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

Good Morning- totally new to these forums, so If I am using the wrong terminology, please forgive me. I am just learning.

I recently bought a home with a 3 year old Hunter System. It has worked fine until earlier this week when I got home from work and saw that one of the Zones was on. I inspected the control panel and it was set to run the program, but the program is set to go very early in the morning, so there wasn't one running at the time and the display gave no indication that it was running the zone. I switched the system to off and it still runs.

When I manually set other zones to run on the same box, they will not operate. I unplugged the control panel and it still runs. The only way I can get the 3 other zones to operate is to go to the box and manually open the solenoid.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance for any help.
-Scott

I do not believe I turned the zone on manually and didn't notice that morning when I left for work in the morning if it was still on. When I got home and started investigating is when I saw that the other zones wouldn't operate from the control panel, though I know they had in the recent past. I am assuming that these problems are related due to the timing, but it could just be a coincidence.

I'm unsure if the other zones come on during the normal schedule, but when I run them manually with the control panel they will not run so I am assuming they are not. Only way they run is to manually go to the box and open the solenoid. For now, I'm shutting off the valve that runs into the sprinkler system so it doesn't run constantly. when I need it to run, I just turn it on and open the solenoids for the other zones one at a time for 30 min.

So it seems like it just isn't closing on it's own. I'll tackle that this weekend and see what happens next with the other zones (as far as operating at the normally scheduled time...) Fortunately, there is a home depot reasonable closeby that carries hunter parts if it isn't just debris. Additionally, I'll be attempting to label the pumps individually so this will be a touch easier in the future. any recommendations for that?

Thank you both very much for your help! I'll let you know how it goes.

-Scott

Oops, I was wrong about a few things in my earlier post...I was tlking to my son over the phone and I think he misunderstood some of my questions.
As I said, I have a hunter system with a Hunter PRO C control panel. The panel has 12 zones, tho only 10 are being used. (zones 2 and 10 are empty)

When the panel is plugged in, zone one is always on. zones 3 and 4 will not operate from the panel (manually or as part of a program) unless I open the solinoid by hand at the zone. zones 5-9 & 11&12 work fine. When they run, zone one is still on, tho there is obviously a slight drop in the pressure.

Yesterday, I had said that zone one was still on when it was not plugged in, indicating debris in the valve. This is not the case. Zone one turns off when the panel is unplugged, which indicates it isn't the valve, but an electical problem or a panel problem.

This morning I unplugged the panel and switched the zone 1 and zone 3 wires at the panel. the problem reversed itself (the former zone 1 sprinklers turned off and the former zone 3 sprinklers tuned on.) So it seems Zone 1 is always on. As I said, zone 2 on the panel isn't used, so I put the zone 3 wire into the zone 2 termnal, just to see what would happen. The Zone 3 sprinklers came on. So it seems Zones one and two are sending current as long as the panel is plugged in and Zones 3 and 4 are dead.

I removed the panel to reset it and on a whim, plugged in the box that houses the panel and wiring. Zone one came on. So, it doesn't seem to be the panel. Is it the modules? I'm sort of at a loss right now.