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Rachio drivers - Houselogix and Blackwire


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Trying to understand current Rachio driver options.

 

Looks like the Houselogix Rachio driver is broken due to recent Rachio API changes.  

It looks like Blackwire has a Rachio driver that has been updated to support the API changes.

 

Are these related in any way?  (i.e. Is the new BW driver an updated version of the HL driver). I don't know if I'm going to continue using Rachio integration, but I'm very annoyed to have purchased the (relatively expensive) HL driver to see it bricked so soon.

 

Does the BW driver (or any other Rachio driver) provide more function than just putting the system in/out of standby and turning zones on/off?  I'm specifically interested in being able to see usage info in C4 and/or being able to see other usage data that is available in the Rachio ap.

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Trying to understand current Rachio driver options.
 
Looks like the Houselogix Rachio driver is broken due to recent Rachio API changes.  
It looks like Blackwire has a Rachio driver that has been updated to support the API changes.
 
Are these related in any way?  (i.e. Is the new BW driver an updated version of the HL driver). I don't know if I'm going to continue using Rachio integration, but I'm very annoyed to have purchased the (relatively expensive) HL driver to see it bricked so soon.
 
Does the BW driver (or any other Rachio driver) provide more function than just putting the system in/out of standby and turning zones on/off?  I'm specifically interested in being able to see usage info in C4 and/or being able to see other usage data that is available in the Rachio ap.
They are totally unrelated

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2 hours ago, msgreenf said:

They are totally unrelated

 

Thanks.  I suspected as much, but was never sure which HL drivers were written by them and which were third party.

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interesting - when did HL break?  I have the HL driver.  I rarely use it - basically my sprinkler tech use it when they shut the system on/off for the season.  I have them coming over in ~2 weeks, do I need to get the Blackwire driver?  I have the original Rachio hardware.  the HL one never worked great re: updating the last time the zone was activated, but it simply acted as on/off buttons on the touch screen for the sprinkler tech's since the original Rachio does not have buttons on the device itself and I was not always available to walk around with my cell/app to turn the zones on for the techs.

Very disappointed with HL, this will be the 2nd or 3rd driver from them that became unsupported and withered away.

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interesting - when did HL break?  I have the HL driver.  I rarely use it - basically my sprinkler tech use it when they shut the system on/off for the season.  I have them coming over in ~2 weeks, do I need to get the Blackwire driver?  I have the original Rachio hardware.  the HL one never worked great re: updating the last time the zone was activated, but it simply acted as on/off buttons on the touch screen for the sprinkler tech's since the original Rachio does not have buttons on the device itself and I was not always available to walk around with my cell/app to turn the zones on for the techs.
Very disappointed with HL, this will be the 2nd or 3rd driver from them that became unsupported and withered away.
It broke in March.

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28 minutes ago, THE L1ZARD KING said:

Currently I am using the HL Rachio driver for only manually turning on zones for a preset amount of time.  As of this morning this appears to be working still with my gen2 Rachio.  I would have to defer to @eddy.trochez regarding any specifics regarding it's configuration.

it will stop working at some random points. they changed the way API rate limits occur

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It appears SnapAV has had multiple reports of failure and have sent the issue to support.   At least that's better than "Sorry, it's no longer supported"

 

FWIW - Rachio links the Blackwire driver from their Control4 support page

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20 minutes ago, Kevin L said:

The HL driver is also substantially more money for less features and zero support.

 

Do we actually know that there is zero support?  I did not get that impression from SnapAV.

 

I'm probably more annoyed that the HL driver cost $200, which is now sunk $ if the driver isn't updated.  

Had the BW driver been available at the time I probably would have bought that instead.  I still might,  just to support Blackwire.   However, it's unclear whether either is worth the effort.  For the few things I was doing with the driver it might be enough to use the Alan's IFTTT driver to turn zones on/off.

 

@Kevin L Can you expand more on the features of the Blackwire Rachio driver?   What function does it provide other than turning zones on/off or putting the system into standby?  (That's essentially what the HL driver did)

 

Does it support retrieving watering data or schedule data from Rachio to C4?

Does it have events for when the Rachio goes offline or when a scheduled Rachio event fire?

 

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11 minutes ago, msgreenf said:

 

Thanks.  Been there, read that.  That doesn't really say much.  Automatic bindings and zone renaming is good for set up, but isn't very useful when you want to program against the device.   I want to know if it does more than turn zones on and off or put the system into standby.  The marketing bullets don't give any indication of how the BW driver is any better.  Kevin says it supports instant (insane!) events.  What does that mean?  How is that different than what HL does/did?

 

I wish developers would give end users a bit more detail about their drivers in general before purchase.  While ease of driver set up and auto update functionality is important, what matters to me is what actions I can perform in programming and what Control4 event triggers are available.  More often than not, a developer forgets to note the C4 trigger events, which are the difference between having basic function and being able to exploit automation and control. 

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I updated the site to list more features

The BlackWire driver is 2 way. The Houselogix driver is 1 way. The polling function can no longer be used due to the API call limit Rachio has added. If any HL driver poll time is set to 1 min or even 2 you run the risk of the driver unable to control or talk to the rachio account for 24 hours. 

Current triggers are the all zones being off and any single zone turning on. You can also do events based on the temp and status of the actual unit. What other functions would you like?

I have a keypad that has the sprinkler zones on it and its nice to see which zone is running with LED feedback and also to be able to run a zone for a few extra minutes. 

PatioKP.jpg

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3 hours ago, Kevin L said:

Current triggers are the all zones being off and any single zone turning on. You can also do events based on the temp and status of the actual unit. What other functions would you like?

I would like

 a) to be able to retrieve the date/time of the next scheduled run and ability to skip it

b ) have events for schedule started, stopped, paused, resumed

c) event fired for irrigation event, preferably with a variable that has the Rachio status indicating what type of event

d) event for device power cycled (possibly exists?)

e) any weather intelligence event (e.g. Schedule not run because of rain)

(essentially an event for anything that appears in Rachio history)

 

f) pull month to date stats

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20 minutes ago, jfh said:

I would like

 a) to be able to retrieve the date/time of the next scheduled run and ability to skip it

b ) have events for schedule started, stopped, paused, resumed

c) event fired for irrigation event, preferably with a variable that has the Rachio status indicating what type of event

d) event for device power cycled (possibly exists?)

e) any weather intelligence event (e.g. Schedule not run because of rain)

(essentially an event for anything that appears in Rachio history)

f) pull month to date stats

Many of these things are not possible due to how the Rachio API works. I will look into them all again just to make sure. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I just need the Rachio driver from Houselogix to be able to tell my Flologic (water leak sensor) that I don't have a leak while the sprinklers are running.  My sprinklers are not tapped in before my water leak sensor, and they shouldn't need to be.

First sprinkler session of the season was a fail last night and turned off the water.

But, I've fought that driver for years and it was never 100%.  I have terrible luck with Houselogix support.  Is anybody in active contact with them about things that broke because of the API change?

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Ok, besides Houselogix (which I already bought), there are at least four other Rachio drivers: Alan's (no longer available, but wasn't a true driver), Epic, Annex4, and Blackwire.

@Kevin L I only see you mention Houselogix, but since you are the only one mentioned officially on Rachio's page, should I assume you have a step up on any other competitors?  Do you have any type of official relationship with Rachio so they will work with you on any API changes?

Honestly, it was crazy I had to buy this driver once because of the limited functionality that is necessary for me.  If I have to buy it again, I want it to be the last time.

Thanks...

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