A MAINSAFE is an optional level of flow monitoring and protection above the Flow Zone level. This is a useful feature when the following occurs:
MainSafe zones generally require their own flow sensor and their own Master Valve. Often these are Normally Open Master Valves, which only close in the event of an alarm. MainSafe requires a specific configuration to operate correctly. Please complete these steps in the correct order to use properly.
Maximum Flow is an absolute high limit for all flow from the MainSafe level (the water source). If the flow rate exceeds that amount, irrigation will be shut down. It does not matter what stations are running or what the learned flow is. This should be considerably larger than the maximum flow allowed in normal irrigation in all downstream Flow Zones (so that it does not alarm before station-level and Flow Zone diagnostics can be performed).
Unscheduled Flow is any flow that is detected by the flow sensor when no stations are running. A flow rate can be entered here to permit manual watering up to the specified amount, without causing an alarm or shutting off the water. If the unscheduled flow is detected over that amount, an alarm will occur.
Alarm Delay: High flows will alarm immediately if this is set to None, or they will be ignored until they have lasted as long as the time entered here. Set in M:SS format; the longest delay is 9 minutes, 59 seconds. This can eliminate false alarms from temporary surges in flow.
Alarm Clear Delay: Sets the amount of time a MainSafe zone will remain shut down before allowing new automatic irrigation attempts. Set in HH:MM format, the longest delay setting is 23 hours, 59 minutes.
If Alarm Clear Delay is set to Manual Only, automatic irrigation will never resume after a high flow or unscheduled flow alarm, until it is manually cleared by an operator at the controller. The operator must dial to the Flow menu, select Clear Flow Alarms, the Flow Alarms that should be cleared, and click Clear Selected.
Specifies how long the MainSafe zone will remain shut down after a Max Flow or Unscheduled Flow alarm occurs, in hours:minutes. This is set to 23 hours, 59 minutes, but this can be changed to other intervals, or set to Manual Only.
If Alarm Clear Delay is set to Manual Only, the controller will not water again until a user visits the site, and manually clears the flow alarm. This assumes a mainline break has occurred and that no watering should occur until it is repaired.
Monthly Budget: Enter the total amount on the Allowances screen in this MainSafe™ in the calendar month. If the total flow exceeds the monthly budget, an alarm message will appear on the screen. The controller will not automatically stop watering when this alarm occurs.
Manual Watering Allowance: This is an additional amount of flow that is permitted over all other flow rate limits for manual watering that may occur during automatic irrigation. An alarm will not occur until other limits, plus the amount entered here, have been exceeded.
This tells the controller how the Flow Zone is connected, and which devices are used in that hydraulic unit. All stations must be downstream from the flow sensors and master valves that are checked here.
MAINSAFE™ ASSIGNMENT: If using this optional feature, select the MainSafe zone that is upstream from the Flow Zone. If MainSafe is not being used, leave this set to "None."
The selected MainSafe flow sensor and P/MV assignments are shown at the bottom of this screen.
