Light Code Display

What It Means

What To Do

First light section blinking white

Booting Up - When the controller is booting up after restarting or power cycling, the first light section will blink white.

Status indicator (no action required)

First light section solid white, with second light section blinking yellow (first installation)

Awaiting Wi-Fi - When the controller is ready to connect to Wi-Fi, the first light section will be solid white with the second light section blinking yellow/amber.

Follow the instructions at: Rachio 3 Light Section 2 Flashing 

First light section solid white, with second light section blinking yellow (after power cycle)

Reconnecting to Wi-Fi - If you're reconnecting to Wi-Fi, when the controller has restarted and is reconnecting with the pre-entered Wi-Fi credentials, the first light section will be solid white and the second light section will be blinking yellow/amber.

Status indicator (no action required), if this takes too long: Rachio 3 Light Section 2 Flashing  

First light section blinks 9 times white, and 1 red

Boot Error One - If the first light section is blinking 9 times white and 1 red, this indicates a boot failure.

The controller may have experienced a memory error. Refer to the following article for next steps: Light 1 Troubleshooting.

The first light section is solid red

Boot Error Two - If the first light section is a solid red bar, contact Rachio Support.

Contact Rachio Support through: support@rachio.com

Second light section blinking 9 times white and 1 red

Awaiting Wi-Fi Error - The second light section will blink 9 times white and then 1 red to indicate an error connecting to the Wi-Fi network

A red light flash in the second section is likely to be an error when typing in the password/wifi name. Follow the instructions at: Rachio 3 Light Section 2 Flashing

First and second light sections are solid white light, with the third light section blinking white

Connecting Rachio to Server - The first and second light sections will be solid white, and the third light section will be blinking white

Status indicator (no action required) 

Third light section blinks 9 times white, and 1 red light   

Connecting to Server Error - The third light section will blink 9 times white and 1 red to indicate an error connecting to the Rachio server 

Troubleshoot Wi-Fi connection. This error code usually indicates a router setting preventing the controller from communicating outside of your Wi-Fi network. You can get more information through the following link: Light Section 3 Troubleshooting

The first 3 light sections are solid white, with the fourth section blinking white

Controller Registering - The first, second, and third light sections will be solid white, and the fourth light section will be blinking white until a full connection has been established.

Contact the Rachio Support Team through support@rachio.com so they can manually add the controller to the account.

Light Code Display

What It Means

What To Do

The whole light bar flashes blue once

Success - Any time the Rachio 3 accepts a command successfully, the entire light bar will flash blue

Status indicator (no action required)

Light bar "breathing", alternating between full and diminished blue light

Idle - Controller is in idle state

Status indicator (no action required)

Light bar shrinks from full bar of white light toward the middle

Shutting Down - When the controller is shutting down, the light bar will start out fully illuminated with a white light. The light will then shrink down to the middle of the bar. It will continue to provide this code until the controller reboots.

Status indicator (no action required)

Light bar fills from left to right with white light, then the whole bar flashes blue (while holding the Wi-Fi button)

Wi-Fi Update - When holding down the Wi-Fi button, the entire bar will fill up from left to right with a white light. It will then flash blue to indicate that the controller is now moving to Wi-Fi update mode, then run the shutdown sequence light code

Status indicator (no action required) 

You can view more about this here: Rachio 3 Light Section 2 Flashing

Light bar entirely fills up from left to right with yellow light, then flashes blue

Factory Reset - When holding down the stop button, the light bar will fill up from left to right with a yellow light. It will then flash blue, then run the shutdown sequence light code.

Status indicator (no action required) 

How do I factory reset my controller?

Light bar displays one blue light in the middle, then splits

Direct Access - When the controller has been placed in direct access mode, the light bar will have one blue light in the middle that then splits into two lights that move away from each other toward the ends of the light bar.

Direct Access information.

Status indicator (no action required)

Dim blue

Hibernation Enabled - When hibernation (formerly Standby) mode is enabled from the app, the light bar will be a solid dim blue color until the controller is awakened.

Hibernation mode information.

Status indicator (no action required)

Light bar slowly filling up with light, with the end of the light bar blinking 

Uploading Firmware - When the device is receiving a firmware upload, the light bar will slowly fill up with a white light with the end blinking. This is so the light bar works like a progress indicator for the download.

Status indicator (no action required)

Green light with blinking tip  

Installing Firmware - When the controller is installing firmware, there will be a green progress light with a yellow blinking tip.

Status indicator (no action required)

Light Code Display

What It Means

What To Do 

Small blue light moving across light bar 

Zone Selection - When selecting a zone to water from the controller, pressing the forward/back buttons will cause a small blue light to move across the light bar over the zone terminals to indicate which zone is selected.

Status indicator (no action required)

Bright blue light pulsing over a particular zone

Zone Running - When a zone is running (commanded from the app or controller), there will be a bright blue light pulsing over the zone that is running.

Status indicator (no action required)

Blue light bounces from left to right 

Watering Paused - When a run is paused, there will be a blue light that bounces from left to right to left during the entire duration of the pause.

Status indicator (no action required)

"Splashing" pattern of light moving away from the center of the light bar 

Watering Delay Active - When a watering delay has been set, the light bar will replicate a raindrop by lighting a random area of the light bar, and then "splashing" the light away from the center.

Water Delay Information.

Status indicator (no action required) 

Pulsing red light over a particular zone section

Zone Fault - When the controller detects a zone fault, it will pulse a red light over the faulting zone number.

Inspect the zone fault and repair if possible.

Zone fault detection.