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

If you are running one 7-strand run from controller to valve box 1 to valve box 2 ... to valve box N, then I would do the following...

#1. Run the 7-strand wire from controller to valve box 1. Cut the entire cable (making sure you've left a little extra for making splices).

#2. Run a piece of 7-strand wire from valve box 1 to valve box 2. Cut the entire cable (making sure you've left a little extra in both valve boxes for making splices).

#3. Repeat Step #2 until you've got wire to each valve box.

#4. Splice all white wires together (including the "common" wire for all valves) in all the valve boxes.

#5. Pick a color for each valve. In each valve box, splice those two matching pieces together from the controller to the valve. Don't make any more splices with that color beyond the selected valve.

This way, if a wire ever goes bad from one valve box to another, you can just change the splices as needed and your not wasting waterproof caps on unused wires and you don't have loose wires with power going to them.

Basically, you want to cut the wire as you need it at the valve box.

Say for example, you have a five zone system, and you have a 6 strand cable. - Yellow, Blue, Green, Red, Purple, White

All of your valves are in seperate boxes.

At valve box #1, you are going to connect the yellow wire, so you cut that wire out, and the white wire out (common) and connect them to the valve, leaving the rest of the wires intact for the remainder of the valves. Now, the yellow wire after valve one is dead and no longer needs to be worried about.

At valve box #2, you are going to cut out and connect the Blue wire, and the white wire which will be continuously running to all valves again for the common.

You will repeat this until all wires are used up. Any extra wires, so long as they are not connected to the controller, can just be left unstripped.


Just like to add one more thing - Cutting the entire cable and running it to each box is a bad idea. Not only are you doubling the amount of splices, they are also unnecessary splices. More likely for something to fail, and more resistance in the wiring.

One reason to go with the cut-em-all approach is that (more in olden times) the outer insulation of irrigation multi-conductor-cable could be very difficult to cut without also cutting into the inner conductors. Besides, you do make reliable splices. <b><i>Don't you?</i></b>

A sharp knife or even a good set of PVC pipe cutters will open the insulation jacket around the wiring no problem, if done carefully...you don't damage the wires in the jacket. Of course, that is just my opinion.

Some of the early irrigation cables were much tougher to work with than today's stuff. I remember a specific slitting tool offered for cutting the outer insulation. For myself, there wasn't a choice in the matter, because I always used successively smaller cables as I progressed from box to box.

Makes perfect sense, old timer []