Rain Bird ISM Instruction Manual - What Is A Program?

ISM Installation, Programming & Operation Guide

Page 6

What Is a Program?

Programming is the process of telling the

timer exactly when and how long you want to

water. The timer opens and closes the

remote control valves for each station

according to the program you set.

The ISM offers three independent programs;

A, B and C. Each program controls from one

to nine stations, and lets you customize your

watering schedules to meet the needs of

different types of plants, soil conditions,

slopes, shady or sunny areas, etc.

You will need to understand the following

terms to successfully program your ISM

sprinkler timer.

• Watering day cycle - The period of days in

which the timer repeats the program you

set. For example, a 5-day cycle is a

weekly schedule that repeats once every

five days. A 2-day cycle repeats every

other day.

• Days to water - The specific days within

the watering day cycle when watering

takes place. In a 7-day cycle, you may

select multiple watering days within the

cycle. For example, you might water on

day 1 (Monday), day 3 (Wednesday), and

day 5 (Friday). In a 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6-day

cycle, day 1 is always the only watering

day. A 2-day cycle waters on day 1, skips

a day, and then waters again on day 1 as

the cycle repeats. A 3-day cycle waters on

day 1, skips 2 days, and then repeats.

• Watering Start time - This is the time the

first station in a program begins watering.

All other programmed stations then follow

in sequence. Each program may have up

to four start times. For example, a pro-

gram could begin watering at 6:00 a.m.,

10:00 a.m., 12:00 noon, and 6:00 p.m.

NOTE: The term “watering start time”

refers to the time the program

begins - not duration of time that

each station will run.

• Duration - The number of minutes that

each station runs.