Manual Override Button

[Ultrastructures]

I have my sprinkler system wired through an 8 relay HAI board on an Omnipro II controller, i'm using a simple timed program to systematically turn on zones as others turn off starting at specific times. I'm trying to program an override button so that if I'm out working in the yard none of the sprinklers will turn on. It seems as easly as adding a condition of user button set to off command but user buttons are not an option under conditions in my PC access software. If anyone has any ideas i'd like to hear them!

 

[Steve]

There are alot of ways to do that but I guess how easy it will be depends on the 'rest' of the system. Do you use and other supplemental software or have a custom touchscreens? I would probably use an override flag and only perform the irrigation if override flag is off. Now how you set that override flag depends on the rest of your system. Easiest is a simple button on a touchscreen. Or you could do it through a console I believe just not as easy. You could also make it hardware based and have a switch hooked to a zone and flip the switch to open the zone and set the flag - or at that point only perform irrigation when zone is secure. Lots of options...

 

[apostolakisl]

It depends on how true to your fancy home automation you want to be. I would just put a little toggle switch into the ground wire. Since, if you are like me, you will start working in the yard and then remember that you need to shut down the sprinkler, or perhaps it will actually start sprinkling on you. You will be all dirty and filthy and will not want to truck through your house to your computer and change around settings. I would suggest you install the switch outside where the wires enter the building and where you can get at it while working on the yard. Of course your HA system will think it is sprinkling even though it is not and if that has implications, then maybe you don't want to do that.

If you have extra wires on your sprinkler, you could wire a toggle switch to one of them and use that to close a zone on your HA system and set a rule on your sprinkler that says if that zone is open, don't sprinkle. This assumes that your sprinkler wires all run to the same location that you have all of your HA stuff.

Ground interupt switch is also how most of your rain sensors work. When they get wet, water absorbant discs expand and push on a switch which cuts the ground. When the discs dry out, the switch is released.

 

[Ultrastructures]

There are alot of ways to do that but I guess how easy it will be depends on the 'rest' of the system. Do you use and other supplemental software or have a custom touchscreens? I would probably use an override flag and only perform the irrigation if override flag is off. Now how you set that override flag depends on the rest of your system. Easiest is a simple button on a touchscreen. Or you could do it through a console I believe just not as easy. You could also make it hardware based and have a switch hooked to a zone and flip the switch to open the zone and set the flag - or at that point only perform irrigation when zone is secure. Lots of options...

I am using 5.7e touch screens, I've been using the system for simple on/off and timed functions and haven't really gotten into more complicated programming - I'm having issues figuring out how the flags work and how to set them up, i'm sure once I figure it out i'll probably start reworking all my automation programming to use them. Could you post an example of what a flag/button script would look like? What I would like to do is push the override button on my touch screen to override the sprinkler program until I push the button again rather it's hours or months..

 

[Ultrastructures]

It depends on how true to your fancy home automation you want to be. I would just put a little toggle switch into the ground wire. Since, if you are like me, you will start working in the yard and then remember that you need to shut down the sprinkler, or perhaps it will actually start sprinkling on you. You will be all dirty and filthy and will not want to truck through your house to your computer and change around settings. I would suggest you install the switch outside where the wires enter the building and where you can get at it while working on the yard. Of course your HA system will think it is sprinkling even though it is not and if that has implications, then maybe you don't want to do that.

If you have extra wires on your sprinkler, you could wire a toggle switch to one of them and use that to close a zone on your HA system and set a rule on your sprinkler that says if that zone is open, don't sprinkle. This assumes that your sprinkler wires all run to the same location that you have all of your HA stuff.

Ground interupt switch is also how most of your rain sensors work. When they get wet, water absorbant discs expand and push on a switch which cuts the ground. When the discs dry out, the switch is released.

I thought about doing something like that but i'm not sure I want to install any more connections outside to possibly fail....besides, If the sprinklers start going I just call the house from my cell phone and turn on the override. Chances are actually pretty slim that I would be outside working at either of the times of day the sprinklers come on, it's more of a just in case option.

 

[cornutt]

I am using 5.7e touch screens, I've been using the system for simple on/off and timed functions and haven't really gotten into more complicated programming - I'm having issues figuring out how the flags work and how to set them up,

If I understood your original question, you can use a flag to do what you were trying to do with the user setting. You need to define the flag first in PC Access in the Setup tab -- just pick one from the range of flag numbers. Once you have that, you can reference that flag in a condition. For the time being, you can turn the flag on and off using PC Access; later you'll probably want to build a screen for your 5.7e with a switch icon where you can turn the flag on and off. Also, to avoid inadvertently leaving the system off, you should add a rule that runs at, say, midnight which turns the flag off if you forget about it.

I can post some code examples this evening -- I'm at work and I don't have access to my system.

 

[Ultrastructures]

I am using 5.7e touch screens, I've been using the system for simple on/off and timed functions and haven't really gotten into more complicated programming - I'm having issues figuring out how the flags work and how to set them up,

If I understood your original question, you can use a flag to do what you were trying to do with the user setting. You need to define the flag first in PC Access in the Setup tab -- just pick one from the range of flag numbers. Once you have that, you can reference that flag in a condition. For the time being, you can turn the flag on and off using PC Access; later you'll probably want to build a screen for your 5.7e with a switch icon where you can turn the flag on and off. Also, to avoid inadvertently leaving the system off, you should add a rule that runs at, say, midnight which turns the flag off if you forget about it.

I can post some code examples this evening -- I'm at work and I don't have access to my system.

Thanks for the help, I messed with the flags last night and think I got the hang of it, everything seems to be working, I also set up a message that shows status on the touch screen and is automatically cleared when the system is turned back on.