt Using Historical EI D ta 2 ee ern RE gia ses Ehen near 65 B 3 Using a Connected Device Weather Station ussnsnsnnnnnenennnnnnnnnnnnnennnnnnnnnnnnn 67 B 4 Checking the Current Aggregated ET and Rain ususssnnnssnnnnenennnnnnnnnnnnnenennnnnnnnnn 72 RKS User Manual G Adding a Flow Sensors einilkhelenbeifisllkonte henienicheistiien 75 C 1 Enabling Flow Sensor Input pulses u z244444404HBnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nn nnnnnnnnnnnnenn 75 C 2 Configuring for Flow Sensor Input usssnsnssnnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnannnnnenn 76 0 2 1 Selecting Sensor
86. tom Irrigation Period 93 for details Let s look at two examples one where evaporation has exceeded the fallen rain and one that works the other way around 61 How ET Works with the RKS Example B 1 ET calculation with rain shortage In this example the fallen rain has not been able to make up for the evaporated water 0 8 of water has evaporated in the last 24 hours 0 4 of rain has fallen in the last 24 hours Your soil holding is set to 0 2 Now we re short of 0 4 of water since this is the difference between evaporation and fallen rain Thus the ET Budget for tomorrow will be adjusted with 0 4 Since we don t have any excess water the soil holding value is irrelevant Example B 2 ET calculation with excess rain In this example the relationship is reversed and we have more rain than evaporation soil holding is the same 0 4 of water has evaporated in the last 24 hours 0 8 of rain has fallen in the last 24 hours Your soil holding is set to 0 2 You would think that the ET budget for tomorrow should simply be adjusted with 0 4 because the excess rain lets us irrigate 0 4 less However since the soil is only capable of holding 0 2 we can not benefit from all of the fallen rain but only 0 2 of the 0 4 Conclusion tomorrow s ET budget will be adjusted with 0 2 meaning that we will not need to irrigate at all Unless of course the ET budget is still positive after adjusting wit
87. uired capacity and the capacity in use is determined from the station flow whether entered or learned see Section C 2 5 Setting Expected Station Flow 84 for details If a station can not be started it will be queued in pending state On the controller this will appear as Waiting just as paused stations However pending stations have a higher priority than others next time the RKS frees some capacity This is known as the stacking mechanism There are a couple of things to keep in mind when using flow management When running in AUTO mode manually started stations will overrule the flow management and ignore the higher priority of pending stations Manually started programs will obey the flow management though The entire concept of flow management is ignored when running in MANUAL mode When pausing a program the RKS will release the capacity to flow management and thus the program might go into pending state when resumed if the capacity is used up by other stations E 3 Setting the System Flow Capacity If you tell the RKS about the flow capacity of your pipes the controller can automatically queue up stations that would exhaust the capacity by starting Here s how you enter the flow capacity at the controller 1 Turn the mode selector to apvancep and select 2 FloStack Now you ll see the following display 91 Setting the System Flow Capacity Figure E 1 FloStack Menu 2 System Flo
88. ush the enter button Expected Flow Station f stl Flow 9GPM Now you can set the expected flow using the item selectors and save your setting by pushing ENTER again If the above procedure seems to tedious there s an easier way you can let the RKS asses the expected flow for each station If you choose this approach the controller will run all stations in turn for a fixed duration measure the flow for each of them and save the flow as the expected one Procedure C 12 Running the learn flow feature 1 2 Turn the mode selector to apvancep and select 2 FloStack Now you ll see the following display Figure C 3 FloStack Menu RKS FloStack 1 system Flow Capacity Scroll down and select 3 Learn Flow by pushing the enter button Now you ll see the following display 85 Viewing the Current Flow 3 Figure C 4 Learn flow dialog sanr learn FION lt gt Start from f ST1 Sel run time 3min Use the item selectors both up down right and left to choose a station to start from and set the run time for each station All stations will be run for the same period of time The RKS measures the flow continuously while the station is running the Learn Flow feature but only the last measurement is used The last measurement is likely to be the most accurate one as the flow will have stabilized after running for a few minutes Push enter to start the test Now you ll see the
89. w Capacity 0000 GPM 3 Use the item selectors to set the system flow capacity and push the enter button to save your setting N Important Leaving the System Flow Capacity at zero GPM means that the setting won t be used to correct which stations are started 92 Appendix F Defining a Custom Irrigation Period You can change the standard irrigation window in the RKS that runs from 12 00 AM to 12 00 AM This has two effects 1 The entire water cycle will start when your irrigation period starts If this is different from 12 00 AM please be aware that Programs will start running on the first start time after your irrigation period starts This can potentially lead to a bit of confusion where programs leap into days you wouldn t think they should be running or start running before they normally would N Important The irrigation period normally starts at midnight but if you move the start into the PM window your period starts earlier Moving the start into the AM window will start the period later Example F 1 Skewed days with custom irrigation periods Consider a program with four start times 02 00 AM 05 00 AM 06 00 PM and 11 00 PM that runs on odd days If your irrigation period starts at 08 00 PM and runs to 08 00 PM here s how the program could run Date Start time Action September 2 11 00 PM Runs despite the even date your irrigation period has started earlier than midnight
90. whereas a normal program will only run once per start G 1 1 When the RKS Alters Your Program There are a number of scenarios where the RKS will reduce the number of repeats in a program start Program was paused If a program has been paused the RKS will not aggregate the cycles that should have been run in the pause these cycles are just ignored and the program continues at the point it would be at had it not been paused Maximum system capacity met If a program tries to run a cycle when the maximum system capacity is reached this cycle is just dropped ET adjustments If ET adjustments have dictated that you can irrigate less then normally today reducing the number of cycles can be the outcome If the number of cycles are reduced a Repeat alarm is raised see Section 6 3 Alarms 39 for details 95 How to Configure for Misting or Cycle amp Soak G 2 How to Configure for Misting or Cycle amp Soak A misting program will typically run a number of stations for just a few seconds at a time and then add longer breaks between the program start times Here s an example of a simple misting program Station Run time ST1 0 00 05 ST2 0 00 08 ST3 0 00 15 ST4 0 00 06 ST5 0 00 08 E Note Since the RKS will start stations every ten seconds you might experience short breaks between starts in a misting program For example you ll see short breaks of between five and two second
91. xample to see why setting a minimum ET can be a good idea Example B 4 How minimum ET value works In this example we assume the following circumstances for the program in question Today s ET budget has been adjusted to 0 4 The program has four start times The minimum ET value has been set to 0 2 because irrigating less than this gives you an uneven irrigation and has little effect on the turf Each of the four start times can irrigate one fourth of the total ET budget meaning 0 1 Here s how each of the four start times will take place Table B 3 ET minimum value in effect Start time Action Explanation 1 No irrigation The budget is 0 4 and there are four starts left meaning that each must provide 0 4 4 0 1 which is below the 0 2 minimum 2 No irrigation The budget is 0 4 and there are three starts left meaning that each must provide 0 4 3 0 13 which is below the 0 2 minimum 3 Irrigation The budget is 0 4 and there are two starts left meaning that each must provide 0 4 2 0 2 which equals the 0 2 minimum Now the 0 2 that the program provided is subtracted from the budget so the budget is now 0 2 4 Irrigation The budget is 0 2 and there is one start left that must provide 0 2 1 0 2 which equals the 0 2 minimum Now the ET minimum value has ensured that we got two useful irrigations instead of four uneven irrigations The following two sections walk you t
92. xpected flow in any direction halted Unscheduled Flow Rises when there is a flow even when there shouldn t The Cut Off Valve COV be when no stations are running This indicates a is activated for 17 59 50 leak somewhere on the pipe Master Pump Failure Rises when your flow is below a certain threshold The master pump or all MPF running programs are stopped depending on your configuration see Section C 2 4 Setting Alarm Actions 84 Before you can take advantage of the features associated with flow sensor input you have to connect a flow sensor described in Section 2 2 2 3 Connecting an Alarm or Flow Sensor 8 and configure a few things in the controller The following sections walk you through the process C 1 Enabling Flow Sensor Input pulses By default flow sensor input is disabled in the RKS To enable flow sensor input to accept pulses follow this procedure E Note You can enable flow sensor input even if you haven t attached a physical sensor yet you just won t get any reading from it Procedure C 1 Enabling flow sensor pulse input in the RKS 1 Turn the mode selector to setup Test and push the sensors button Now you ll get a scrollable menu of options 75 Configuring for Flow Sensor Input Sensor Setup 41 ET 2 Use the item selectors to select item number 3 Alarm Fiow and you ll see the default setting for sensor setup Flow Pulses Al
93. ys button Now you ll see the following screen RKS Program 1 Total run time 0 40 00 Select water Day type fEven dates Use the item selectors to choose between Odd dates Even dates or 14 day period and push the ENTER button EY Note The definition of an Odd date does not include the 31st day in a month because this would cause the program to run two days in a row e g May 31 and June 1 The same goes for February 29 on leap years If you select odd or even dates you are done now but if you select 14 day period you need to walk through the next steps as well Assuming that today is a Sunday the list of days will start with an S and a cursor will be blinking on top of the first S Figure 5 14 Selecting the water days RKS Program 1 Total run time 0 40 00 Select water days SMTWTFSSMTWTFS Now you can use the item selectors to navigate through the days The up and down arrows will toggle the selected day to On Off Here s how selecting only Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays would look like Figure 5 15 Water days example Program 1 Total run time 0 40 00 Select water days M W F M W F Once happy with the selection of days push the water pays button to save the changes 25 Setting Start Times 5 2 3 Setting Start Times Each program in the RKS can run up to 12 times per day E Note When you set the first start time for a program the controller automatically sets the program as

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