XCI Smart Sprinkler Controller Troubleshooting Guide If you are experiencing difficulties with your Cyber-Rain System, please contact our Technical Support Department: Telephone: (877) 888-1452 ◦ Email: support@cyber-rain.com Copyright © 2011 Cyber-Rain, Inc. All rights reserved.
Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 4 Controller Installation Issues ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Flow Meter Not Registering Flow....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 26 False Underflow/Overflow Alerts on Particular Zone ........................................................................................................................................................................ 27 Flow Alert on Zone 0 ..................................
Introduction The following document is intended to aid the user in diagnosing and resolving issues that may occur during the installation and operation of the Cyber-Rain Smart Irrigation Control System. Please keep this manual stored in a convenient location for future use. Please remember that the Frequently Asked Questions section of our website provides answers to the most common queries, and our support team can be contacted via email at support@cyber-rain.
Controller Installation Issues For complete hardware installation instructions and procedures, please refer to the manual that came on your software installation disc. A copy can be obtained from the Cyber-Rain Website’s Download Section by clicking the “User Manual” link for your corresponding system configuration. A copy of the manual can also be accessed through the Cyber-Rain software by clicking the button in the top right corner. New Controller Not Detected During Installation 1.
After a brief “Initialization” message appears, the controller will reboot, and once again will be ready to be paired. 3. Out of Range If the controller is in pairing mode, but it is still not being detected, the controller may be out of the range of the access point that is connected to the computer. Make sure there are no metal objects surrounding either the controller or the access point.
Valves Not Functioning. Make sure that the valve has water supplied to it. Then manually “bleed” (open) the valve and make sure water flows. This is usually done by turning a small knob on the top of the valve (see picture below). Verify that water does flow when the valve is opened. If it does not, there may be a problem in your irrigation system, or the valve may be faulty. Close the valve.
Software Installation Issues For complete software installation instructions and procedures, please refer to the manual that came on your software installation disc, or download a copy from the Support section of the Cyber-Rain website. A copy of the manual can be downloaded be clicking the “User Manual” link for your corresponding system configuration.
Allow the installer program full control when prompted by Windows (User Account Control). .NET Framework Not Installed The Cyber-Rain software requires that Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 is installed on the computer before the Cyber-Rain software can be installed. The .NET Framework should be installed on your computer automatically by the Cyber-Rain software but if it does not, it can be downloaded at the Microsoft .NET Website.
If the software is running in the background, open the software by double clicking on the system tray icon or selecting Cyber-Rain from your Start Menu. Once the software is open, please select Exit from the File menu bar to close the software. (Note: Do not press the red X in the upper right corner as Cyber-Rain will continue running in the background. You can also exit by right-clicking on the icon in the System tray and clicking “Exit”.
Software Operation Schedule/Change Automatic Updates to Software The Cyber-Rain software typically asks you to schedule automatic updates the first time your computer started after installing the Cyber-Rain software. If you were not asked to schedule software updates or you would like to change your scheduled updates, please follow the directions below. (Note: If the software on the disc is not the latest version, following these steps will update the software to the latest version.) 1.
Press “Next” to start the configuration process. Select the time and date (and other settings) for the automatic updates.
When you reach the Logon Credentials page, enter your administrator login information so that Cyber-Rain can update your software automatically. If you do not enter your administrator login information here, your computer may request your administrator password when Cyber-Rain has a software update. Press Finish to complete the automatic updates setup process. Transferring Software to New Computer The Cyber-Rain controller is bound to a single computer during set-up as a security feature.
o Default for 64-bit OS: “C:\Program Files (x86)\Cyber-Rain\Cyber-Rain\data” Copy the “Cyber-Rain.xml”, and ”CycleSoak.xml” files onto the removable media and eject the media. Plug in the access point and the removable media into the new computer. Install the latest version of the Cyber-Rain software. When prompted to run Cyber-Rain software after the installation is complete, uncheck the box to run Cyber-Rain and press Finish. Navigate to the Cyber-Rain data folder on the new computer.
It is a good idea to write down the zone names from the controller before resetting it. This information will be useful when re-entering the zone information. Use the RIGHT and LEFT arrows on the controller to cycle through each zone, and write down each zone’s name. Reset the controller by simultaneously pressing the RIGHT and LEFT buttons on the controller. (Note: All settings on the controller will be erased and a schedule needs to be saved to your controller before it will start irrigating again.
In the Cyber-Rain software, click the Advanced Settings tab. Under the Daily Adjustment Settings section, adjust the slider under “Rain” to change the threshold that a Rain Hold is triggered. This setting allows the user to set the minimum forecast % chance of precipitation which triggers a Rain Hold and not irrigate for 24 hours. For example, if the value is set to 70%, the controller will only trigger a Rain Hold if a 71-100% chance of rain is forecast. The default value of this setting is 55%.
If your zones are running multiple times a day for very short periods of time, this is most likely due to Cycle and Soak, which is a feature built in to Cyber-Rain to reduce water run-off. Cyber-Rain automatically triggers “Cycle and Soak” irrigation for zones on a slope or with dense soil. “Cycle and Soak” means that CyberRain will water a zone for a short time, let the water soak in while it waters other zones, and then come back to water again. Cycle and Soak saves water and reduces run-off.
If you wish to change the Cycle and Soak settings, click on the Zone Details tab. Select the Controller No. and Zone No. of the zone you would like to adjust. The Cycle and Soak settings can now be adjusted for that particular zone. Refer to the User Manual for more information on Cycle and Soak.
Internet Communication to Weather Service Software Unable to Retrieve Weather Information If you receive a progress bar that says “Connecting to Weather Service” that loads indefinitely without ever displaying the weather panel, ensure that the computer is connected to the internet.
c. Click on Program Control Add o Add the following Cyber-Rain program to the exclusion list and choose “Allow” in the drop down under the Access column o For 64-bit Windows Operating System: C:\Program Files (x86)\Cyber-Rain\Cyber-Rain\bin\Release\Cyber-Rain.exe o For 32-bit Windows Operating System: C:\Program Files\Cyber-Rain\Cyber-Rain\bin\Release\Cyber-Rain.exe d. Click Modify o Ensure there is a check beside “Allow All”.
e. Click OK o In the medication window you can set the specific rules that apply to that exclusion. This should be set to Allow Direction: In/Out, Computer: Any, Communication: Any, Protocol: All 2. Windows Firewall a. Click Start Control Panel Windows Firewall o The icon may be found in the Security section, or you can search for “Firewall” in the Control Panel b.
o Click the “Allow a Program or Feature through Windows Firewall” link on the left side of the window c. Click Allow Another Program and locate Cyber-Rain o Click the “Allow Another Program…” button on the bottom right corner of the Allowed Programs window o An “Add Program” window should appear. Locate Cyber-Rain.exe in the list and press Add.
Post Setup Communication Controller Offline/Wireless Communication Issues If the software displays that the Controller is “Offline” (which can be found on the bottom of the Schedule tab) or the access point does not display any blue lights when attempting to send or receive information, follow these steps to regain communication with the controller: Unplugging and reconnecting the access point can solve many communication issues between the controller and the access point.
Access Point Access Point Is Not Connected/Not Found After installation of the Cyber-Rain software, the following message may be encountered: The following steps should be followed to resolve this issue: 1. Make sure that the Access Point (AP) is plugged into a USB port and receiving power. When the AP is plugged in, an orange LED should light up on the AP. Periodically other lights may illuminate; this is done during times of data transmission and is a normal occurrence.
If you are experiencing weak signal strength, try the following: Place the access point as close as possible to the controller. Avoid having any metal objects between the controller and the access point. Radio Frequency signals cannot pass through metal. Do not place the access point close to any source of electronic noise. This includes cordless phones, WiFi access points, Bluetooth transmitters, routers, cell phones, cords/cables, and non-shielded electronics.
Flow Meter Installation and Operation Troubleshooting Wiring Issues Wiring issues can cause many errors in reading flow. If the flow meter is not registering flow or registering erratic flow, check the wiring carefully. Wires coming from the flow meter itself will be referred to as flow meter wires and the wires connected between it and the controller will be the cable wires.
Make sure you have filled out the proper Flow Sensor Options parameters in the System Details tabs (these parameters should have become visible after checking the Flow Sensor Installed option. Select the flow sensor type. For Meter Type flow sensors, enter the Gallons Per Pulse. For Data Industrial flow sensors, enter the K Value and Offset parameters. These values should be available from the manufacturer of the flow meter and are typically contained in their user manual.
Confirm you have filled out the proper Flow Sensor Options parameters in the System Details tabs (these parameters should have become visible after checking the Flow Sensor Installed option). Select the flow sensor type. For Meter Type flow sensors, enter the Gallons Per Pulse. For Data Industrial flow sensors, enter the K Value and Offset Parameters. These values should be available from the manufacturer of the flow meter and are typically contained in their user manual.
Flow Alert on Zone 0 Flow alerts attributed to Zone 0 in the System Details are known as “global alerts”. Global alerts occur when no zone is running. This means the system detected flow when there was irrigation taking place. There are three conditions that trigger a global flow alert. Each condition will be described, followed by troubleshooting techniques to correct the issue: 1. Electronic Noise associated with bad wiring is causing the controller to pick up false flow sensor readings. a.
Rain Sensor Issues Rain Sensor Not Stopping Controller After it Rains If there is a rain sensor attached to the controller and it rains with no rain hold occurring check the box in the “System Details” tab that says “Do you have a Rain Sensor Installed”. The option should reflect the following: Rain Sensor Puts System on Hold After Being Enabled To check the controller status, look under the weather panel on the Schedule tab.
Firmware Updates The Cyber-Rain Controller firmware is periodically updated to provide new features, support for new operating systems, and bug fixes. If the controller is not behaving properly or is missing added functionality brought by a new software release, updating the controller’s firmware can prove beneficial.
Remote Scheduling Remote Scheduling won’t allow me to create a New Account Before Remote Scheduling can be used, a new customer account must be created on the Cyber-Rain website. Visit the Remote Scheduling Login Page and click “Create a Customer Account” to begin. Refer to the following instructions if problems are encountered when trying to create a new account: 1. Enter a User Name. Try to make it unique in case someone else has your same name. This is case sensitive (A is different than a). 2.
