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

First of all, don't put two valves in a 10" circular box. Put them in a rectangular box.

First of all, we run the wire to the manifold. If this is a two zone station for example, we use a 3 strand wire. One wire for each of the valves, and one wire for both of them called the common wire.

Now that we have run the wire from the controller, we have to wire the valves:

Make sure that the wire is 18 guage, direct underground burial irrigation wire. For line that runs less than 800 ft. long, use 18-guage wire. For lines that run longer than 800 ft. long, use 14 guage wire.

First we take one wire from the the strand, and then take one wire from one of the valves. Strip them, then twist them together, using a needle noze or a pliers. Then seal it with a silicon filled wire nut. This will seal it from the two wire together from water, and other debris. Then do the same thing to the other valve with one wire from the strand, sealing it with a silicon filled wire nut.

Now we are left with one wire from the strand, and one wire from each of the valves. Take the two wires from the valves, and the last wire from the strand, strip them, and then twist all three of them together with a pliers or needle noze or pliers, then sealing them with a silicon filled wire nut. These three wires together are called the common wire.

Now we connect these wires from the strand to the controller. Before you do this, go back to where the wired valves are and write which color of wire insulation valve # 1, # 2, and the common wire are colored.

Now, take the common wire from the strand and connect it to the common wire jack in the controller. Now take station # 1's wire and connect it to the station # 1 jack in the controller. Now take station # 2's wire and connect it to the station # 2 jack in the controller.

The last thing to do is to test the valves by manually run them using the controller's manual dial or button. Your done!

Here is another page for wiring valves:

http://www.sprinklerwarehouse.com/LawnCare/Installit.asp

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Good advice I would like to add one thing.........

If there are 2 valves, run 5 strand. The extra wires may come in handy someday and the difference in wire cost is very insignificant.

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