Step-by-Step Guide

Understanding the Program Priority Preempted Message

When you receive a Program Priority Preempted message, it indicates that a scheduled irrigation program has been paused because another program with a higher priority setting needed to run. The message will display details including the program name, the date and time it was scheduled to run, the priority level that was assigned, and confirmation that the program has been paused.

For example, the message might read: "Program priority preempted program one January 1st 2021 at 8:30 AM priority medium program paused. A higher priority program has preempted the program program 1."

How Schedule Priority Works in BaseManager

In BaseManager, you can view and configure schedule priority settings on the Schedules tab. Each program can be assigned a priority number that determines its importance relative to other programs.

Programs with lower priority numbers run before programs with higher priority numbers. For example, a program set to schedule priority 3 will preempt (run before) a program set to schedule priority 5.

What Happens When a Program Is Preempted

When a lower priority program is preempted by a higher priority program, the following occurs:

The lower priority program will not run as originally scheduled. Instead, it will be put into a pause condition. The paused program will resume only after the higher priority program is complete. This preemption will have an impact on your water window or overall watering time, as the paused program's runtime gets shifted.

Causes of Program Priority Preempt

Program priority preempt messages are directly related to the schedule priority settings assigned to your programs. When you have multiple programs with different priority numbers, the system will always allow the higher priority (lower number) program to run first, pausing any conflicting lower priority programs.

Troubleshooting Program Priority Preempt

Before making any changes, start by asking yourself: was the priority intended?

If the preempt was intentional: If you intended to pause the lower priority program to allow the higher priority program to run, no action is needed. The system is working as configured.

If you want to avoid program preempts: Mark all your programs at the same priority level. It doesn't matter whether you set all programs to priority 2, all priority 5, or all priority 8. When programs are ranked at the same priority, they will stack and run in the expected manner without preempting each other.

When to Use Different Program Priorities

Only make changes to program priority for a specific or intended purpose. Different program priorities can be helpful in certain situations, such as during drought conditions or for water rationing, where you need to ensure that certain critical areas receive water before others.

Video Walkthrough

Video originally published May 2021.

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