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wiring
A buddy gave me a new control box for my house I dont know anything about these at all except they control different zones at different times. The controller is called a rain dial and is an indoor unit, it looks pretty nice to me, but I dont know for sure.
I currently have a manual system now that has 3 seperate valves, I traced all lines and replaced all the heads I could find from previous owner. Everything works great except but i would like to have more zones but I need A bigger pump for that and cant afford it now so I have to deal with a measly 1/2 hp pump. Some water is better than none at all ya know what i mean.
My question is this how do i wire this thing up, how much are the valves and how in the world do you program it. I can probably figure out how to program it. But have no clu about wiring it. It is called a rain dial irriltrol Rd-600. I would appreciate any help you can give on this
jwdawgs
Irrigation Controller Wiring 101.
Controllers usually have one connection per zone it can control plus a "common" connection. One wire from all the valves connect to the "common" while the other wire connects to one of the zone connection points. Many controllers also have a "master" connection. If it does, when ever ANY of the zones turns on, the "master" is turned on too.
so you need a pump start relay, some control valves and some wire?
I'd say you need to hire someone
I dont think I need a relay just some valves and some wire // there is a relay on the pump already // I have 2 pumps one pickimg up from the well to the tank and the other pumps from the tank to the house. Irriagation is piped in between the 2 pumps so i could shut it down all together if i needed to.
jwdawgs
If you need a 2nd pump to get water to the house, and the irrigation is tied in before the 2nd pump, why would you NOT need another pump for the irrigation?
And depending upon the situation, I wouldn't always agree with the notion <i> Some water is better than none at all ya know what i mean.</i> As an example, if when you get everything running and the spray heads only have enough pressure to irrigate a 2 foot circle around them leaving large areas unirrigated that you now have to drag out the hose and lawn sprikler and water the bare spots AND what's already been irrigated, then you've really been wasting your time with the irrigation system.
I'm going to agree with Tom here and suggest that you look into hiring a professional. If you don't want to spend the $$$ on a professional, then you need to spend the time required to educate yourself in what needs to be done. A good starting point is www.irrigationtutorials.com. It's a lot of information to digest and will take some time. After that, you can continue asking questions here, or for a couple of bucks you can register with the owner of the tutorials web site and he'll answer questions for you directly.
the system is already working and irrigates what i want it to irrigate. I just manaully have to turn on each zone, since I have now aquired a controler from my buddy I was just trying to figure out how to wire the controller to the valves, I am not building a rocket and dont need to pay someone to wire 3 valves to a box, as far as heads and placement and stuff It works now and is now getting my grass wet which is better than nothing at all which is what I started with, it is not a profesional job and I am certainly not trying to convice anyone that it is, but is certainly better than what I had. The 2 pumps where here when I bought the house and there was a system with a controler box here when I bought the house it just never worked until i got it to work. A stronger pump would allow me reach the area's where I think need to be watered more.
jwdawgs
This is easy and you dont need to hire anyone. Just buy your 3 valves for each zone and instal them according to the instructions on the box. Be sure to buy the same size valve as your piping. As far as wiring it is very easy too. As was mentioned above one wire as common and one wire for each zone. So if you look at your controller it will have a panel with a bunch of screws that the wires are connected to. common , zone 1 zone2 etc...Each valve has 2 wires. one common and hook the 1st one to zone 1. on valve 2 one common and the other goes to zone 2 on the controller. This stuff is easy. So go to the tutorials and read a little there but Ill bet with the box the valve comes in youlll be able to figure out how to wire this thing.
The only question I have as far as the pump goes is, does it come on due to a drop in pressure or do you manually turn it on?
Thanks,
Pete
is the well protected with a backflow device?
The pump goes on and off by the pressure switch and is regulated by the pressure in the bladder tank. I Dont know that much about the well because it was here when i got here, how would i tell if there is a backflow device and what exactly does it do. I think it is a shallow well and proboaly could be a little deeper, but has not given me any problems.
jwdawgs
Ok Like I said earlier go ahead and buy your valves and installing them and your controller will be very easy. Well maybe just easy. The valves wil be maybe 15 dollars each. Go to sprinkler warehouse and click on valves.
Now you should also buy a back flow preventer. This should be installed in your irrigation system upstream of the vaslves. This protectes your well from being contaminated incase there was a back flow of water such as during a power outage. Now there is a chance you already have one installed on the existing system but again go to sprinkler warehouse and look at some of the back flow devises and see if they look familiar.
You can do this yourself
BTW can you explain in more depth why you think you need a stronger pump? Maybe you just need more zones. Ill help you if I can.
Thanks,
Pete
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