Rain sensor installation
Spruce accepts many standard “normally closed” rain sensors from a variety of manufacturers. Passive rain sensors can be installed using the “Rain” input terminals located on the Spruce controller. Powered rain sensors can have power supplied by the 24 VAC and common terminals on the Spruce controller. The diagrams below show a installation schematics using 3 different rain sensors: Rainbird, Hunter, and Irritrol.
“Normally closed” refers to the operation condition of the rain sensor. A rain sensor is “normally closed” when the 2 wires conduct if the sensor is dry. The connection is “opened” when the sensor is wet. This is the most common type because this allows the sensor to “break” the power connection going to the irrigation valves if rain is detected.
Rain sensor enable
If a rain sensor has been installed, the operation will then need to be enabled in the SmartThings app.
- Go to “preferences” in the Spruce Controller device
- Set the “Rain sensor attached” toggle to on
- Press “Done” to exit and save
- Press the “Configure” button to write the settings to the controller
