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I would unhook the sensor wires from the controller. If the system comes on then it is a controller issue. If it does not then it is a sensor issue. This narrows it down at least. It has been about five years but we used to put the rain check on the common wire instead of a specific location on the controller.
Have you tried plugging your "bad" transformer into another outlet? Have you checked the voltage on the "bad" transformer? Maybe you have established that your transformer is really bad but by your description you have not convinced me. I can think of no way that your outlet would cause transformers to blow and still read 120 V. So I would plug the transformer in and check volts. Sounds to me that the wires are likely loose somewhere. I would check that first.
Sounds like you likely have something in the line. I would take the sprinkler off and see what what the flow is coming off of the riser/swing ell. If this is minimal remove this tot he zone line and see what the flow is there. You will want to dig a hole big enough to accommodate this. One of the first things I learned on the job was that a big hole is a happy hole. The connection of the sprinkler to the zone line is usually where the clogs will be.
If you had a leak I would expect both sprinklers to operate poorly unless it was on the riser or swing ell. To check for leaks look for water bubbling up. Sounds like more of a clog or restriction in the line. You said you checked for clogs. How did you do this? I would dig the new head up unscrew it and see what kingd of flow you have. If it is minimal start by checking where the head is screwed into the zone line. Other possibility could be a root restricting the zone line. If the head in ques...
I can not remember a time diaphragm problems led to valves not coming on. Not saying it can't happen but I never saw it. Diaphragm issues in my experience always led to valves sticking on. The majority of the work I did was on rainbird EV and DV valves though. It sounds from your explanation that the tops and bottoms are the only difference between zones 1 and 2 now. I can recall only one time when the valve bottom was bad and hundreds when changing the top took care of the problem. So you shoul...
With a well there are two things that could go wrong. Either a pump problem or water supply problem. I would watch the pressure gauge/listen to the pump while the spinklers run. We would check for water on a well by hooking a hand pump up to it and seeing how well it pumped. It is likely that you don't have this not sure what a good alternative is. You could check to see how much water you have by taking the check valve off and dropping a string down the well. The well point is likely 3-4 ft( ho...
Step 1 confirm that you have water going to your system. Step 2 once water is established check for voltage going to the valves at the controller. Step 3 check the voltage at the valves. Follow up which step is the problem and I can work on a more in depth explanation.
First day on the job hit a gas line going to the pool heater. The worst part is that it was marked by the homeowner. I was too new to realize that three inches to one side of the flag does not mean your safe. Luckily never hit another gas line. Phone and cable are another story though.
The majority of the systems I have installed have a separate meter for the sprinklers. Sometimes this are in a separate pit sometimes the same one. Lacking that there should be a valve between the meter and the backflow as you have guessed. Should be in a valve box. This will be a manual ball valve or gate valve. I would start looking in the meter pit. Then look around it for a box. Then check close to the house were your main water line goes in. I would be surprised if they tapped on in a diffe...
We used to always hook in on the side on Maxi Paws along driveways and roads. They were more resistant to breaking swing els when driven over by cars. If you can replace the guts go that route. I am assuming that your connection is on a green or black riser pipe. I would recommend switching to a swing pipe connection. http://rainbird.com/documents/turf/SwingPipeInstallationTips.pdf It recommends not using a torch to make connections but it makes it a lot easier to put the barbs in the pipe and w...
If zones 1 and 6 are some connected then they should both shut off when you switch to zone 2. To take the electrical part out of the picture unhook the wires to the solenoids to valve 6 if it still runs with zone 1 then its not electrical and should be cleaned as suggested earlier or replaced again. Before doing both confirm that it is actually the correct valve for zone 6. I would open the bleed screws individually on the valves to determine which ones went with which zones. This will work if y...
Roots are the sprinkler mans worst enemy. With downspout drains a close second on new installs.
O ohms is a short and a problem. As far as why your voltage drops to zero I don't have a good answer for that unless you are blowing a fuse which you would have noticed. Your controller could have a feature that kills the voltage to the zone when you have a short. Most I used to work on blew fuses
If you have automatic drains on your system one of these could also be leaking. Take approach servicetechMA described but before you shut the meter off watch the dial to get an idea of how big the leak is.
The small differences in voltages are not a big concern to me. Is your pump on a pressure switch or a relay? If its a pressure switch it could be reaching pressure and shutting off until it hits the kick back on pressure causing flow to drop off. How big is your yard that you have 45 valves?
Not sure what you mean by the turn off switch box on the side of your house. If you could post a picture than that might clear up that part. If you are only blowing a fuse on Zone 1 then the two options are a short in your solenoid or a short in the wire somewhere. Sounds that it is likely somewhere in the wire. Unwire the solenoid and check the resitance across it. Also check the resistance across the wires going to the valve. If you don't have a multimeter then you can un wire the solenoid to ...
Sometimes the grass will bulge up instead of water coming out.
