The Cycle and Soak feature allows the user to split each station’s run time into more usable, shorter duration watering. This feature is particularly applicable for slopes and tight soil (such as clay) because Cycle and Soak will help prevent excessive run off. You should enter the Cycle time as a fraction of the station’s watering time and the Soak time as the minimum soak required before watering the next portion. The total number of cycles is determined by taking the total programmed station run time and dividing it by the Cycle time.
- Cycle Time is the maximum number of minutes for which the zone can run at a time.
- Soak Time is the minimum time between zone watering to allow water to soak into the soil.
For example: Suppose Station 1 required 20 minutes worth of water but after only 5 minutes, runoff occurred. However, after 10 minutes all the water was absorbed. The solution would be to program 20 minutes for the Station Run Time, 5 minutes for the Cycle time, and 10 minutes for the Soak. Station 1 will then water for 5 minutes and then the rest of the stations in the program will water. After all the other stations have watered the controller will check to see if Station 1 had soaked for at least 10 minutes. If it had, then Station 1 will water for another 5 minutes. This process would continue to repeat itself until Station 1 watered 4 times for 5 minutes each time, a total of 20 minutes.
Important Notes:
- To test Cycle and Soak, you will need to have a scheduled run for automatic because running a zone manually from the app does not allow Cycle and Soak to take effect.
- If your controller goes offline, your default watering schedule will still run, but Cycle and Soak will not work. Each zone will water its full length while offline.