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How to turn on sprinkler pump? (novice=may be an easy answer!)

chatguy

Unregistered

1

Wednesday, April 14th 2010, 5:13pm

How to turn on sprinkler pump? (novice=may be an easy answer!)

Hi All,

I'm a new homeowner with an underground sprinkler system, that also has a pump (due to low pressure of city water). Although I've opened up sprinkler systems in other homes before that don't have a sprinkler pump, I do consider myself a novice. Currently, water does flow through the sprinkler heads, but with low pressure, while noticing the pump not turning on.

I noticed the pump is connected to a relay box, which is also connected to the sprinkler control box. The control box and the relay are both plugged into a working outlet, but the pump does not turn on....making me think there is a simple switch to turn it on, that I'm not finding? If so, would anyone know where I can find that switch?

The pump is: Myers model # RJ50S (The sprinkler control is Rain Dial RD900-INT).

Would anyone know how to turn on the Myers RJ50S pump, or where the pump's on/off switch is?

Thanks,
cg

HooKooDooKu

Supreme Member

Posts: 683

2

Thursday, April 15th 2010, 1:48am

Can't help you with that specific pump, but if you have a multi-meter, here's a few things to try to check out...

You're starting off right by making sure there isn't an on/off switch on the pump that needs to be turned on. If there was, you would think it would be in a location where it can be reasonably expected to be reachable... but then not all contractors do what we would reasonably expect them to.

Perhaps the controller has become faulty... for example perhaps a pump relay that doesn't meet specs for the controller was used and damaged the controler. When a zone is on, do you get a voltage reading on the tap for the pump relay on the controller? If not, what if you disconnect the connection for the pump relay on the controller? What if you take the controller out of the loop all together and instead attempt to turn on the relay by connecting it to either the transformer for the irrigation system itself (if the outputs are accessable and the voltage parameters are correct for the relay). If not, you could try wiring 3 9v batteries in series and see if they can turn on the pump relay.

Is there a way to bypass the relay to see if you have a bad relay?

All all valves for the irrigation system open? Any system shutoff valves that have been overlooked... especially if there are any valves designed to allow the water to by-pass the pump.

What about pump settings? Are the pump settings right, or are they so low that at city water pressure, it thinks there is enough water pressure.

BMWCTS

Starting Member

Posts: 1

3

Monday, May 31st 2010, 2:57pm

Sprinkler Pump

I have a pump with a pump relay box that draws water from a lake. My pump is hot wired-meaning it is directly wired to the main electrical panel box. I had the electrician put in an on/off switch outside by the pump so that I would not have to run all the way to the gargage if I needed an immediate disconnect. Other than those means of connect/disconnect, there should be no other place for a pump switch and they don't have on/off switches (pumps). Your pump relay box turns the pump on/off to the various values. Hope this helps.

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