Per a hunter manual -
Hunter controllers equipped with flow terminals will have approximately 20 VDC present on the flow sensor terminals, with no flow input.
and
Lists the sensors specs at 24VAC
That’s a 1/2" sensor if I’m looking at it correctly? That wouldn’t support much flow.
Yeah … that was just a quick example. They make those cheap sensors in different sizes. 
That is a flow on/off switch not a flow meter.
Anyway, those cheap hall effect sensors can be converted to work with 34vdc with a little switching dc-dc converter or even a zener regulator and a transistor. As for accuracy, who knows but really the important part is leak detection like when a zone is using a significant % more water than average so should be good enough. Those of us with drip systems don’t have high flow rates anyway.
well, the idea is to do a few things like stop watering if the flow rate is higher than normal, aka you have a busted head.
if the controller is not running but flow is detected, alert someone that a valve has failed or some other erroneous water flowing condition.
or like for me, the most important thing, detect how many gallons i have used to prevent me from falling into a higher pricing tier with my municipality. im about to switch over to a well, but i will still be on government water for some time, then i can fall back to using it to detect errors in my irrigation system.
if a $200 dollar sensor keeps that from happening for 3 months (june, july, august) it has paid for itself.
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For me, this would be the reason. At the higher tiers, I’m paying $10+ per thousand gallons. A busted pipe added 20,000 gallons to my usage before I noticed it. Of course, best case, no pipes burst or heads break and it detects nothing. But I sure would have liked to have detected the problem earlier.
Also, it would be a good way to quickly calculate precipitation rate. If you know the area (easily measured) and the flow rate, you could easily calculate the inches per hour applied by the sprinkler system. No tuna cans and a stop watch. Of course, still smart to scatter tuna cans around to ensure even coverage.
But your correct, its a huge cost. If water was cheap it wouldn’t be worth it. And I have gone 8 years w/o a busted sprinkler pipe or sprinkler head. But this year, I was bit by 3 of them…
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Hey @Ry_L,
If you are interested in purchasing a Gen 2, my suggestion is to upgrade using this very special pricing. We won’t be offering the 8 zone at this price.
I took advantage of the great upgrade offer. Then I saw a shipment show up on my FedEx tracker and got all excited. Then the shipment was cancelled. oh well. I can wait.
That’s odd. I’m not sure why it was canceled. If you don’t get a notification by Monday, please contact orders@rachio.com.
@franz, great to hear this announcement. I’ve been off the Community for awhile, since my version 1 controller has just been rocking and rolling - especially with the integration into my PWS via Netatmo. I just placed the order for the Gen2 upgrade - looks sweet. I think the flow sensor added features and manual control from the controller are reasons enough.
A few other questions:
-
Integration into Amazon Echo / Alexa ----
I’ve had the Echo now for over 2 months and the family is hooked. For the integration into Rachio (Gen 1 and Gen 2), are the skills natively applied into Alexa or do I need to go into the Alexa app and activate a new “Rachio” skillset? -
Passing old controller over to friends/family ----
You mention that when the new Gen 2 arrives, that “I’ll receive new mounting hardware and a welcome package so I can pass on my old controller to friends, family or that neighbor that could use some help conserving water and saving money.” When I remove the Gen 1 controller, I assume I remove the old mounting hardware as well and pass this along. Prior to doing so, is there any need to factory reset the Gen 1 controller prior to passing it along (or attempting to re-sell it)?
Love your company and cause. Question 3 might be “when is the IPO date”? 
Thanks again!
This is a new skillet. Let us know what you think, always looking for feedback!
If you want to copy your gen 1 settings (schedules, zones) than I would install the gen 2, use the copy feature at the end of the pairing process, and then delete the gen 1 from your account. Note that zone and event history is not copied. I believe the pass it on instructions include these steps.
Maybe after gen 10?
An ipo always spells the end of a great era. I hope it is gen 100
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Have you thought about doing a “trade-in” program for the Generation 1 customers? Or maybe offering them a discount if they send in their 1st Generation.
Existing gen 1 users were sent an email in regards to a pass along program that included a discounted gen 2.
If you are an existing owner and did not receive an email please let us know.
Thanks!
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I am an existing owner and did not receive the email offering to upgrade to Gen 2.
Jsulleye@sbcglobal.net (1st registration)
Jsulleye@gmail.com (2nd registration)
Thank you
@Jocco, could you please shoot an email to orders@rachio.com? Our sales team will sort things out for you.
Best, Emil
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@rcuadros & @ruzickab, please see this support article for details on how to use Alexa with your Rachio
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Not to beat a dead horse, but this is very disappointing. Hardware based encryption of home automation networks is going to be critical for the success of IoT. Recent issues such as the NEST devices leaking address info, home security cameras being hijacked, etc just underscore this. Lots of hijinks possible for a remote user that manages to get control of your water system.
I’m curious to understand why hardware encryption is superior to software? as long as you don’t leak details about key negotiation and are future proof, I don’t see why a hardware solution would,reduce your dissapointment, can you help me understand?
For my irrigation controller, I’ll be fine if my keys are 2048 or larger and uses some pretty large prime numbers which if you look here, https://certificatedetails.com/c39cf3fcd3460834bbce467fa07c5bf3e208cb59/30cde/.rachio.com you will see that I’m happy.
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I’m in. Just found out that Gen 2 is available. Found my email to purchase at a discount since I am a Gen 1 owner. My order is complete.
I integrated my Gen 1 into my measurement & verification system. It’s crude (equates time to gallons, regardless of zone) but it’s a good first start. Franz fixed the pump terminals to work properly after a few of us identified a problem - it was a relatively fast firmware update that I appreciated.
See http://www.welserver.com/perl/plot/WEL0343/Sprinkler2.png for rolling 13 monthly sprinkler water usage, http://www.welserver.com/perl/plot/WEL0343/Sprinkler1.png for rolling 13 months of daily sprinkler usage, and http://www.welserver.com/perl/plot/WEL0343/Sprinkler3.png for last 15 hours of usage. (Installed my Gen 1 unit at the -7 months mark in the charts.)
I look forward to thinking about how to improve on this with Gen 2. I’ll put the flow sensor in, and then evaluate whether to connect it to my M&V system or to the Gen 2 unit.
Thank you.
Best regards,
Bill
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