Block Irrigation

This control element operates the garden irrigation: it shows whether watering is going on and when the next start is due, and here the programs are set up – which zones run for how long, on which days and in which season. With rain, frost or wind the irrigation pauses by itself. Everything can also be set in the app, without the studio.

Operation

1. State: while watering, the time left of the running zone, otherwise the reason why nothing runs at the moment – for instance rain, rain pause (a running rain delay), frost, wind, soak, held or locked. On a fault the cause is shown here in short (no feedback, flow +, flow -, leak). If nothing is pending, the line shows when the next start comes (Start 20 min, Start 6 h). No time means: no start time has been created at all, so the system never starts by itself.
2. Symbol: the sprinkler while watering, otherwise a cross.
3. Ring: while the system runs it fills up in blue in the course of the run. Orange means a soak pause, red a fault; when the system is idle it has the font colour.
4. Centre: the number of the running zone, the sprinkler when idle. A red ! indicates a fault.

As a circle (basic screen) the element only shows the ring with its centre. A tap on the element opens the main window.

The main window

1. Symbols of the title bar: from the left the start times (clock), the programs (list), the presence (house), the settings (gear) and the logbook (chart) – see below.
2. Program: every tap selects the next program; its name is shown.
3. Start: starts the selected program immediately. If it is already pending, (running) is shown below.
4. Pause: holds the irrigation, the button is then lit; another tap lets it continue.
5. Stop: aborts the run, including the programs still waiting.
6. State and values: the state as on the tile, the time left of the whole run, the next start and the water quantity of the run. The next start reads No start time if no start time exists, and None if none is due.

If a fault is pending, the button Acknowledge fault appears across the full width below Pause and Stop, and the State line names the reason in red – for example “No feedback: Lawn south” if a valve did not answer. At the function block, the change from 0 to not equal to 0 at input QU does the same. OK closes the window.

The programs

The list behind the list symbol shows all programs with their names.

1. Total run time: the sum of the run times of all zones. A tap leads directly to the run times of the zones. off means: the program is not enabled.
2. Start: starts the program immediately, with the state currently shown in the list. While it runs, it reads running; another tap stops only this program, others continue.
3. Gear: opens the settings of the program.
4. Save: applies all changes to programs and zones. In the sub-views Save goes back one level; the cross in the title bar closes without saving.

Settings of a program

The title bar shows the name of the program. The list can be scrolled; lines that currently have no effect are hidden. Name renames the program.

1. Enabled: a program set to No never runs.
2. Run times: leads to the list of zones, see below.
3. Days: a filter, not a start condition – watering only ever takes place at a start time. By schedule only applies the weekdays of the start time, Every n days waters only every n-th day, Even days and Odd days follow the calendar day. Interval (2 to 30 days) only appears with Every n days; the rhythm begins on the day it is set.
4. Season: All year or a period. When switching to a period, the usual garden year from 1.4. to 31.10. is preset; start and end are set below at Season from and Season to with day and month.
5. Run time correction: shortens or lengthens all run times of this program, 0 to 200 %.
6. Weather: whether this program follows the weather adjustment.

Run times of the zones

1. Run time: how many minutes the zone is watered in this program; a tap opens the input. off (0) means that the zone is not part of this program.
2. Lock symbol: the zone is deselected and is not watered in any program, but its run times are kept.
3. Gear: opens the settings of the zone.

Settings of a zone

The settings of a zone apply to all programs. If a line depends on a measured value, the value is shown in brackets after the label. Only what has an effect on this system is shown – without a rain sensor, for example, there is no “Ignore rain”.

1. Active: set to No, the zone is never watered, for instance with a defective valve or a dug-up bed.
2. Cycle and Soak: to prevent water from running off, the run time is split into sections of Cycle minutes with Soak minutes of pause in between. None lets the zone run in one go.
3. Moisture from: if the soil moisture is above this value, the zone is skipped. Only present if a moisture sensor is entered for the zone.
4. Output: how many litres the zone delivers per minute; the water quantity shown is estimated from it. With a water meter the quantity is measured and the line is left out.
5. Ignore rain, Ignore moisture, Ignore wind, Ignore frost: the respective lock does not apply to this zone – for potted plants, covered areas or the greenhouse.

Settings of the system

1. Rain delay: sets a watering pause by hand, for instance after heavy rain, or ends a running one. Active means: no watering at the moment.
2. Delay duration: only visible while the pause runs. It says how many days (1 to 14) it lasts; if the value is changed, the pause runs anew from now on.
3. Per month: with No one seasonal factor applies to all run times (0 to 200 %), with Yes twelve monthly values apply; via Edit a percentage of its own is entered for each month, for example little in April and a lot in July.
4. Weather adjustment: the run times follow the weather of the last 24 hours – after heat, watering is longer, after rain shorter.
5. Weight temperature, humidity, rain: how strongly the respective quantity counts in the calculation; 0 % switches it off. The lines only appear with the weather adjustment switched on and only for values that are measured.
6. Test all zones: runs all zones briefly one after the other. This way you quickly see whether every valve switches, without waiting for the full watering time.

Everything except Test all zones is only applied with Save.

Start times, presence and logbook

Behind the clock are the start times. Each start time starts a program whose name is shown with it; a new start time is set to the first program. If it reads No program, it triggers nothing. How to operate the schedules is described under Presence.

Behind the house it is set what happens when the presence changes: a tap on the symbol of a state switches the setting on or off, next to it the program is chosen that then starts – or Only stop, to end a running run. Without a setting the change does nothing; that is the default.

Behind the chart is the logbook with the latest 32 events: started and ended programs, zones on and off, skipped zones including the reason, flow messages and missing feedback from the valves. The bin next to OK clears the list without confirmation.

Setup

This section is meant for the installer of the system.

The control element is linked with the function block Block Irrigation: first create the function block together with its zone table and addresses, then right-click the control element and choose the function block. All addresses, the names of the zones and the number of programs are taken over, the text of the tile gets the name of the block. Without a link, a tap on the element points this out.

• The zones, their valves, feedbacks and moisture sensors are entered in the zone table of the function block; cycle, soak, moisture threshold and the locks per zone are set by the user here in the control element.
• Which lines the user sees depends on what is linked at the block: rain, wind, outdoor temperature, humidity, rain amount, water meter. If a weather factor is applied to the block from outside, the own weather adjustment is left out.
• How long each zone runs with Test all zones is determined by the minimum run time at the function block.

Parameters

Address links

All addresses are located at the function block and are taken over when linking.

See also General properties of all control elements.