My System Stopped Working, Please Help.

I get emails everyday from people looking to repair their sprinkler systems. I love trying to help people learn and figure out how to fix their irrigation themselves. I wanted to share one with you today and my reply to it.

"Hi Scott,

My system stopped working altogether. My grass is dead and I checked the timers for the correct time,watering schedules for the different zones, etc..but none of the sprinklers are coming on! The timer appears to not connected to the junction box, but rather the wires are in a pvc pipe and the timers have batteries in them - the batteries are new and the digital display(s) are visibly working.I appear to have a have a pressurized system. I checked each head to ensure they were not clogged and also pulled each of them up and found several heads where it appears there is no water in the line(s)when I pulled on the extension(s)

Do the solenoids go bad - and if they do, If one goes bad does it stop the rest from working? I am an idiot when it comes to troubleshooting systems like this that I don't understand. I need help, but on a very limited budget!

Any suggestions?

Any help will be greatly appreciated - Maybe you could suggest troubleshooting steps ranging from the easiest to the most difficult.

Thanks much,
Steve
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Hello Steve,

The batteries in the digital timers do not operate the system, they only are a backup to keep the time and program. If you see a digital display, then you do have power getting to your timer.

If you do indeed have a pressurized system, first make sure that your there are not main shut-off valves off such as any ball-valves or backflow preventor turned off.

Next, locate any of the electric valves in the ground and try to activate them manually by turning the solenoid (top handle with two wires coming from the top) counter-clockwise about a quarter to half turn. You should hear water starting to move and then your sprinklers on that zone should come on. Turn the solenoid off after that to turn the sprinklers on that zone off.

If you did get water moving, then you need to make sure that your timer is sending approximately 24 volts to each zone.

Always start at your source(s) and work your way back. This goes for power & water. In this case your power source is the timer. Use a multi-meter and verify that the clock is sending proper voltage to each zone. Make sure your mult-meter is one the correct setting and place one lead onto the "com" or "common" terminal and place the other lead onto the "zone 1" or "station 1". Activate zone 1 on the timer and if you're reading anywhere from 22 to 30 volts AC then your timer is sending proper voltage on that zone.

Repeat this process for each individual zone. If the timer is not sending any voltage or too little on any zone, then there is a problem with your timer. If each terminal on the timer is good, and you can manually activate your zones, then you have a wiring problem. The wiring problem could be a cut wire somewhere, or just a loose common at one of the valves that is first in the wiring sequence.

To figure this out, locate the first valve in the wire path and disconnect the solenoid wires from the hot and common wire. Send 24 volts from your timer to that zone and test with the multi-meter. If you are getting proper voltage at those wires, then that zone should be working. If it isn't, then your probably have a bad solenoid at that valve. Observe closely for loose, nicked, or cut wires.

There is a chance that the wire is good and you have several bad solenoids, but that isn't likely unless you had something such as a lightning strike, in which case the wires are often affected too. Please write me back and let me know what you've found.

Thanks,

Scott Young

http://www.autolawnsprinklers.com