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Hydrawise supports standard open/closed contact rain sensors and soil moisture sensors. In fact, you can use any generic type of sensor that has an open/close contact.
These sensors use two wires and are usually labeled as normally open (sometimes called NO) or normally closed (sometimes called NC).
A rain sensor is usually used to suspend watering cycles for a zone (or zones). However, you can also create your own custom sensor types to start irrigation or for other advanced applications. See Creating a Custom Sensor for more information.
| Sensor Types | Description |
| Rain Sensor (Normally Open) | A standard rain sensor (use this if you have wired the rain sensor’s normally open wire to the controller) |
| Rain Sensor (Normally Closed) | A standard rain sensor (use this if you have wired the rain sensor’s normally closed wire to the controller) |
| Soil Moisture Sensor (Normally Open) | A standard soil moisture sensor (use this if you have wired the soil moisture sensor’s normally open wire to the controller) |
| Soil Moisture Sensor (Normally Closed) | A standard soil moisture sensor (use this if you have wired the soil moisture sensor’s normally closed wire to the controller) |
| Wiring |
- Route the WIRES from the rain sensor up through the same conduit
opening used for valve wiring. - Connect one wire to the terminal labeled SEN and the other wire to
the other SEN (COM) terminal. - See the chart below for wiring standard rain sensors.
NOTE: HPC Controllers with date codes of JAN 2023 and newer include two sensor inputs. The SEN-SEN terminals from the original HPC Controllers have been split into SEN and SEN-2, to allow for two separate sensor installations (i.e., flow meter + rain sensor). Sensors now wire separately across the Common terminal (COM).
| Software Configuration |
To configure a sensor in the Hydrawise software, follow the steps below.
- Sign in to your HYDRAWISE account
- Click the (
) icon in the upper left. - Click SENSORS.
- Create a new sensor by clicking ADD SENSOR TO CONTROLLER.
- Choose the SENSOR NAME.
- Choose the TYPE OF SENSOR (most Hunter sensors are normally closed).
- Change the controller input to SENSOR 1 or SENSOR 2. If you have a HPC model, then select SEN.
- Click NEXT.
- Select the ZONES that you want the sensor to shut down when triggered.
- Click OK.