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

We just bought a home with 4 zone sprinkler fed from lake that is about 15 years old. The sprinkler stopped working after a few weeks of buying the home, so I tried to figure out the timer and found that timer was pretty much rusted and had broken pins inside. I turned it to ON but the sprinkler didn't turn on even after I set it to ON. I heard click in the timer but nothing outside on the motor. So I looked at the flip switch outside which seemed to have been shutoff for some reason and I tried flipping it on and off a couple of times and the motor suddenly started running and sprinklers came on, I turned it off and on to cycle through each zone and it worked well.
I set it back to off and decided to turn it on manually till I could get the replacement timer. When I turned it on next time it made a click sound and after a few seconds the breaker tripped. and it kept happening every time I tried after that.
Yesterday I replaced the timer, but the flip switch for outside I bought was the 15 amp one and the current switch was different so I didn't replace that switch but replaced the timer. I turned the timer to ON, heard the click and the motor outside started humming for a few seconds and then the breaker tripped again.
So I am not sure if there is a short somewhere on the flip switch since it had created problems in the past when I had to turn ti on and off a few times to make it work or something else.
I will be replacing the flip switch soon, but if anyone can guide me to what all I can check if that doesn't fix it, I will appreciate it.
Thanks in advance for your help!

Regards,
Bocaman

Quoted from "Wet_Boots"

Motors sometimes need their starting capacitors replaced.

Thanks. WIll look at that. Would the starting capacitor cause a short circuit?

Quoted from "Wet_Boots"

an overload is what trips the breaker - it doesn't have to be a dead short

Thanks. Should I be calling an electrician for this or the sprinkler company?