My Irrigation Controller is Reading “Error”…Help!
Have you ever walked out to your digital irrigation controller (lawn sprinkler timer) and found the display reading “error”? If you haven’t yet, you are bound to sooner or later if you have a digital timer that has this function.
The “error” message will usually be followed by a number representing what zone or circuit the error is occurring on. The “error” message means one of just a few things. The first and most likely cause of this is that you have a bad solenoid on the electric valve that the clock is displaying the message for.
The solution for a bad solenoid is to simply replace it. You can go back and read my artile from August 06, 2004. This will explain to you how to replace the solenoid.
The second most likely cause of the error message is a loose wire or bad connection on the common wire. The majority of wiring problems can be traced back to a valve box where a bad splice is, or a corroded connection that is due to the lack of a water-proof splice kit.
A corroded connection or loose wire will also activate the “error” message in your digital irrigation controller. This can be fixed by re-splicing the wires and redoing the connection. Make sure to put a water-proof protector over the connection. These are just little tubes filled with a gooey, petroleum jelly type substance that prevents water from corroding the connection.
Another possible cause of this problem could be the actual irrigation controller itself, although this is not as likely as the first two cause I mentioned. To fix this problem you may need to purchase a new clock, but before you do that you should reset the controller.
To reset the irrigation controller you do this: Cut off the breaker or power to the controller, disconnect the 9 volt battery that keeps the program, and lastly disconnect the ribbon that connects the digital face to the control panel inside the timer.
Let the timer sit for about 10 minutes, then put the battery back in, connect the ribbon back up, and turn the power back on. Reset your timers program. Then, to rule out if the problems is caused by clock, you should disconnect all the valve wires from the controller and run the controller through a test cycle.
If the clock is fine, then reconnect all of your wires and test with it wired up. If your clock still reads the error message after resetting it and without any wires connected to it, then your clock is the problem. If after resetting the clock, reconnecting the valve wires to it, and running through a test cycle you still experience the same problem, then your clock is fine.
You would then go check the wire connections in the valve box or boxes that the error message is reading for. If your connections are fine, then replace the solenoid and your problem should be solved!
Scott Young
http://www.autolawnsprinklers.com
