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No Power to Valves

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blackhorse16a

New Member

Posts: 5

1

Wednesday, August 31st 2011, 1:39pm

No Power to Valves

I have a Hunter SRC Plus system with four zones. I cannot run any zones from the controller, auto or manually, since hurricane Irene (we didn't get hit hard here in eastern massachusetts). I opened each zone valve manually at the valve; they work fine. The controller also appears to be fine, display, etc., but I reset it anyway. System still won't run. I assume the transformer's ok, since it runs the controller (no 9v battery is installed).

Where do I go next?

Thanks,

BH

mike1059

Active Member

Posts: 25

Location: portland or.

2

Wednesday, August 31st 2011, 9:26pm

testing zones

the next thing to try is seeing if you are getting signal both at the clock and the valves. If you have a spare solenoid touch the wires to the common terminal and each zone terminal as each zone starts and you should here the solenoid click if you have signal then try the same thing at each valve. If you have signal at both spots the solenoids are probably bad but if you only get signal at the clock the common wire probably has a break somewhere.

blackhorse16a

New Member

Posts: 5

3

Thursday, September 1st 2011, 10:06am

Don't have a spare. Can't I do this with a meter?

Wet_Boots

Supreme Member

Posts: 4,102

Location: Metro NYC

4

Thursday, September 1st 2011, 6:22pm

Sure. Try taking some resistance measurements of your zone wiring

blackhorse16a

New Member

Posts: 5

5

Friday, September 2nd 2011, 10:20am

How do I do this when the controller is far from the valves? E.g., to check the continuity of the common (my prime suspect) do I need a long wire or what?

Wet_Boots

Supreme Member

Posts: 4,102

Location: Metro NYC

6

Friday, September 2nd 2011, 11:40am

Check the resistance of individual zones (controller is off) with one lead on the common wire and one lead on a zone wire. That gives you a measurement that includes the wire out and back. Faulty wiring will show up as infinite resistance, in the case of a break or a bad splice, as will an open circuit in the solenoid itself.

blackhorse16a

New Member

Posts: 5

7

Friday, September 2nd 2011, 3:07pm

Yep, infinite Ω on all four zones. BTW, why is there one more wire than the number of zone valves?

Now do I have to dig up the wire?

Central Irrigation

Supreme Member

Posts: 364

Location: Central Minnesota

8

Friday, September 2nd 2011, 3:37pm

You are looking only for a broken Common wire. It should be broken between the controller and the first valve box on it's path. Usual culprits are bad wire connections at the valve itself and areas where recent digging occurred. If none of these seem to be the case, then a wire locator and ground fault locator may need to be used.

Wet_Boots

Supreme Member

Posts: 4,102

Location: Metro NYC

9

Saturday, September 3rd 2011, 9:20am

Also look for a faulty rain detector.

blackhorse16a

New Member

Posts: 5

10

Tuesday, September 6th 2011, 8:32pm

Yup, it was the rain detector! Disconnected the wires, all OK.

Thanks for all the help.

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