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Solenoid mystery

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Austin_Walker

Unregistered

1

Friday, June 24th 2011, 11:51pm

Solenoid mystery

Hi Y'all,

My zone 1 stopped working about 2 weeks ago. I have an older house so I assumed that the valve / solenoid had gone bad. I measured 28 V at the valve when I'd unplugged (and turned off) everything. I went ahead and changed the diaphragm and the solenoid (I bought a new valve and replaced the entire top section).

The valve did not turn after this. In fact, I didn't hear any noise at all when the solenoid is powered / unpowered. So I disconnected the solenoid - and interestingly, I discovered that I get 24 V when I disconnect the line from the solenoid, but barely 0.5V when the solenoid is still connected. I understand the solenoid draws current, but did not expect such a large voltage drop. When I test the (new) solenoid with an ohm-meter, I get 30 ohms of impedance, which I understand is the normal reading.

Does this situation make sense? After all this testing, I am at a loss to explain what I am seeing. I deeply appreciate your help,

Regards

Walker

Wet_Boots

Supreme Member

Posts: 4,102

Location: Metro NYC

2

Saturday, June 25th 2011, 10:00am

Now test your zone wiring for resistance - I believe your problem is there. A 'good' voltage reading doesn't always give you an accurate picture.

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