Meant to mention that I reset the timer with each iteration after the first.

Jimmy, thanks for the great notes. If you would please try this. In the app, go to device settings choose your device then at or near the bottom choose Deauthorize Timer, then with the timer plugged in press and hold the reset button on the back of the swing panel until the whole screen lights up & resets, this puts the timer back to factory settings. Then try again. I checked the server and it doesn't show your timer as having connected yet but the app seems to think it has. These steps should put you at step 1 on both again.

If you have cellular data services where the timer will be installed you could use a cellular Wi-Fi hotspot. Typically you'd buy it from whoever you have your cell service from and just add it as a device to your plan, that covers the Wi-Fi. Electricity is going to be a bit more tricky, but maybe not. There are a number of battery powered generators that come with or can be added to a small solar panel to recharge it. I think this would be be simplest way to go. You'd have to ask around to know how big of a battery you'd need and then how large of a solar panel to recharge it. This will increase the cost of the project considerably but from what you've said there's really no other option. The lastly, you need to figure out how to protect it all from the weather and from growing legs and walking away when you're not there. Maybe you add a security camera to the whole thing. Hope that gives you some ideas anyway. Good Luck!

@@JoshWheelers josh, thank you very much. I’ll let you know how it goes.

You can create up to four programs with up to four start times on each. Each program can have as many or as few zones as you want in it. I think your scenario is possible using two separate programs, one for the Mon - Thur and another for the Fri - Sat. Good luck!

Make sure that you entered at least a postal/zip code in the address. If you don't do that then the clock will be off and it won't behave as expected. The more accurate the address the better the smart watering too. If manual watering works then I'd rule out solenoid. Make sure the timer is not in rain delay; which can also be affected if the address field is blank. Make sure the timer is in Auto Mode, you have to go to the timer's Device Detail screen and set the Timer Run Mode to Auto. Hope something in there helps. Also, the timer in this video was one of the first models made and I ran it until this past July and it was working when i replaced it for a higher station count one. Thanks!

There is a way to delete, tap the "Other Saved Programs" it will show you all the programs, on the program you want to delete swipe from right to left to bring up the delete dialog. Thanks for the comment & hope that helps.

This is crazy! If a program has two (or more) Start Times and I want to remove one of them, you're saying I have to completely remove the entire program and reprogram it all over again?! Wow!

Raj, great question, no, that's not necessary, you can edit the custom program and remove just the start time(s) you no longer need. There's a new playlist on the Orbit channel with more programming info, it may be helpful to you. kzfaq.info/sun/PLgy_FcMnNASWIZkiTRqHzffSW43NOxTSE thanks for commenting.

Ok, I see now. I took a guess that since there wasn't any obvious way to remove a start time, maybe if I swipe the time to the left... That works. Maybe a little "Swipe to delete" note would make it more clear. After all, you can swipe to delete start times, but deleting zones is done in a different fashion. Should probably be more consistent.

That's great feedback, I'll put that in our next version suggestions to make those more obvious and similar if we can, I think we should.

Jimmy, thanks for the feedback, unfortunately this is one of those things that involves a lot of variables and not everyone's experience will be the same. We try to anticipate as much as we know but there is just too many things to anticipate them all but we're getting better and your comments help and will hopefully help someone else in the future. Would it be okay if I forward your info to our management and possibly reach out to you in the future?

I have the b-hyve 12 zone timer. I like it but I have wanted to disable 1 zone temporarily, because of a broken sprinkler. I don't want to remove it from the program. Why can't I set that zone to 0 minutes? I had to disconnect the wire from that zone to temporarily disable it!!

The timer in this video is the Gen1 timer and it does not support BT connection. However, the Gen2 timer does. The easiest way to know if you have a Gen2 timer is to look at the program button, if it has a program D (A, B, C, D) then it is a Gen2 timer and you can control it via Bluetooth. There are two ways to do that, 1) from the app home screen tap the network icon in the upper left corner & select connect via Bluetooth 2) go to Settings > Device > then select the timer then tap on the button to control via Bluetooth. Cool thing is all the settings & programs you put on the timer through the app are still being put on the server too, so once your timer connects to the internet it has everything it needs to be wifi controlled too! Hope that helps!

It Can be used without an internet connection but you won't be able to control or program the unit remotely. When you are in Bluetooth range you could connect and control it but once you lose the Bluetooth connection it's back to being a regular controller. Also, you won't get the benefits of automatic rain delays or smart watering. You will get the most out of this controller by connecting it to the internet.

Just a possibility, it sounds like the jumper wire on the rain sensor has been removed. OR a rain sensor was installed and is wet causing it to register a sensor override. For it to water, that circuit needs to be closed, hence the jumper wire from the factory. As long as the timer is properly configured & connected to the internet I prefer to use the smart watering for rain delays over the physical sensor because the physical sensor cannot be disabled but smart delays can. Hope that helps, if not, contact tOrbit ech support.

Not sure exactly what you mean by that question but I'll try. If you have a zone in a program and set to automatically smart water, the system will warn you. However, since smart watering is based on the Zone's moisture level, if the program fills it up then smart watering shouldn't schedule it. If the program is not enough to fill it up then smart should top it off. Also, having smart watering enabled, regardless if any zones are set to smart water or not, will enable the automatic weather delays for the entire system regardless of programming method.

It depends. Are you using smart watering? If not, I recommend trying it. If you are then it could be that it is using Soak & Cycle, which spreads the watering out to maximize soil absorption. Let's say a zone needs 15 minutes of water but you've input that it's a clay mixture soil on a decent slope. In this case anything over a few minutes will start to runoff and be wasted, so, the smart system will split that 25 minutes into the waterings of five minutes each. This throws people all the time but it really is much better. You can also look at the calendar to see what will water, when and for how long. If you want to give me the last six digits your timer's Mac address I can look at the current settings and give you better details of what to expect and make some suggestions if you want.

This depends on whether you already have underground sprinklers & an existing timer or not. If you are simply replacing an old timer then all you need to do is transfer the wiring from that timer to the new one. Orbit has videos for that here on KZfaq. If you are starting from zero then there is a lot to figure out & fortunately we have a cool site that can help with that too. You can go to the online Sprinkler system designer, the B-hyve timer isn't on there yet, but you can just swap whatever timer is recommended with the B-hyve. www.design.orbitonline.com hope this helps.

cool. Thanks Josh. I don't have any sprinklers yet. I just did my resoding myself and now I have to install sprinklers myself. So, I was reading and viewing some of the great suggestions on the web. Once I found out the automated system I am completely married to it. Automation makes us lazy right? :) Anyway, I will check out that site soon and thank you again ...

Yes, this video was made years ago. Both the controller and the App have been updated a lot since. However, as you noted, just enough is still similar enough that this might still be a helpful video. Or if you happen to acquire one of the original controller then even more is still relevant about the controllerbut not the App.

Jose Diaz this video was made when the timer & app was first released, they've changed some since then. Now the Update Wifi is located on the timer details screen. However, a soon to be released version will have an option to do it from the app home screen too. Hope that helps.

The watering history should be there for sure, if it continues I suggest calling or emailing technical support. The clock could be off due to your location not being set. Go to the device details & make sure that at least the zip code is accurate for the address. Hope that helps.

Pat, I'm sorry you were affected by this, we had an update to our servers that caused communication errors between the app and the timer. We have just published an update to the app that should resolve the communication error. The latest version of the Android app is 1.1.0 and is available now. Thank you for your feedback, it helped us to get the fix out faster. If you still encounter any errors please contact Orbit tech support, they're great at solving problems and do all they can to take care of customers.

+Josh Wheeler Thanks for the update! It seems everything is working properly now with the 1.1.0 version

I have a 12 zone, 4 zone and four hose faucet timers on two different Wifi bridges and they all connect to one Wifi and are all controllable from my one phone and app. Good luck getting them all setup, let me know if I can be of any help. One thing to keep in mind is water pressure; if were you live does not have great water pressure you may only be able to run one timer at a time.

Josh Wheeler I normally run only one zone at a time. Since the are two independent 12 zone systems, I can run two zones at the same time. I’ve tried running two zones at the same time, and the water pressure was a little low, even though both systems are fed with one inch lines. I also have only 3 Orbit brand heads on each zone. I diffuse the spray, which reduces the range on each head, but improves the coverage. The heads are space much closer than your typical sprinkler system. I also have spare zones on each system, so I can hook up temporarily hoses to extend the system, or expand the systems in the future.

I have two 12 zone B-Hyve controllers setup now. When my 12 zone B-Hyve "south" system was running, I could monitor the zones as they watered. After my 12 zone B-Hyve "south" system program finished, I had a program on the 12 zone B-Hyve "north" system to run. The "north" system program ran, but there was not apparent way that I could switch to the "north" system on the iPhone to monitor the zones watering. The "north" system only displayed the next time that the program would run, two days from today. How can I switch back and forth between the two 12 zone B-Hyve sprinkler systems? It seems like there is no way to do that when the systems are running, to monitor the watering on the iPhone.

@@daveborchard2019 tap on the b--hyve logo. under the b-hyve logo in the middle of the App there's a little arrow pointing down and below that it says "Active Device..." after you tap the logo you'll see a dropdown list of all the devices you have on your account and if you have any devices shared with you they will be available there too. You can can also go to the "My Bhyve' menu on the bottom right then Devices then select the device you want to control and then tap on "Control This Device". Hope that helps!

@@JoshWheelers I did figure out how to switch between the two sprinkler systems. I've tried modifying the programs on one of the other system while a zone is running, and the iPhone software gets locked up hard. I can't select any of the buttons, and cannot even quit the program. I have to power down my iPhone to quit the app, because It locks up so hard! I also think there should be a software change. If you have zones 1 thought 12 and want to run them out of order, you need multiple programs to do that. For example, if you want zones 12, 10, and 11 to be run first, you need a separate program. If you program something like zone 12, zone 8, zones 1, 2, 3, then after you save the program, it will run in the order: 1, 2, 3, 8, 12, not starting with zone 12 first. It should be possible to save the program to run the zones in the order they are programmed, not the fixed order of the zones 1 through 12. It would also be nice to be able to run manual test run for more than 3 hours and 59 minutes. I use a spare sprinkler zone to refill hydroponic reservoir tanks. The spare sprinkler zone feeds the reverse osmosis water filter that feeds into the hydroponic reservoir tank. It normally takes 5 hours to refill the reservoir tank.

If it's a Gen1 or Gen2 timer (not the XR) it requires a 2.4Ghz WiFi, doesn't use 5Ghz. So long as you have that with internet access it "should" work. I've used my mobile phone's hotspot before and it works pretty well.

I don't know the brand but the marking on it says: 1090A1 28V1W

Searched on eBay for 28VAC 1 watt lamp, found Green w/ Steel Bezel Panel Mount Round Indicator Light - Solico 28V - 1-3/4 Watt @$6.76 each 4 or more, free shipping.

You need to connect to the timer from within the B-hyve App. The type of Bluetooth chip that's used doesn't work like most Bluetooth devices you're used to. There's a few scenarios here too., it all depends on what's been done with the timer so far. Did the contractor put the timer on wifi already? Is it part of their account? If so, was it deleted from the server or just reset the timer? Do you already have a B-hyve account setup from within the App, etc.? As you can see there's a lot to know in order to effectively help you. If you can get me the last six characters of the Mac address I can see if it's already registered on the server and on who's account. There is also a help center for these things if you prefer to reach out to them. Otherwise, I'll do what I can.

@@JoshWheelers I finally got it to register the wifi/Bluetooth, but now the app keeps disconnecting. I had even bought a wifi extender and plugged it in right by the timer in the garage. I can connect to the extender’s wifi on my phone, and initially the timer will connect, too, but it keeps dropping it.

It is possible that an extender will help. You could also put the bhyve in your house near the router just to establish a connection and then move it to the installation site, if it loses signal you know it's the distance, if you can't get it connected in the house even then you know it's something else, like password or some other security setting. Often times if your cell phone can get Wifi connection in the same location as where you will install the bhyve timer so will the bhyve but that's not always true. Also, the bhyve timer only uses 2.4GHz so make sure you have it enabled on your router. some routers support both 5.8 & 2.4GHz and have the 2.4 turned off by default. If possible you could also try locating your router up higher; typically the signal broadcasts outward in the shape of an umbrella, so the farther away you go from the router the lower in height your device will need to be relative to the router to receive a signal. Hope this helps!

The timer uses 2.4Ghz, so other things on the same frequency can cause interruptions, like microwaves and cordless phones. Try watching the signal strength while one of those things is on. Yes, you can set custom programs that will run on a schedule, no Wi-Fi needed. You'll just miss auto rain delays and other cool internet things. Also, what's the firmware version on your timer?

Josh, not sure about the firm ware version, is that the number following the MAC ? It’s now been working for about 4-5 days! Regarding rain delay I’ve had to over ride this several times, we get the threat and forecast of rain which kicks in the skip watering and it never rains just threatens. Thanks for your response

@@Chromewarrior the firmware version can been seen on the device details screen. From there you can also go into the Weather Adjustment screen and set the thresholds for all the delay types. For example, I have mine set the 55% chance AND more than 1/4 inch forecast before it will set an automatic delay. Hope that helps.

Can you tell me more about your iPhone? Size, model, OS version? Thanks!

It has a pump start function and connectors, however, I've heard that not all pumps work. Some require more or less power to start and some may cause a fault. I've asked for a list of compatible pumps and if I can get one I'll reply here again. You can always call the tech support line and see if they can answer directly for you.

That is an excellent question. Sorry for the delay, just didn't notice that you had commented. I would go with 12, because it will keep track of how much water is put down in total and that's the total number of heads. If you feel it's too wet or too dry you can adjust the smart watering settings to fine tune it a bit. Hope that helps.

@@JoshWheelers great, thank you for your help!

Antmon, no, sorry, I'm not sure what they are but I'm sure our tech support people have an idea. If you can give them the make and model of your pump they can help you get it hooked up to the B-hyve correctly.

@@JoshWheelers thanks - found an old manual online - seems Hot Post is just an optional live wire to test the zones, will cap it - 15v is rain sensor (but not sure working so may cap it as well ), 24v is what i would connect on Orbit

Watering Budget is an adjustment to the watering time/duration for all the zones in the program. It's a really cool way to make slight increases or decreases in watering time for the whole program instead of editing each zone's watering time individually.

Thanks! You can return to the Programs screen then tap on any program, you'll see a few options, one of which will be Edit, select that. Then you can tap on a start time to edit it or swipe it to delete it. Hope that helps!

Are you saying it went yellow because of over watering or under watering? Typically when it gets warmer you'd want more water not less. Not sure I'm clear on what you're asking.

@@JoshWheelers It was yellow when I installed the new behive. I set it and saw that it wanted to water once every other day for 15 min each station.I thought that was high.

@@thegolfbro There are a few ways to adjust this. On the zone's detail screen you can set the moisture level, lower = water more sooner - higher = water less later; this is intended to be done once at initial startup, adjusting this too much will cause your system to take longer to normalize. Also from the zone's detail screen go to Smart Details and at the bottom you can go to Watering Schedule Adjustments, on this screen you can adjust watering duration and frequency. Also, make sure you have entered the correct landscape details for the zone, the plant type, sprinkler type and sun exposure are very important. Hope that helps.

Create a program, add the zone(s) you want to run in that program then set the start times. Each program can have four start times. So, if I had a program called Lawn and I add four zones to it and set the first start time to 8:00a.m. for example it will run those four zones starting at 8:00a.m. for however long it takes to run through all of them for the time you have set on each one, if you set them all to 10 mins each then it will take 40 mins to run that program once. Then you can set a second start time for 10:00p.m. for example and it will then run the program again at that time for another 40 mins to get through all four of the zones again. Hope that helps.

At the time of the video we only had one model, that is now referred to as Gen1, it used Wifi as the method for pairing but was a lot harder to know if it was successful or not because the connection between the phone and the timer had to be dropped for the timer to connect to the internet. The Gen2 model uses Bluetooth pairing to setup the Wifi connection which allows the phone and timer to remain connected while the timer attempts to connect to the internet. Once you are in the app and begin the process the App will use the phone's Bluetooth connection to then set the Wifi SSID and Password and then your Wifi should show as active or blink with an exclamation mark if the connection failed. Hope that helps explain it.

Yes, you have it set correctly. I had a bit of trouble figuring that one out too. :)

You can set a Custom program in the Programs section of the App. Each program A,B,&C can have up to four start times.

Sorry to hear it. What's the issue? Maybe I can help. I'm not as involved with the B-hyve products as I was but I still might be able to get you past whatever's holding you up.

When I'm out in the yard I usually turn my phone's wifi off because it will hold onto the wifi connection even though it's not strong enough to actually connect to the internet. Give it a try & see if it works better that way.

I have not gotten into that enough to figure it out either and I'm not aware of any videos that really gets into it either, if I find one I'll let you know. For my three grow boxes that use drip heads of some sort I also just use a set schedule and duration. Because of the sensitivity of many of these plants I feel it's better to know exactly what's going to get watered and when. It's also difficult to do on a smart schedule because some drip systems can require hours of watering instead of minutes and they can't currently water two zones simultaneously which limits the time windows in which to water. There's still a lot of benefits of the timer, auto rain/wind/freeze delays, remote control of watering, alerts and ease of programming changes. Anyway, good luck, if you figure it out maybe you could make a video ;)

@@JoshWheelers I would think if you had the total drip emitters and an area you, the system seems to be missing this input for drip system. You would have an accurate amount of water. Maybe add a sqft of area.

There's a few things it could be and without more context I'm just guessing here. First, have you previously paired the timer before & just need to update the settings? Second, are you going through the B-hyve app or just the Wi-Fi settings? Third, if it was setup previously you should be able to go to the device details screen & then tap on Update Wi-Fi. Fourth, if this is the first attempt at pairing it you may need to power cycle the timer to reset the pairing connection. Beyond this, if you haven't already please reach out to the customer support team. Sorry I can't be of more help here.

Canada is currently in the works & the weather will be from local (as local as can be found) weather stations. Zip code has been changed to postal code and you will have an option to simply use your current location too. I can't say when that will be released but I've seen programming towards that end. I'm also not sure where it will be made available immediately either, that's a whole other department that determines logistics and I have not been made privy to that info yet. Sorry I can't be anymore specific.

Brian, I'll have to look into that question. I am no expert on the internal workings of Smart Watering. I can say that they have been making some adjustments and it could be that the FAQ just has not been updated. Thanks for commenting!

Yes, the phone app connects to the timer via Wifi, the timer then scans for available Wifi hotspots, or it can be entered in advanced Wifi by specifying an SSID & security, then returns the list of hotspots to the app, you select the hotspot the timer should connect to & the password if required, the timer then disconnects from the app connects to the specified hotspot and the phone reverts back to its previous Wifi or cellular Internet connection.

Charles-André Bélanger If you have Smart Watering enabled it will monitor the local weather forecast and set delays for you. You do not have to smart water every or any zone for the rain delays to work, just have smart enabled for the system. You can use a physical rain sensor if you prefer though.

PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK - DOING SO MAY VOID YOUR WARRANTY! Okay, now that that's out of the way. The transformer in the Orbit B-hyve is 1/2 Amp at 24 Volts so as long as your 24V supply is between 1/2 & 1 Amp I don't see why not. I am not an engineer and can't begin to tell you how to do this but from what I've seen there's only two wires that go from the transformer to the board. If you'd like to ask for some official direction on this please email support@orbitbhyve.com Good Luck!

Robert, great question, as of now it does not set a delay on freezing weather forecast, it had been discussed previously and as of today it has been officially added to the task list of features to add. Thanks for the great question and for helping get another feature added to the list! I'll try to remember to update you when it's available.

Josh, I have been using my B-Hyve now for about 4 months and I must say I do like it. It has worked without issue continuously and without any intervention from me. Has there been any more consideration or movement on programming some type of freeze delay into the system so that just like when weather forecasts rain it delays watering, when freeze conditions are forecast it will delay watering? Since sometimes the frost doesn't necessarily kill plants, watering them and then having the water freeze will, or at least damage them with the added weight of the ice breaking branches and the likes. Again, just a feature I would certainly like to see added. Has anyone else asked about this as well?

Robert Justice this is being developed literally right now. I don't know if it will be in our next release but it should make the following one for sure. I know that the server side has stubbed it out, not sure when it will make it into the app though. We are in the middle of some big, almost huge, new product changes and launches so we are pretty busy or I'd have a more definitive date for you. Some of those changes include some bug fixes and new features to the apps, like freeze delays and finally completing the support for our physical rain & freeze sensor, which will still work with smart watering btw. Thanks for following up and I hope to be able to give you some even better news soon!

Josh, thanks for the reply and I cannot wait to see and use the improvements & functionality.

Jerry Freeman the zones button is to the right of the home button, tap that then go to the zone you want to edit the tap on Smart Details button near the top right of the zone screen, all the zone settings are there. Hope that helps.

If you can give me the last four digits of the timer's Mac Address (you can see this on the devices screen in the app or on the back of the swing panel) I can take a look at the server dashboard & see what it sees the connection status as being.

Michelle, this is actually something that has been planned from the beginning but we have yet to implement it. As of now there is not a date set to add it but feedback & request are certainly helping to speed it to the top of the list. It's been one of our most popular requested new features over the last few weeks. We're all excited to see it working. I'll be sure to keep you posted as soon as it is added. Thank you for your feedback.

Michelle, the ability to connect more than one timer to one account is coming soon! Here's a sneak peak: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ZtRziraHq5OXj6s.html

I don't know much about them other than WAMCO 28V 1.2W 1530 is printed on them. Thanks for commenting!

Hi Bob, if you are logged on as the owner of the device you have the option to share that device with someone else. If the owner were to share a device/timer with you using the "Manager" option then you could also share that device out to someone else (a tech) as a "Guest" but the guest cannot share any devices but can do most everything else as far as programming goes. So, basically, it depends on who's account you install the device on. If it's on your account then you would share it to the home owner, you decide what type of share it is. If you installed it to the home owner's account then they would need to share it to you. Hope that makes sense.

@ John K: In theory, you should be able to use the app from anywhere you have a network connection. If I'm outside my house and trying to test zones, I will find that the wifi isn't quite strong enough to connect. Try turning off wifi from your smart phone and go off of G3 or G4 (what your phone uses to make calls). If you have a good enough tower signal in that area you should be able to connect to your panel. I do this all the time with my smart thermostat in my house.

It's sequential by zone number. So, if you want them to run in a particular order you have to rewire them in the sequence you want them to run in. Timers do this mainly because not everyone has enough water pressure to run two full zones at once. And not all timers have large enough transformers to keep two valves open at once.

@@JoshWheelers thank you! Appreciate the reply.

As long as you bought the Indoor/Outdoor model with the panel and buttons you can setup everything except the Smart features on the timer itself. You use the dial as a selector, rotate to the setting you want to set and then press it to select and then you use it to set the value and move to the next. It's a little odd at first but after you run through a few of the settings you'll get it figured out. If you get stuck on something particular let me know and I'll do my best to help figure it out. Good Luck!

Yes, you are correct. Once your timer has been connected to the Orbit server on the Internet via your home WiFi your timer can be controlled from anywhere you have internet connection on your mobile device. Thanks for posting!

If you configure the new router's 2.4 GHz with the exact same SSID and Password you had on the old one then the timer will reconnect. If you used a new SSID and/or Password you'll need to update them on the timer. To update the Wi-Fi settings you have to put the timer in pairing mode. To do that you use the Dial on the timer to set it to the Off position, then you open the swing panel and press the reset button one time, the timer should now say Pair on the main screen. Now you can use the app to connect to the timer and update the WiFi settings which is done on the Device Detail screen in the app, there's a button near the bottom that says, Update Wi-Fi Settings. Hope that helps!

@@JoshWheelers Just not gonna work for me. Orbit said the wifi chip is spent. Whatever, I'm gonna say I got my money's worth from this one and get the XR model. Works with 2.4 and 5.0 wifi. I love this timer.

Jeff, Hello I'm an Orbit Product Support agent. Thank you for your questions.The Bhyve timer is capable of functioning without being connected to the internet, however, the advanced features such as zone images, smart watering and automatic rain delays will not be available. The Apps communicate first with the Orbit server, which then sends the program specific information to the timer but only the data that is needed to run programs is sent to the timer, no other information is stored on the timer.I hope this is helpful.

Can you water in seconds and not full minutes?

No, just minutes.

On the My B-hyve > B-hyve Account screen you can change between Imperial and Metric. Good luck

OK, thanks for the reply. I will look into it.

Chase Vaseleou thanks for the comments. I'll look into this but am wondering if after you kill the app then return to the device settings does it show the correct setting for smart watering? Also, if you could please respond with the last 5 digits of your timer's Mac address I'll see if we can look into the smart watering.

Thanks Josh, 1:81:5a, also I just spoke to customer care, she told me most people turn off smart watering because it over waters. She also stated the web interface is 24 hours delayed from the mobile interface. I brought this to her attention because online it says no schedule watering, where the app on android says tomorrow. She said most people create there own schedule, I asked if it will still delay my schedule (A,B,C) for rain, she said no. I asked what is the point of this product and how did it get water sense approved. She didn't have a good answer. This is very concerning.

Update, I removed my address and just put in my zip code via the website and it is showing no smart watering scheduled. Not sure why this would make a difference as the weather temp on the application was accurate and the calendar did show the correct forecast. Fingers crossed.

Chase Vaseleou I don't want to create more confusion here but there are a few things off with what the rep said. First Smart Watering, this is a tough one to explain & understand and I work on this project. It takes smart a few weeks and for some even longer for the system to get a good baseline established for your watering needs. It has to start somewhere, right? So, it makes some assumptions based on your inputs and the coming weather then starts watering, this can, for some, be way off, hence the confusion & frustration. However, with time the system knows how much water it had applied and how much rain has fallen so it can "normalize" the smart programs better. Hope that made sense. You can use A B C programs with Smart enabled on the timer but disabled on the zones and the system will set automatic rain delays for you. In all honesty, I was never a fan of the online app, that said, it uses the same API the mobile app uses so what's there should be current, here's the gotcha, the web app is the last to be updated so it lags a bit behind the mobile app... We're working on this & I hope we have it resolved sooner than later. I hope that answers everything from your call to tech support, I'll see if I can find the rep that helped you and explain a couple of things to them that they are misunderstanding.

Chase Vaseleou I should have mentioned this before too... Anytime you make a change to any smart related settings, including address, the system has to recalculate all smart for you and there can be a time period where it appears to be missing.

You can guess on the starting point, the longer the system runs the more accurate it will become. It's great to be able to set initially but I recommend not changing it often as it causes the system to basically "reset" that zone and can have a negative impact if it's used too often or incorrectly.

The timer will run them in their physical numeric order. We've briefly talked about being able to order them from the app but it's not on any to do list yet. I just installed a new one at my house & I reorganized the wires to get them in the order I wanted them in. It's not typically a big deal unless you are blessed with OCD. ;) I know it's not the answer you're hoping for for I hope it helps.

Just FYI 5Ghz can transfer a greater amount of data over a shorter distance. 2.4Ghz transfers less data over a greater distance. Think of it like AM and FM on your radio. AM doesn't sound as good but works from far away. FM is in stereo, sounds better; but, at a closer distance. The B-Hive doesn't need to transfer A LOT of data; but, It just may need to send it over a far distance, depending on where you have it mounted. So, 2.4Ghz makes sense!!

Thanks for the reply Jim. I myself have recently learned that 5Ghz has a MUCH shorter distance that 2.4Ghz. For that fact you pointed out, it saves the B-Hive people some $ by only putting in a single band wifi instead of a dual band.

C K thanks for letting me know, I will bring this up with the tech support team, we have expectations as to how calls are handled and that is not it. What is it you need help with? Maybe I can help. I usually need to know the last 6 digits of the Mac address so if you can post that here I'll look into it & get back to you.

Yes, there is. There's a Zones screen, you can edit everything about each one there. The button to get there is right of the middle button at the bottom of the app screen.

@@JoshWheelers Josh, when I press the button to the right of the middle button, all zones are shown with a red x. If I touch a zone, a dialog box appears and states "Are you sure you want to delete this Zone". Should I delete the Zone in order to proceed with renaming and photographing the Zone?

@@frankcraig7495 No, sorry for the delayed response. There should be a button in the upper right that says "Done", after tapping that it should say "Edit", now you should be able to tap on a zone to get to its details.

@@JoshWheelers Thanks Josh, I tried it out and it works perfectly. You have been most helpful......Have a nice weekend!

Michael, you can set the thresholds for when the system sets a delay for you. Go to the Settings > Devices > Select the timer > Weather Adjustments. Be careful or you could end up watering when it is raining and if that's not allowed where you live it could be not so good.

Josh W. I found out the physical box was looking for a sensor that I don’t have , I turned it off and hit clear so we will see if that works

If you keep seeing the sensor delay you can power off the timer and make sure the jumper wire is secure in both terminals. You can also completely disable the terminals by pressing the Rain Delay button on the timer for 5 seconds (it turns back on the same way).

I have an Android but try Orbit bhyve or B-hyve, let me know if that works or not.

+Josh Wheeler B-hyve in the search bar pulled up the right app! Thanks for the help.

The cell phone icon indicates that there is an active Smart Watering Program set. The type of display timers typically use kinda limits the display options.

Baby Bear It's a lot more involved from the timer but here's a link to the product page that has a link to the manual. I do as little as possible on the timer. The lights are just 24 volt led lights, I don't know where they got them from. www.orbitonline.com/products/sprinkler-systems/timers/timers/outdoor-wifi-timer/b-hyve-12-station-smart-wifi-sprinkler-timer-3455

Thanks for the link.I tried to connect through the app while on the phone with customer support and they were unable to help. They had me reset and even unplug the hardwired ribbon between the two sides and still my phone and controller wouldnt link together.I have an android and I used the 2.4 wireless connection to my router as was mentioned by someone who replied to your video.I don't know what else to enable or disable on my phone in order to establish a connection.Can you make any suggestions please. Thanks

Baby Bear can you post the last 6 digits of your Mac address? That way I can see more about your timer and contact you directly to help. Sorry for the delay, somehow I missed that you posted again.

Thanks. I managed to get it up and running on my phone. The only thing I would like to be able to do which I am still struggling with is to stop it while running if I see a leak or to run a specific zone if I want to test that all plants are being watered. Whats the easiest way to do those functions without canceling my current program?

Baby Bear if there's a program running you can't run another manual program, otherwise, from the App's home screen you can tap the remote button in the middle of the navigation bar and either select a zone or zones to run or you can tap on programs in the upper right hand corner of the screen and click on the program you want to run.

Alex, I'm only somewhat versed in the inner workings of Smart Watering, so, here's my understanding; It uses a combination of evaporation data specific to the timer's location (postal code), NOAA weather forecasts and the inputs you set when you configure each zone. There's been talk of using real-time evaporation data but I'm not sure where that's led to so far. If there is a certain percent probability (30% I think) that it will rain then the Smart Watering program(s) per Zone will be automatically updated. Depending on the forecast & the zone's water requirements it may or may not be watered that day. Could weather surprise the system & rain even when there is less than 30%? Yes, of course. Or could it not rain when there is a 50% probability of rain? Yes. So, there are "manual" controls built into the app that allow you to take control. There is a Rain Delay feature, you can set it to 24, 48, 72+ hours and there is a Manual Program screen that lets you create a run once program. So let's say it does rain but only for a few minutes and it's barely long enough to consider your yard watered, you can create and run a manual program. You can even create saved programs that aren't scheduled to run but can be run from the Manual Programs screen so it can be pre-configured & all you have to do is tell it to run. Just a note on Smart Watering, it uses what we call Cycle and Soak, which basically means, if there is a zone that needs 15 minutes of watering, has soil type X then split the 15 minutes 3 ways (5 + 5 + 5) for example. This is based on evaporation of the specified soil type & the amount of water your sprinklers apply per minute. Too much water & the soil will become fully saturated & start sending the water elsewhere, causing the plants to be actually under watered & could cause problems in other areas due to the runoff. So don't be alarmed if you see your yard being watered more than once in a day while using Smart Watering. We're really close to hearing back from the EPA if the timer meets their Water Sense approval standards too, which is all tied in with Smart Watering. I hope I answered all of your questions there, kinda long answer.

+Josh Wheeler Sorry, Asterix, became Alex somehow. :)

+Josh thanks for the long detailed answer. I don't really want to baby sit the unit if it has direct connection to the Internet where real time weather information is always available. My main objective is to save water which is expensive where I live. I wish this unit could be real time aware that its raining and act on the event by stopping the program. Also, I saw there is a "sensor" connector in the wire terminals. There is not mention about that in the manual. How is that connection supposed to work ? Can I just use the Orbit rain sensor and wire it to these terminals ?

+Asterix Galo Asterix, absolutely, I agree with you. I didn't intend to make you think it has to be constantly monitored but just let you know that you're not locked out of the timer either, you maintain control at all times and because I can't guarantee any weather forecasts I don't want to mislead you and promise that 100% of the time it will be accurate. The Smart Watering feature will save water for a lot of people, obviously this depends on how "smart" their watering already was but generally 20% savings or more can be achieved. Not only will it save water but it will water more efficiently and effectively too. On the rain sensor, let me ask the product owner for this timer and get back to you with details on how this can be accomplished, I feel like it should work but I am not the expert on that one. Thank you for your questions and comments!

+Asterix Galo I was told that Yes, an Orbit Rain Sensor will do that, here's the reply I received "Yes, there are sensor terminals on the timer that will allow for a rain sensor connection to stop watering if a sensor picks up rain." So between Smart Watering to continuously optimize the watering program and the rain sensor you should have a very efficient system. Hope this helps and thanks again.

This is for the non XR versions, I'm not sure how they are rated voltage wise. The timer is not currently capable of running two zones simultaneously programmatically, however, if you wire two zones wires together into one then they will run. There is a chance it might not work too. The internal transformer is rated to run one solenoid at a time but it has been tested with two and it can work as long as the solenoids don't draw too much from the transformer. The Hydro-Rain versions (Orbit's Professional line, think Lexus to Toyota) has double the output and can definitely handle two valves at once.

Actually, I feel like a fool. I was skeptical of this device because it did not offer a desktop link or app for programming. I should have known... This device is $100 cheaper.

Jimmy, sorry it's not going smoothly, can you give me a little detail about what you're seeing in the App, error messages, stuck screens etc. Also, are you on iOS or Android? I'll do what I can to help.

If your WiFi password hasn't changed then typically just unplugging it for ten seconds then re-plugging it in will get them to reconnect. If you still can't get it to connect the B-hyve tech support team can get you reconnected.

Does it have an ABC program or ABCD program button?

@@JoshWheelers mines the ABcd, which I need for my application that many start times, it won’t pair to my phone, can I not use my iPhone as a hotspot for WiFi, then pair Bluetooth? does it have to be with home WiFi router? I do not have internet other that phone hotspot here and this unit will not save programs without the app, I have encountered this before

@@ejRecording it works the other way around. It uses Bluetooth to connect your phone to the timer to configure the Wi-Fi connection. If yours has exited pairing mode you can turn the timer to the "Off" mode then press & release the reset button on the inside of the swing panel. This is the mode that's used for unprovisioned timers. If your timer was previously provisioned then you should be able to switch between Bluetooth & Wi-Fi connection.

@@JoshWheelers got it worked with it for hours, its extremely touchy and will delete your settings if you even think about adjusting them, but once its set its set just a crummy computer that doesnt save at times when you even click save, and dont even try to adjust them on the front buttons, so only in app and if need to adjust you just click new and start over on that program cycle

Glad you got it working, somewhat anyway, sorry it's not working more smoothly for you. I honestly can't think of any time I've used the controls on the timer, I always tested and used the App. Other than to put a timer back in test mode anyway. I've seen recently a couple of people, my wife & a friend who had not gotten the latest version of the App and it was causing weird saving issues. Maybe check & make sure you have the latest version too.

netmann thanks for the comment! Yes, that will work and if you get the second generation of this timer it has a bonus D program so you can have one more than before. The only way to know is by checking the picture on the box, unfortunately they reused the same part number. The Program button should show ABCD where the original one says just ABC.

Thanks Josh for the quick reply. Does the second generation timer also come in the 6-zone model? I will look for the 4-program timer. There seems to be a lot of 3-program timers still available in the market so finding the 4-program ones would not be easy. One thing I am concern is if for example you configure zone 1 and it registers it as Program A, would zone 1 be still available for Program 2 and program 3? My custom programming I indicated above would require this setup. From your video, it appeared when you custom program the timer, the zones you assigned went from Dark Green to Light Green in color resembling their unavailability. Am I wrong? Please advise. Thanks

netmann you can have a zone in as many programs as you want. And you can give it different runtimes in each program. And each program can have up to 4 start times. And each program can be run by day of the week, even calendar days odd calendar days or on an interval of something like 1 (every day) all the way to 30 or something (it's a lot). So it really is very flexible, almost confusingly so. Hope that helps.

Josh, thanks again...My last questions are: 1) What is the difference between Water Budgeting and Water Restrictions? 2) Does water budgeting affect the entire program, or could it only apply to a particular water zone (valve)? 3) My current timer is 57194. What I've found out is when I set the water duration times to say 3 minutes, it waters to 5 minutes by default. When set to 7 minutes, it defaults to 10 minutes, etc. It only delivers to the next 5-minute intervals! I actually measured it with a stop watch. Does B-Hyve act the same, or does it deliver to the exact times that have been set at?

netmann 1) Budget is a percentage of the runtime, 100% will be exactly what the time is 50% will be 1/2 of the time and 200% would be twice the time and everything between. Restrictions are days and times the Smart Watering can or cannot set a program to run during. 2) Budget amount is applied to all zones in the program. 3) It will water to the minute (or as close as it can) unless a budget is set on the program. Hope that helps, ask as much as you need. :)

Great comment, I've occasionally seen similar results. On Android you can even start with Wifi off, the app will turn it on to communicate directly with the timer then turn it back off again as soon as the app tells the timer which Wifi to connect to. Thanks!

Mike, I have not been a part of the rain sensor testing so I'll have to ask on this one. I know that the app will tell you what the current state of the timer is, I just don't how it reports its state when the sensor has delayed watering. Great question & I hope to have a response for you very soon. Thanks for commenting.

+Josh Wheeler thanks Josh...

Mike, I got a rain sensor to test this myself. Regretfully I found that the logic for rain sensor on this timer is currently using the same logic as our non-Wifi timers. Basically, if there is a scheduled program & the rain sensor is triggered it will delay the program & display "SENS" in the main window then show "DELAY" but smaller below. Here's the unfortunate part, the app doesn't know how to handle this state and shows the program as running. We have initiated a change request on this but I don't have an ETA as of now. The good news is, the rain sensor & the timer still function properly, it's just the app that doesn't know how to handle this timer state. I hope to be able to actually improve the logic of the sensor triggered delay to be user configurable as part of this change but we'll have to see how much we have time for. Thank you very much for posting this question.

Thanks Josh and much appreciate the response. I will check mine again to test it as I also have a non wifi rain sensor.. Cheers.. Mike

Mike, I forgot to mention, make sure you unplug your timer before connecting the rain sensor. I learned that the hard way.

Not sure I understand the question. Do you want it to water on Wednesday instead of Tuesday?

Sorry, I've never heard of those things but I'll ask someone that knows and will get back to you.

If the timer is connected to a WiFi router with internet access then you should have access to the timer from anywhere you have internet access.