Rain Clox was the trade name given to a series of electromechanical irrigation controllers produced by the
Rain Bird
Rain Bird Corporation is an international privately held manufacturer and provider of irrigation products and services for landscapes, golf courses, sports fields, and agriculture which are designed to minimize water consumption. The firm is hea ...
Corporation from 1962 to the late 2000s (decade), and were largely responsible for giving rise to the widespread use of automatic irrigation. The first model was the ME11AB, capable of running 11 stations on two schedules. A scaled-down residential model, the RC-8, was formally introduced in 1968 and was marketed as the "first appliance for the garden".
[ The ''Los Angeles Times'' reported in 1967 that architects incorporated the RC-8 into a suburban housing development in ]Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...
, planning on adding the cost of the system to the mortgage. The controllers were used in controlled experiments of swine waste lagoon systems.[ A considerable online aftermarket for the controllers has appeared following their discontinuation.
]
Model Series
RC
Dual-schedule controllers with individual switches for each station to run on either A or B program. Rain Bird later resurrected this design as the "Turfmaster".
*RC-3 ''(Based on an Intermatic
Intermatic Incorporated is an American manufacturer of time switches headquartered in Spring Grove, Illinois. Intermatic was founded in 1891 in Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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design)''
*RC-8
*RC-12
*RC-18
*RC-23
RC-A
These featured a single 14-day watering schedule and 23 possible on-the-hour start times. The RC-A series controllers were later replaced by the RC-B (indoor) and RC-C (outdoor) series following improvements in mechanical design.
*RC-4A - 4 stations, 1–60 minutes.
*RC-7A - 7 stations, 1–60 minutes.
*RC-1230A - 12 stations, 1–30 minutes in 1-minute increments
*RC-1260A - 12 stations, 2–60 minutes in 2-minute increments
RC-AB
These consisted of two RC-A series controllers in one unit which operated in sequence, with the capability of switching off the lower controller on a given day. Zones requiring less watering would thus be assigned to the lower unit. The 12th station on the upper unit was replaced with a tripper mechanism to start the lower unit.
*RC-1830AB - 11 stations, 1–30 minutes in 1-minute increments; and 7 stations, 1–60 minutes in 1-minute increments.
*RC-1860AB - 11 stations, 2–60 minutes in 2-minute increments; and 7 stations, 1–60 minutes in 1-minute increments.
*RC-2330AB - 11 stations, 1–30 minutes in 1-minute increments; and 12 stations, 1–30 minutes in 1-minute increments.
*RC-2360AB - 11 stations, 2–60 minutes in 2-minute increments; and 12 stations, 2–60 minutes in 2-minute increments.
MC
Master control units for golf courses, consisting of a single RC-A unit which operated three separately timed sets of stations.
*MC-3S - Three sets of 12 stations (36 total), 1-10 minutes.
References
{{Reflist, refs=
[ "Rain Bird Virtual Museum, Decades of Innovation, 1960s"]
(Flash). Rain Bird Corporation.
(Flash). Rain Bird Corporation.