Baseline Systems BaseStation 3200 V12 - Manual (Page 17)

BaseStation 3200 Advanced Irrigation Controller Manual
When the irrigation schedule puts down more water than the soil can take up, the excess water will
typically run off to the lowest point, leaving some areas of the landscape, or even the entire
irrigated landscape, under watered. Standing water also evaporates at a fairly high rate, especially
in the heat of the summer months, further reducing irrigation efficiency.
Even on a perfectly designed system, it is important to match the water application rate to the
infiltration rate of your soil. You can achieve this balance by breaking a total watering time for any
zone into multiple “cycles” (timed water applications) and “soaks” (timed wait periods, which will
allow the water applied in the last cycle to infiltrate into the soil before more water is applied).
The BaseStation 3200 has built-in support for soak cycling and has intelligent watering algorithms
that apply cycles in the optimal order to maximize water penetration and minimize evaporation
loss.
Note: Soak Cycling is required on all soil moisture based zones or scheduling groups in order to
ensure that the applied irrigation water is reaching the moisture sensor.
As a rule-of-thumb, Baseline recommends that you break the total water time for any zone into at
least 3 cycles, and configure the soak time between cycles to be at least twice the length of the
cycle time.
Note: One easy way to determine good cycle times is to turn a zone on and watch for first signs of
standing water or runoff. Set the cycle time to be no more than this amount of time.
Properly setting soak and cycle times will dramatically improve water penetration and watering
efficiency.
Using Soak Cycles with Soil Moisture Sensors
When you are using a soil moisture sensor based watering strategy or you are using a soil moisture
sensor to start or stop programs, you need to understand how the soak cycle settings will affect
your system.
• If you set a zone or program to start when the soil moisture sensor reading is less than the
limit, you should set up at least 3 soak cycles with a soak time that is at least twice as long as
the cycle time, and enable Intelligent Soak Cycles.
• If you set a zone or program to stop when the soil moisture sensor reading is greater than the
limit, you should set up at least 3 soak cycles, but DO NOT enable Intelligent Soak Cycles
because this setting could cause the program to stop before all zones have finished watering.
• If you want to maintain moisture within a narrow range, DO NOT use soak cycles.
• If you want to maintain moisture within a broader range, you should set up at least 3 soak
cycles, but DO NOT enable Intelligent Soak Cycles.
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