A Multi Zone Wi-Fi Hose Faucet Timer–No Digging Needed!
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An orange. Brought to you by Melnor RainCloud.
Let’s face it. There are times when you just need a Band-Aid fix.
Scenario: four citrus trees + no sprinkler system + two months away from home + middle of the summer in central Arizona (up to 110+ during the day and drops all the way down to 95 at night) = DEAD TREES
With no sprinkler system in place* and no ability to put one in**, I needed an easy answer to water the trees and I needed it fast!
The one thing I have–which most people have in a single family home–is an outside water spigot. There has to be some device where you can connect multiple water hoses to a single exterior water faucet and put them on some kind of watering program. In this day and age Wi-Fi is enabled on so many household gadgets it just makes sense to expect internet connectivity too!
One Google search for “multi zone Wi-Fi hose faucet timer” led to purchasing the Melnor RainCloud off Amazon.
In action!
The Melnor RainCloud Wi-Fi enabled exterior water faucet system is one of the few all-in-one solutions to this problem.
The Melnor Raincloud review in short:
- The attachment provides a way to hook up to four different zones to one outdoor faucet.
- It is compatible with water hoses or water lines adaptable to water hose type threading.
- There is no requirement to use all four zones–they are all programmed independently.
- It is super easy to setup and program from your phone and/or laptop.
- Even if the Wi-Fi access is interrupted the Melnor RainCloud program still runs the pre-programmed watering cycle.
Easy set up.
There isn’t much to it. It’s pretty much plug and play with a fun phone app. Simple is exactly what you want for a multi zone Wi-Fi hose faucet timer!
It only took about fifteen minutes total, including digging out four batteries required (not included) for the outside valve unit. The control unit comes with an AC plug in adapter. It also requires an open port on your router.
The directions are clear and easy to follow. I did the initial setup on my laptop and then downloaded the app to my phone. You can also setup everything from your phone from the get go as well.
Programming the different zones is intuitive and fun once you have everything communicating.
Flexible Watering Programs
You set up each zone independently with any combination of time(s) of day, dates and duration. There are two modes of programs: simple and advanced.
Simple Mode:
A screenshot of simple mode. Simple mode is the fastest way to get started. Although it has limited options they may be all you need.
The simple program streamlines setup with one cycle that can run up to 240 minutes (4 hours). However, you are not limited to a single cycle. You can run up to six cycles a day–essentially running water 24 hours a day if you want. The only issue is that you can’t turn six cycles on for a day and then run the same program three days from now. The simple program is…well…simple. It only asks you how often you want to run. If you want something along the lines of multiple cycles one day and entire days between waterings you’ll want to set up your program with advanced mode.
Possible cycles repeat options. The maximum is seven days.
There is also an eco mode which conserves water allowing the water to flow out for two minutes and pause for six minutes while the water soaks into the ground.
Advanced Mode:
Many parts of the country end up with water restrictions during the heat of the summer when water is highest in demand. The advanced mode on the Melnor RainCloud is great for those times when you are limited to watering, for instance, only Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
A screenshot of advanced mode default settings.
This is also the mode for you if your garden or trees need more of a deep soak for a significant amount of time. For instance, I can’t just blast the recommended 207 gallons of water a week in a tree burm that is only 6 inches high. At least, not without some significant erosion and water retention issues. Instead, I run the hose on a lighter flow with two cycles running six hours total: one for four hours and a follow on cycle at 2 hours.
Just as it was in simple mode, each cycle is limited to 240 minutes. The difference is, you can set up multiple cycles within the same day with a couple days in between watering days.
The eco mode is fully adjustable in advanced mode. It can stay on and off up to 120 minutes with a delta of one minute.
No, this mode does not allow you to run a cycle once every five days, but that is what simple mode is for.
Manual Mode:
While automated waterings are the norm once you own this system, sometimes you just need water now! There are three ways to manually turn on water with the Melnor RainCloud:
- Using the app (both Android and Apple).
- Logging into your account on any internet enabled device with a browser (phone, tablet, laptop or PC).
- Pushing the physical button on the exterior valve unit.
A screenshot of what the app looks like when you set a zone to manually water for 60 minutes.
The longest possible manually triggered watering is 60 minutes. If you physically push the outside button it will run 60 minutes unless you turn it off manually using any of the methods listed above.
The manual options on the Melnor RainCloud app. ON = 60.
Rain Delay
If it rains you can manually (and automated–described in further detail below) set a rain delay.
A screenshot of the app when rain delays are in place.
Keep in mind, if you only water every five days in simple mode and it rains a couple days into the cycle, if you rain delay three days the next time the program runs 5 days after the rain delay–a total of eight days between waterings.
You can set a rain delay up to seven days.
Internet Connectivity
Managing your backyard from anywhere in the Wi-Fi world is the main advantage of the Melnor RainCloud (that is, after no digging). You can water your backyard from the beach, a cruise, or your neighbor’s driveway using your smartphone, tablet or laptop. I’m not big into phone apps, but this is seriously a lot of fun.
Imagine being on vacation. Do you know how awesome it is to wake up in the morning, check out the weather at home, and decide to add in an extra manual watering in your garden? I did this laying in bed in a fabulous basement suite 1,400 miles away from home. INCREDIBLE. It’s one of those moments when you realize how lucky we are to be living in these times.
The valve unit on the exterior faucet communicates with the control unit plugged into your router. The control unit communicates with the Melnor servers where the programs you set up on your phone app or internet account are stored.
The Melnor RainCloud stayed connected even after power outages caused a reset of all appliances. I have not reset the device since I plugged it in five months ago.
Not only does it stay connected, but it seems to work over a decent distance. It’s not like the control unit is on the other side of the wall from the exterior faucet. My control unit is attached to the router in a bedroom and the valve unit on the water faucet is about 40 feet away on the other side of the house.
Power Consumption
The portion of the unit on the faucet requires four AA batteries. The Melnor RainCloud keeps tabs on how much battery life is left. The batteries are at 48% after five months of using the RainCloud.
This is with extremely hot temperatures outside. The particular location of this outside faucet is always in the shade, which also extends the life of the batteries. I also do not use eco mode and water three zones every four days so it only turns on and off six times a week. YMMV!
Warnings
The app will let you know when you accidentally (or purposefully) schedule more than one zone at the same time. Note, this is one way to decrease the flow of water for two zones at once and have a third zone with higher water pressure.
In advanced mode, it will also warn you when you schedule overlapping cycles.
It also gives you a warning screen when you switch from simple mode to advanced mode.
Once I set up my zones in simple mode I was’t real thrilled to check out advanced mode with a warning like that. Was it saying all the zones would switch to advanced? No, only the current zone. Was it also saying it would lose my previous selections in simple mode so I would have to set it up again? No, when I switched back my old program was still there. So don’t worry too much about that warning. Select ‘Yes’ with no reservations!
Durability:
I have my doubts on the durability of the unit as there are many plastic parts. I appreciate the metal attachment to the main connection. However, the four hose attachments are all plastic. The harsh sunlight in an arid climate destroys most kinds of plastic. With this ~$100 unit and the desire to automate watering my trees, I’m not about to experiment how it holds up in the sunlight. Even if the water spigot was in full sunlight I would rig up some kind of shade–be it a piece of cloth or lean a board of plywood, shielding it from baking.
Other than my reservations on the plastic parts, it has worked out great. I’ve run different zones manually with the physical button many times. We have also disconnected both the spigot and the different hoses as different projects need water.
Additional options:
Melnor created a few additional add ons to this base kit.
Ability to Expand:
If you are in need of more than four zones and you have an additional water faucet outside your home, you can buy an additional exterior unit. The control unit attached to the router can handle up to two exterior valve units. This is great if you need to cover areas on opposite sides of the house.
Automated Soil Moisture Monitoring
Also not included, but complementary to the RainCloud system is Melnor’s AuqaSentry–a soil moisture sensor which automates rain delays. You don’t have to keep track of the forecast while you are away from home. Instead, the AuqaSentry is adjustable to your desired level of moisture and detects if a watering should be skipped. This automated ability helps you conserve water in addition to preventing overwatered (and replacing dead) plants.
Limitations:
There are a few aspects to be aware of prior to purchasing.
Water pressure:
You determine the flow of water by however much you turn the knob on the main exterior faucet. Once turned on, each zone is either on or off–there is no in between. You can’t run your flower bed on a trickle and your tree on full blast. It is either one or the other.
The water pressure limitation makes for fun problem solving in order to use it as a flood irrigation system for different size tree burms, gardens, etc. Obviously the smallest burm will fill up the fastest.
There are three possible solutions:
- Figure out how fast you can turn the water on and fill up the smallest burm for a certain period of time–let’s say 240 minutes. Then manually turn it on once or twice for 60 minutes a pop on days when it is time to water the bigger trees. The water will be on a lower flow so it soaks into the soil for a longer period of time.
- Increase the flow and turn on the eco mode on the smallest burm.
- Program a zone using the advanced mode to have more than one cycle on the larger burms. In my case the larger tree runs for the full 240 minute cycle starting at midnight. This first cycle is followed by an additional cycle for 120 minutes at 4 am.
I opted for the first option during my travels, not having fully explored the expanded options available in the advanced mode.
While I said you can’t adjust the water level, that isn’t entirely true if you get creative. Remember the warning that pops up while programming the zones to run at the same time?
This means you can also have different water flow with selectively planned programming. In other words, you could deliberately schedule more than one zone at once so the water pressure is split between two (or more) zones while the other zones run at full pressure.
Length between waterings
The longest time between waterings is seven days. While this isn’t a problem in most gardens and lawns, here in Arizona citrus trees are watered once every three or four weeks in the wintertime. I just have to remember to put in a “rain delay” every other week or set a Google reminder to turn my programs on and off.
Programs end at midnight
All active programs stop at 12 am. If you would like to water from 10:00 pm to 2:00 am you will have to use the advanced mode to select one cycle at 10:00 pm for 120 minutes and then a second cycle starting the next day at 12:00 am for 120 minutes.
Behavior of a program reset
When you reprogram a zone the cycle starts at the next scheduled time. This is not an issue if you are resetting a program to run certain days of the week. However, consider when you last watered if you are running in simple mode running, let’s say, every three days and need to reprogram the zone to water every six days. If you watered two days ago and are changing the programming to six days, eight days will have elapsed between waterings if you do not water until the program runs again.
Incorrect next run date
On occasion the app displays an odd date in the future. I have only seen this glitch on the third zone and the next time I checked–within the same day–it had corrected itself.
This is in the middle of the summer. If zone 4 is scheduled for Tuesday next Monday is is well past four days from now…
Despite limitations and quirks, the Melnor RainCloud really is a godsend.
There are no trenches to dig. No stuck sprinkler heads. No solenoids.
Just set this up on your exterior water faucet, attach a few hoses, set them in the right spot, program each zone, and go on vacation.
I’m not gonna lie. Hidden automation is still a good thing.
This isn’t the sexiest back yard. Draping water hoses across a yard does not create quite the right ambiance. However, the places where water now regularly frequents–thanks to the Melnor RainCloud–are GREEN!****
A regular sprinkler system is a more permanent solution and it looks a heck of a lot better. You can also have different water flow which you can’t with Melnor RainCloud as you’re limited to whatever the water is set to at the outside faucet.
However in a pinch–or if you currently lack motivation–this is a great answer. It is an easy answer with minimal work.
It is a great short term solution. Or heck, as a long term solution with enough replacement batteries and water hoses…no one is judging here**…
Updated Scenario: three citrus trees + two months away from home + middle of the summer in central Arizona (up to 120 during the day and drops all the way down to 95 at night) + Melnor RainCloud + three water hoses = the best crop yet because I didn’t forget to water them. Not even once!***
Check out the main unit, additional expansion unit, and/or moisture sensor for yourself.
*I was forced to chop up my yard when I first got it once I realized what I thought was a green grass yard was actually a forest of trees connected to a major network of roots coming in from my neighbor’s tree. I crushed a couple places in the old sprinkler system with a maddock.
**I just had a baby. Lawn care is a few items down on the to-do list. It is well below the imaginary line where things are actually going to get done.
***I am fully admitting to not having an automated watering system for nine years. Watering the trees is an enjoyable pastime. A mindless activity–like watering trees–after a long day at work is therapeutic. It’s like watching a lava light except slightly more productive.
Second, I’m not one for maintaining much when it comes to yards (my rock-filled yard enables this behavior), but I like eating. When you pick your own orange juice five months out of the year you get spoiled. I was not about to let my trees die when I went out of town. As nice as it would be to have a normal sprinkler system underground, as is normally the case, I knew such an ambitious project was not going to happen. Thank you, Melnor. Your product saved this year’s crop.
****Kudos to you if you noticed the uncovered polyethylene sill sealer from the last post floating around the yard.
