Today, I’m going to review and install the Orbit B-hyve smart Wifi sprinkler timer. If you guys still have the old traditional sprinkler timer…now, it is time for an upgrade. For me, I bought this for a couple of reasons, it is Wifi which I will be able to control the sprinklers through the app on my phone and also I got this for their smart watering feature which I’ll tell the app as much details I have about my yard and it will automatically calculate the time how long and how often the sprinklers will water…so let’s check it out.
The model that I bought is a 6 station, all weather which can be installed indoors or outdoors. The sprinklers can be controlled via the app on your phone or on the timer itself.
It has the weather sense feature in which it receives local weather data and adjusts the contoller to deliver the right amount of water. If you don’t want the smart watering option you can always set the timer and the zones manually just like any traditional timer.
So, let’s open it up..
We have here the timer itself which has a pretty decent weight on it.
We have mounting screws, plastic anchors, a screw driver and a set of keys.
A do not return to the store insert.
We have the quick start up guide.
It tells you on how to install and setup the timer.
The timer itself you can lock especially if you install this outside.
When it is opened, you will have access to the timer and can change the settings and scheduling without having to have the app on your smart phone.
It has the big dial selector switch in the middle and program…rain delay ..back and clear buttons on the side.
Now, you can open it up some more to get to the wire connections and has a button battery here…I guess to save the settings when there is a power outage or when the unit gets unplugged.
Inside is also the power adapter and I bet this is why there is some weight on this timer.
We have the connectors here where you are going to hook up the wires from your old sprinkler timer.
You also have a reset button here on the left side.
Now, time for installation.
First off, we need to remove our old timer. But before that, we need to take a picture of the wiring so that it will be easier to hook it back up to our new timer later on.
The funny thing guys is that I forgot to label my zone wires. I should have labeled them by which zone. I took a picture but it didn’t help so I have to do a trial and error as to which wires corresponds to which zone.
Then it is time to take off all the wires and unscrew the old timer from the wall.
Then, screw in the new timer making sure it is level and secure.
After that, we need to get the wires in so that we can hook it up on the B-hyve timer. As you can see I only have 4 zones. There is one wire that is not hooked up and because I forgot to label my zones, then I have to resort to trial and error so as to know which wire is to which zone. I went back to the picture that I took and realized what I did or didn’t do. But I know that the white wire goes to the common “C” wire and the red wires goes to the numbered zone connectors.
There you go the wires are plugged in. I have to replace my rain sensor so I’m not going to screw in the wires yet.
I just need to pull off the plastic tab from the CR2032 button battery then the B-hyve timer is ready to be plugged in to the outlet.
Next step is to upload the B-hyve app from the app store or google play.
We then need to log in or sign up for a new account. After that the timer is ready to be setup…
Click ok then go to your Wifi settings and look for the Orbit network
Then go back to the app so that you can setup and connect the timer to your Wifi network. Click on the Wifi that you want to use. This timer only connects to a 2.4 Ghz Wifi. Type in your password. Then the B-hyve timer will connect to your Wifi.
After connecting the app, it will ask you for your location..this is important for the app to know where you are so that you can make the best of the smart watering features of this timer.
Type in a name for your timer…and if you want you can also take a picture just to identify your property. Click the green check mark to save and the initial setup is done.
Next, you then choose which number of zones you are using. On mine, I only hooked up 1 through 4 and I’ll double check just to make sure. So, I have to click 1-2-3-4.
Then we can do a test on each zone and make sure that we wired the zones correctly and are working properly.
After all zones have been tested, the next step is to decide if you want to manually program the timer or you want to use the smart watering feature in which the timer will do the programming for you based on additional information that you are going to give the timer and also it will access the weather in your area and adjust accordingly. So, I’ll choose “smart watering” I’ll then need to provide more information on each zone so that the timer will be as accurate as possible.
On each zone, you choose what type of soil is in that zone and by clicking the help on the bottom, there will be a definition on each type of soil selection.
Next is plant type…on mine I have warm turf, and on sprinklers, I have spray.
then select how much sunlight the area gets…full sun.
Then the slope…so this zone is in a slope…it goes up from the driveway to the garage at least 10 percent grade…
We have the sprinkler count. I have to verify how many I have later on but for now, I’ll just put in 6 heads.
Then there is the catch cups option which I dont have right now..but this is where you have cups that you lay out in the zone area and measure the amount of water that was sprayed by the sprinkler and this will help the timer get a more accurate data on how efficient the sprinklers and will adjust the time accordingly.
Also on each zone there is this water moisture percentage which you can adjust initially so that the timer will have a baseline on how dry your zoned area is. Also I have to change the soil type I have to clay loam and my sprinkler count to 9 instead of 6.
Also there is an advanced details that you can modify if you really want to be very accurate..so you can edit this if you know what you are doing. For me, I’m not going to change anything. The smart cups though I might do that in the future but will see first how this timer will work using the smart watering feature.
On the smart watering tab you can also set it up if you have watering restrictions in your area. On mine, we are only allowed to water on Mondays and Fridays, so we can enable and modify these settings from here.
So, now based on the details that I set. If you click on the calendar, the next watering schedule will be on Friday. I also set it that watering should start a 4 am and you can see here that the watering will go through the zones 4 times.
It will also show the start times and the duration of each zone. The timer will cycle 4 times so that it will allow time for the water to soak in before spraying again. This will make sure that the water goes to the plants and grass and not to the sewer and will also facilitate deeper root system which hopefully I will have a healthier lawn.
And going back to the home page it will show that smart watering is enabled and will start watering at 4 am on Friday.
One other reason why I upgraded to a WiFi Sprinkler timer is this…I can control and turn on or off the sprinklers by using the app..so when I’m checking and adjusting the sprinkler heads, I don’t have to run back and forth to my garage to turn on and off the timer. I will be able to check, test, adjust and fix the sprinklers easily…