Light 1 Troubleshooting for Rachio 3 Controller

Last Update:Jan 16 2025 3:11pm • Est. Read Time:Est. Read Time: 3 MIN

Recover your controller when stuck at Light 1, and reconnect to wi-fi.

Contents:

Summary


Identifying the issue


Recover the controller


Reconnect to wi-fi



Summary

If your Rachio 3 will not advance past the 1st LED quadrant/section, you will not be able to connect the controller to your router or access point. Follow the troubleshooting steps outlined in this article to resolve the issue.


Note

This issue typically arises when your controller loses its encrypted wifi radio configuration that allows it to connect to your router. A large surge in power, often associated with lighting, can cause the controller to lose power unexpectedly and lose its wifi radio configuration if it was attempting to maintain its wifi connection. This article will walk you through troubleshooting steps to resolve the issue, and provide a means to contact the Rachio Support team if necessary.


Identifying the issue

The image below depicts the LED flashing sequence that you will see if your controller is experiencing a Light 1 boot error. This is indicated by 9 white flashes followed by 1 red flash, all of which are displayed on the first quadrant/section of the controller’s LED bar.


If your controller is exhibiting this behavior, please proceed to the next section, “Recover the controller” for next steps. 


Note

If the first quadrant of your controller’s LED bar is solid red (not flashing), please contact our support team as the following troubleshooting steps will not apply to this case.


Recover the controller

To recover the controller from its Light 1 state, follow the troubleshooting steps below:

If the controller is still connected to your Rachio account, simply open the Rachio app, find your offline controller, and click the TROUBLESHOOT WI-FI button to open the in-app guide. The in-app guide will walk you through the recovery and wi-fi reconnection processes, and provide an option to contact support in the event you are unsuccessful.



The steps in the in-app guide are also depicted in the image below. If you’ve already removed the controller from your account, you can follow the steps below:

  1. Press and hold the play button.
  2. With 15 seconds the light bar will progress.
  3. Once green flashing begins, release the button (less than 1 minute).
  4. Wait for flashes to stop and for the controller to reset.



Once the green flashing stops, the controller will reboot, and the LED bar should progress to the second light flashing yellow. At this point, the controller can be reconnected to your account via wi-fi. Open the Rachio app, and tap the Add Device button “+” on the homepage, shown in the image below.



Reconnect to wi-fi (if not using the in-app guide)

If your controller is still connected to your account, but you’ve elected not to use the in-app guide to complete the recovery process, read on: 

After the recovery process above is complete and you’ve seen the green flashes, the controller will reboot and the LED bar should progress to the second light flashing yellow. The controller will need to be reconnected to wi-fi. If your controller is still connected to your account, you can simply update the wi-fi information. See step #1 in our help center article located here.


Do you still need help?


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