Irritrol PCW Control User Manual
™
®
PCW CONTROL
SYSTEM
User’s Guide
PCW Control S Installation
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Table of Contents
Introduction – Getting Acquainted with the PCW Control System 2
Glossary 2
Chapter 1 - Getting Started 3
Chapter 2 - PCW Control Program Window Overview 5
The PCW Control Schedule Viewer 6
Calendar Control Panel 6
The Time Slot Editor 7
Operating Day Schedule 7
The Interval Schedule 8
The Even or Odd Date Schedule 9
The Weekday Schedule 9
The Zone Buttons 10
Adding Zones 10
Selecting Water Zone Properties 11
Selecting Lighting Zone Properties 12
Zone Control Options 13
The Scheduling AdvisorTM Panel 14
Advisor-Based Schedule 15
The Site Settings Panel 16
Manual Operations Panel 19
Multi-Zone Manual Program Setup 20
Chapter 3 – Hardware Features: PC-Remote and Controller Operations 21
Chapter 4 – Remote Master Valve / Pump Start Feature 22
Appendix 1 – Frequently Asked Questions 23
Appendix 2 – Advanced Adjustment Features 26
Global Seasonal Adjustment 26
Schedule Seasonal Adjustments
(Advanced Seasonal) 26
ET Adjustment 27
Appendix 3 – Transferring Irrigation Schedules 28
Troubleshooting Guide 30
FCC Part 15 Rule 31
PCW Control S Installation
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Introduction – Getting Acquainted with the PCW Control System
Irritrol’s PCW Control system brings simple, yet sophisticated control to your landscape’s automatic sprinkler
and lighting system, through the convenience of your personal computer and a wireless, hand-held PC Remote
transmitter.
Glossary
To start, take a moment to become familiar with the following list of terms used throughout the PCW Control
program software and user’s guide.
Active Schedule – The current schedule in use for the Site (also listed at the top of the program window). A
site can have any number of saved schedules such as Spring, Summer, and Fall schedules for a site labeled “My
House”.
Active Site – The current site in use (listed at the top of the screen). The average PCW Control application will
have only one site; the location of the yard or landscape controlled by the system. Professional irrigation installers may need multiple sites saved on their computers.
Controller – The electronic unit that stores the current operating program and controls the irrigation valves and/
or relays for lighting. As well as a Master Valve/Pump Start circuit and a sensor input, the controller provides connections for up to 12 zones, of which three can be lighting zones. The system can control up to four controllers.
Get Schedule – The function that retrieves and displays the current schedule in the controller.
Master Valve Circuit – A circuit that controls the valve that opens and closes the pipeline supplying the rest of
the valves on an irrigation system. The master valve electrical circuit opens the main line when the first valve
turns on and shuts off the mainline when the last valve turns off. The Master Valve is used as protection against
the continuous flow of an irrigation valve stuck open.
PC-Remote (PC-R) - A multi-function control unit that, connected via USB cord to the Windows-based PC, provides wireless communication with the controller. When disconnected, the handheld remote enables manual
operation of the system.
PIN – The 4-digit, personal identification number selectable for the system. The PCW Control software, PCRemote, and the controller all must have the same PIN. The user-selected PIN helps reduce the chance of unauthorized access to the system.
Pump Start Circuit – The same circuit for a Master Valve, however, instead of energizing a valve, the circuit closes and opens a relay for switching a pump on or off. One side of the relay is energized by 24VAC from the controller and closes a bigger relay between the pump’s power source and the pump motor.
Open Site – Clicking this button opens the list of saved sites.
Operating Day Schedule - The sequence of watering days and/or lighting nights selectable by zone.
Week Day – Operation on selected days of the week.
Odd/Even Date – Operation only on Odd or Even numbered dates.
Day Interval – Operation in repetitive days (every two days or every three days, etc.)
Remote Master Valve/Pump Start – The feature that allows a Master Valve or Pump Starter to be connected to
Controller #1 only. Other controllers in the system call #1 to activate the Master Valve or pump as needed.
Seasonal Adjust – A percentage increase or decrease in watering time to match seasonal watering needs of the
landscape.
Schedule - An automatic operating routine for the irrigation and/or lighting zones. Schedules can be selected,
created, edited, saved, and transmitted from the calendar screen.
Scheduling Advisor™ - A feature that allows the user to enter specific details about a watering zone into the
system and receive a recommended irrigation schedule. The user can elect to apply the schedule and can also
decide on automatic adjustments to the irrigation schedule based on weather updates.
Site - The location of an irrigation and/or lighting system under the PCW Control’s command. In most cases, only
one site is identified.
Station – Another term for zone (see Zone below).
Zone – A section of the landscape supplied by one irrigation valve (irrigation zone) or lit by one landscape light-
ing circuit (lighting zone). Irrigation systems are divided up into zones because water pressure and flow will not
allow watering all areas at one time and the wide variety of plant material, slope, soil type and sun exposure cre-
ate differing needs for water application.
PCW Control S Installation
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Chapter 1 - Getting Started
Irritrol’s PCW Control system brings simple yet sophisticated control to your automatic sprinkler and landscape
lighting system through the convenience of your personal computer.
The complete PCW Control system installation procedure is provided in the Installation and Setup Guide, form
number 373-0761. If you have already completed the
installation and setup procedures per the installation
guide, continue on to page 4.
Install and Launch the PCW Control Program.
1. Insert the installation CD into your disc drive.
In the “My Computer” window, double-click the
PCW Control icon.
2. Double-click on setup.exe. The PCW Control
program and required support software will be
installed automatically. Respond to the software
installation prompts as necessary.
3. Using the provided USB cable, connect the PC-R to
the computer’s USB port.
The PC-R will display PC when the connection is
established (Figure 1.1).
4. From the Start menu, launch the PCW Control
program.
5. At the Quick Start dialog box, click the New Site
option button (Figure 1.2). The Open Site option is
used to open a previously saved site conguration
le.
Figure 1.1
Figure 1.2
Note: A “Site” le species how the PCW Control
system is congured. A Site requires a name, a PIN
code, the number of Controllers in use (1–4), and the
initial number of zones to be included in the operating schedule.
6. At the New Site dialog box (Figure 1.3), enter the
preferred site name.
7. In the PIN number eld, you may leave the default
0000 PIN code, or enter a preferred four-digit PIN.
(See Change PIN section, below).
8. The default number of controllers is one. If your
site utilizes more than one controller, select the applicable number from the drop-down list.
9. Select the number of zones to be scheduled. The
available zone count in the drop-down list will correlate with the number of controllers selected .
10. Click the OK button to save the Site le.
11. At the New Schedule dialog box (Figure 1.4), enter
your preferred Schedule name.
• A Schedule congures PCW Control system opera-
tion based on the active day(s), start time(s), and
Figure 1.3
Figure 1.4
PCW Control S Installation
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run time duration assigned to each zone.
• Any number of schedules can be dened and saved
to memory for later recall, however every schedule
must have a unique name assignment.
13. Select the Default Schedule option to open the
new schedule with a run time Blank Schedule to
start without presets.
14. Click the Finish Button.
• The site and schedule name will be displayed at
the top of the program window (Figure 1.5).
The PCW Control program should begin communicating with the Controller(s) at this time and will activate
the control system; indicated by green signal bars and
the Auto On controller status. If a communication link
is not established, Unknown Status will be displayed.
(Figure 1.6) This condition is usually caused by a
mismatching PIN. Verify the PC-R and Controller have
a matching PIN and the Controller(s) can be operated
manually with the PC-R.
Change PIN
Figure 1.5
Figure 1.6
Important PIN Information: As a security measure, the PC-Remote (PC-R) and Controller utilize a
four-digit PIN code to enable wireless communication. Both units are initially set to 0000 by default. This
is an optional feature and can remain 0000 if desired. If you wish to change the PIN to prevent unintended
system operation, read this section.
Changing the system’s PIN can only be done from the computer when all the PINs are the same to begin with.
The parts of the system, computer, PC-R, and Controller all have to be communicating for “Change PIN” to
function. In the case of mismatched PINs (and in the case of multiple Controllers in the system), the PIN and
controller number need to be set manually in each controller. See the procedure below:
1. On the front of the Controller, press the “MANUAL” and “AUTO ON” buttons simultaneously to start the
“POWER” light blinking and illuminate one of the station lights.
2. With the station lights 1 thru 9 representing PIN digits 1-9 and with 10 representing “0”, use the “MANUAL”
button to advance to and illuminate the rst digit desired for the PIN.
3. Press “AUTO ON” to move the light down from “POWER” to illuminate “SIGNAL”. The “SIGNAL” light represents
the second PIN digit. Again, use the “MANUAL” button to move to and illuminate the second, desired PIN
number and then press “AUTO ON”.
4. Repeat the above steps to set the third and fourth PIN digits with “SENSOR” and “MASTER VALVE / PUMP”
illuminated respectively.
5. The last digit, represented by the “TEST” light, is for the controller or Controller number. If there is only one
controller in the system, set or leave the controller number at “1”. If setting up a second controller for the
system, use the “MANUAL” button to move to #2 in the “STATION” lights. The controller number selection
only goes up to four.
6. Hold down the “AUTO ON” button until the lights start a sequential display and then release the button. The
Controller will demonstrate what was set for each of the four PIN numbers and the controller number and
will then return to AUTO mode on its own.
PCW Control S Installation
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Chapter 2 - PCW Control Program Window Overview
The PCW Control program is designed for ease of scheduling, review and system operation. The
program window is organized so you can easily setup and review operating schedules, access the
weather data, fine-tune system operation, and manually operate the system as needed.
The program window is comprised of five main sections, shown below (Figure 2.1).
A – The dark blue title bar provides the PCW Control application version, currently open site and
schedule names, and the minimize/maximize/close window buttons.
B – Directly below is the turquoise Site Menu bar that provides direct access to the site resource
folders, save options and system tools. The PC-R remote USB connection and signal strength bars
are located on the far right.
C - The light blue section displays current Controller Status information including zone operation,
Auto On/Auto Off status, and system activity status.
D – The four main panel tabs of the light gray center section include the Schedule Viewer with Calendar Control center, schedule Advisor, Settings and Manual operation panel.
Located on the right are the Send, Auto Off and Auto On system control buttons. Below the Schedule tab are five schedule function buttons used to create a New schedule, Open a saved schedule,
Get Schedule (from Controller), and delete or rename a schedule.
E – The Zone Buttons are arranged across the bottom of the window. Each color-coded button is
linked to the corresponding colored/numbered zone segments in the Schedule Viewer. Modifications to individual zones are made through the Zone Button pop-up menu.
A
B
C
D
E
Figure 2.1
PCW Control S Installation
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The PCW Control Schedule Viewer
The Schedule Viewer (Figure 2.2) is the primary panel where the scheduled operation of each zone
is established. The Schedule Viewer is arranged in a 7-day calendar format that initially displays
the schedule for the number of zones specified in the New Site dialog box. Each zone has a specific
color and number assignment that corresponds to the Zone Buttons at the bottom of the window,
and to the field output terminals of the Controller. When the default schedule is selected in the
dialog box, each zone will be scheduled to run for 10 minutes, every day, beginning at 6:00 a.m.
Calendar Control Panel
The Schedule Viewer is formatted with the days of the week arranged in columns starting on
Sunday, and Start Times arranged in rows, starting at 12:00 a.m. (Midnight). By default, start time is
displayed at a 30-minute increment resolution. The Zoom In and Zoom Out buttons enable the start
time resolution to be zoomed in to 5-minute increments, or zoomed out to a 1-hour increments.
Weekly
Figure 2.2
Calendar View
By default, the 7-day schedule will coincide with the current
date, verified by calendar dates displayed below the Today
button. The right and left arrow buttons are provided to
shift the schedule view forward and backward through the
calendar in 1-week increments. Selecting the Today button
resets the Schedule Viewer back to the current calendar week.
PCW Control S Installation
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The Time Slot Editor
The zone Start Time and Run Time Duration can be configured directly within the Schedule Viewer,
or by selecting the desired values in the zone Time Slot editor.
To change a zone start time directly in
the Schedule Viewer, place the cursor over the desired zone segment to
highlight, then click and drag the segment to the desired start time (Figure
2.3).
To adjust the run time duration, place
the cursor on the bottom edge of the
segment, then Click and drag to adjust
the run time duration, (1–1400 minutes) (Figure 2.4).
To apply additional start times to a
zone, press the Add button (Figure
2.5). Each zone can have a maximum
of 10 start times. Remove a highlighted
start time by selecting the Delete button.
Note: By default, zone operation is limited
to one zone operating at any given
time. An Overlap Limit preference on
the Settings panel enables up to two
additional watering zones to operate
simultaneously.
See Site Settings Panel, p. 11, for
complete information.
Figure 2.3
Figure 2.4
Figure 2.5
Operating Day Schedule
The Operating Day schedule (Figure 2.6) determines which days a zone will be active. When the
default schedule is selected, all zones are scheduled to operate every day of the week, (based on a
1-day Interval schedule). Each zone operates independently and can be assigned to any one of the
following scheduling options:
•IntervalSchedule–Askip-dayfrequency,rangingfrom1–31;
where 1 equals every day, 2 equals every-other-day, etc., up
to one day every 31 days.
•Even- or Odd-Date Schedule – Schedules all even or odd cal-
endar dates as active watering days.
•Weekday Schedule – Schedules operation by days of the
week.
Note: Each zone can have only one operating day schedule. All
start times assigned to a zone are assigned to the same
operating day schedule.
PCW Control S Installation
Figure 2.6
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The Interval Schedule
To set an Interval schedule, highlight the zone by clicking on a segment bar, or on the corresponding Zone Button. Select the Interval option in the Time Slot editor. Use the up/down arrow scroll
box to select the preferred frequency (1–31) (Figure 2.7). Note the arrangement of the zone segment bars in the Schedule Viewer as the Interval frequency is changed.
Figure 2.7
To select an alternate Interval start day, click on the blue
down-arrow box to display the drop-down calendar. The
current Interval start date will be highlighted in dark blue.
Click on the preferred start date.
The new start date will be highlighted in dark blue and the
original start date will be highlighted in light blue (after the
calendar window is closed and reopened). Note the placement of the zone segment bars as the Interval start date is
changed. As shown in the screenshot (Figure 2.8) the start
date of the 2-day Interval has been changed from Tuesday
to Wednesday (Figure 2.9).
Figure 2.8
PCW Control S Installation
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Figure 2.9
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