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

a 2-year-old system might still be covered by a guarantee

OK, so check the zones separately. The rep believes I may need a new controller, but the system is only 2 yrs old.

You can have an acceptable resistance reading from a solenoid that will fail as an overload, once voltage is applied. Heat brings on the overload, and all solenoids heat up a bit when they operate.

I am reading the same MVP Fault. I have tested resistance, and all zones are reading within their limits. Is this an issue with the unit?

You should be doing resistance testing at the controller, One test lead on the system common, the other on the zone wires.

well did some digging yesterday and that wire I found in the yard does not appear to be going to my system. I dug up a good portion of the yard and traced the wires, looks like they go back to the controller. Back to square one!

*****Update*****

I did some more investigating this weekend and this is what I found:

I looked behind the control panel and got the color of all the wires. I systematically went to each of those valves (the round holes covered with the green plastic lids) and looked for any broken wires or visible issues. The main wires go from my garage through the wall and out of the side of the house and into the ground. I read where they "usually" don't run them under the driveway so I started on the side and into the back yard.

In the back yard I found a cable with a bundle of wires in it that had been cut and is just laying in the back yard. All the colors match so I'm pretty sure these are the wires coming from the controller. When I pulled on it a bit..it's partially buried on one end but it appears that it's leading to a set of valves in the back yard. I can see where the valves are wired together but I'm thinking the main wire is cut. If I pull on the wires connected to the valves, I can tell they are connected together. There is a wire in the center hole that's going under ground and I can't tell if it's connected or not.

The plan now is to dig from the valves back and try to find the other end of that cut cable. I was planning on splicing the cable back together and then going from there. I'm not sure how the cable was cut but I should be able to splice it together if I can find the other part.

Am I on the right track? Is there a reading that I can take from the cut wires to confirm that it's leading back to the controller? I know I need to be careful digging so that I don't cut through anything else.

You aren't checking voltages. That would be too easy. You are checking resistances. If you had the capability, you would be checking current, also, because it is the current that trips the 'electric circuit breaker' in the controller.

I have a volt meter so no problem there. Two questions, 1. Am I checking the voltage at the control panel or at the valve itself. I looked at what i thought was the master valve pump and there were no wires or anything that I could see. Do I need to remove something to get to the wires?

You may have a control relay that draws too much power, and the controller sees it as a short. Use your multimeter to check out resistances.