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

Hello everyone,

I just moved into a new place with an installed lawn irrigation/sprinkler system on a Hunter controller. I don't have any experience with these systems.

A couple days ago, I looked at the controller instructions inside the panel and tried to get a program going. I have 8 zones and paged through the first program and ensured each zone had a run time, which it did. So I set it to run, but none of my sprinklers were running. After some online search, I found that the valves at my backflow device may be closed. I just quit that day, and the next morning I went outside to the front of my house and discovered that one of two backflow isolation valves was closed. So, I opened it and then went to the controller and ran the program again. I went back outside and found one sprinker running, which is located about a foot from a city sewer. I thought I was making progress, so went back to the controller to try and cycle through the other sprinkler zones. No other sprinklers ever activated, and only the one by the sewer kept running. I set the controller to "Off" and it kept running. I shut BOTH backflow valves, and it still sprayed for at least 20 more minutes until it finally stopped!

So this morning, without doing any thing to my controller, I found the sprinkler running again! My controller is on "Off" and both isolation valves were closed. But, when I look at my home water meter, I have NO movement while the sprinkler is running. Is this someone else's sprinkler? Did it just coincidentally turn on while I was trying to troubleshoot my own system? Is it for the common easement (which isn't really "common" as it is inside my property line)? I know this may be a long shot, but I'm just wondering if anyone has experienced this before or has any advice. I appreciate the help!