What I check when a two-zone water timer misbehaves

My garden tap runs a RainPoint HTV245FRF with its HWG023WBRF gateway, splitting one supply into two hose lines. Each line keeps its own schedule. When a bed looks dry or a line won't start, though, I want a fixed order of checks rather than poking at the app. This note covers that order, the limits I hold it to, and how I look after it.

When a zone doesn't water

I work from the tap outwards, because the simple causes sit there.

1. Is the tap itself open? An isolated supply looks exactly like a timer fault.
2. Are the four AA cells alkaline, and are they still fresh? The controller has no other power source.
3. Does the line start from the buttons on the timer body? If it does, the valve is fine and I turn to the app side.
4. Is the gateway on a 2.4 GHz network? The RainPoint Home app reaches the timer through it, and a different band won't do.
5. Is the phone new enough? It needs iOS 11.0 or Android 6.0 at minimum.

Only after all five do I start doubting the schedule itself.

When the flow looks weak or uneven

Each outlet is a 3/4" hose connection, and they are timed independently, so one weak line doesn't mean the other is affected. The figures I compare against are a working pressure of 0.5 to 8 bar and a flow of 5 to 35 L/min. If the tap gives less than that, two zones will share a thin supply and the far end of a drip line suffers first. In that case I go back to the garden map and rethink which beds share a line, rather than adding run time.

Drips at the joint get the same treatment as a new fit. I shut the tap off first, then redo the connectors and look again with the water on.

The limits I keep to

• Pressure stays inside 0.5 to 8 bar. Outside it, I don't connect the timer.
• The working range is 3 to 50 °C. On a frosty morning it is outside that, so I water by hand.
• The body is rated IP65. I take that as protection against weather, not as permission to leave it sitting in a puddle.
• A hosepipe ban overrides the schedule. The water company's current notice is what I follow.
• Plants that would be harmed by a missed cycle still get looked at by me, whatever the app says.

Care and storage checklist

• Backflow protection stays fitted on the tap side.
• Spare AA alkaline cells are kept with the gateway, since none come in the box.
• The quick guide and manual live together with the Type-C USB cable.
• Before a cold spell, I note the 3 °C floor and plan to water manually until it passes.
• If the timer ever moves to another tap, I first confirm that tap is 3/4" or 1" to suit the BSP inlet.

Fit, pressure and flow figures for this timer are listed on rainpoirrig.co.uk.