SPRINKLER TALK FORUM - You Got Questions, We've Got Answers

When you turn the main water off then back on does one valve come on or do all of them or none. Knowing which will tell you if the problem is a bad valve, one which the flow control may be open to far or a wireing problem.

Find your valves, and save some hand-wringing. You may have an example of the Domino Theory as it applies to sprinklers. Zone valves need sufficient upstream pressure to close reliably, and one stuck-open valve may lower supply pressure enough that all the zone valves will fail to close.

Quoted from "mrfixit"

There shouldn't be a mud hole. There's something wrong with the pipe or there's something wrong with the valve. It's not a wiring problem.

I'm not sure what valve you mean. The master valve or a zone control valve.
Each zone has a valve, but they are not in a central box. Where this boxes are at...I have no idea.
I may need to rent a tool to find them that I've seen on a website. But, what I don't understand is why ALL zones try to come on at the same time if there's not a short across all the control wires and they are all making a short circuit through wet ground. (The mudhole is because we got about 2" of rain after 5 months of drought.)

I appreciate all the guidance received.

There shouldn't be a mud hole. There's something wrong with the pipe or there's something wrong with the valve. It's not a wiring problem.

Thanks for your reply.

I was running through the system, repaired that head (hard digging near where the bundle of control wires run alongside the house perhaps. After the repair is when all zones came on.

Do you think I have cut all main control wires and not the common wire?
If I cut the black ones (white is used for common), would this explain why all 8 zones try to open at once?
Would this explain why pressure is low as the water pressure for 8 heads is being divided among 64 heads?

I can post pics if needed, mostly just a pic of a mud hole.

Oddly enough, it's pouring rain at the moment. First hard rain in at least 2 months!

Did you turn the water physically on and then all the heads had water comming out or were you running through your system- repaired that head and then then all zones came on>?

Recently I started my 8 zone system after long non-use. All zones ran, but a head was popped off, heads mis-aligned, poor pattern, etc. Last year when installing dog fence, I cut a pipe feeding a head. Yesterday I replaced that head, but then...all zones try to run at same time and now have very low pressure. When I replaced the broken pipe I may have cut all the wires running into the box. I kind of think this means the common wire is shorted out and the connection is being made on all zones in wet mud.

Also, there is no central box for all of the valves. How could I locate each valve? I have a pretty big yard in my view.