Sprinkler System Not Moving Zones Correctly

[JM Aggie08]

I've been having an issue with our sprinkler system recently, in that it goes through the first two zones of the yard, arrives to the flower beds, and does not go anywhere else from there. It remains on well over the allotted time set on the scheduler, and I have to force off the entire system.

I know absolutely nothing about these things, and luckily have been fortunate enough to have a ton of rain in the area to compensate for not being able to run our system. Any thoughts on what may be the root cause?

 

[boomerang]

What sprinkler controller do you have? I'd be willing to research a bit for a learning experience for myself. But it's definitely a problem with the controller/timer. Has anyone been messing with the settings lately? Lightening or a power surge may have done it some damage.

 

[JM Aggie08]

Rain Bird ESP-4M ESP Modular. To my knowledge, my fiancee has not been messing with things. Planning on going through the manual a bit tonight.

 

[boomerang]

Rain Bird ESP-4M ESP Modular. To my knowledge, my fiancee has not been messing with things. Planning on going through the manual a bit tonight.

Page 57 is the start of the troubleshooting section. There appears to be some self diagnostic capability built into the controller. Standing in front of the controller with the manual in your hand should lead you to your problem. I imagine that doesn't sound like much help but without seeing error codes or being able to cycle through some options myself, there's not much more I can offer.

 

[cabri]

First option. You may have more than 3 Zones. #3 is dead and system is not programmed for the actual zone the beds are on.

Second option.
Regulator valve is stuck/not getting signal

Worse Option.
Line leak from regulator. You are creating can underground swimming pool.

Can you manually elect the zone and see it work?

If that works, it is controller system.

If not, manually select all zones one at a time to see if it is missing a zone program (example Zone 5 instead of 3).

If not, set manually to zone. Put a meter on the actual valve power wires.

If there is power, then the regulator valve is stuck.

Good luck

 

[TheSlamma]

Do you have any zones after that 3rd zone? If not then it's possible the solenoid on your 3rd sprinkler valve is wearing out and is not closing. The reason that shutting the entire system down stops it is likely that you have a master valve on the system which shuts and then allows that 3rd valve to finally close. If there is a zone after it and it's not reaching the 4th zone at all then disregard.

Depends on the brand of valve you have but most of them are very inexpensive and they are all easy to replace. If it's a brand like Weathermatic you won't find that locally and have to get it from a place like Sprinklerwarehouse.com but Orbit and Rainbird are easy to get at HomeDepot.

 

[JM Aggie08]

We have 6 total, and I can run each of them manually.

I'll have a look at the built-in troubleshooting, then check the solenoid on that third zone.

 

[boomerang]

It sounds like for whatever reason the controller gets 'stuck' on that third zone. IMO if the solenoid was not closing, the controller would still advance and you would have zone 3 and 4 and then 3 and 5, etc., running at the same time. Maybe there is some feedback that would prevent the next zone from triggering but I rather doubt that level of sophistication is needed in a sprinkler controller.

You're probably going to end up doing a reset on the controller. The thing to research is if you need to record the start time and the run time for all the zones if a reset is suggested. And, there is no guarantee the reset will cure what ails it but I can envision that being somewhere in the troubleshooting scenario.

It's always somethin'.

 

[NutBucket]

Huh. Seems to me the controller is the least likely thing to fail. I've not had tons of experience with sprinklers and such but I've concluded its the most troublesome system in my house.

 

[TheSlamma]

It sounds like for whatever reason the controller gets 'stuck' on that third zone. IMO if the solenoid was not closing, the controller would still advance and you would have zone 3 and 4 and then 3 and 5, etc., running at the same time.

Exactly, this is why I asked if the 3rd zone was his last.

If there is a zone after it and it's not reaching the 4th zone at all then disregard.

So JM you can take solenoid out of the equation, it sounds like it's going to be at your controller for sure.

 

[cabri]

You have now eliminated the obvious issues that have been identified in this thread.

Since all zones work manually; the controller is then the common link.



So then as others have stated
Run diagnostics

Record times, reset, re-program and try again.

 

[Binky]

As others have said, once the controller tells the valve to close (actually, it stops telling it to stay open), it moves on to the next valve. It really doesn't know if they valve closed or not. Some valves do close slower than others, but this would be seen when you manually activate the valves, or when you run a test program.

It sounds like the controller is misconfigured, or its not working correctly. I'd reconfigure the whole thing. If that doesn't work, ditch it and buy a new one. Standard controllers are dirt cheap, but internet-connected controllers that adapt for weather conditions could pay for themselves during their lifetime.

 

[boomerang]

Another option if the problem with the controller is that just zone 3 is bonkers, and assuming it can control more than 6 zones, is to skip zone three. Move the zone 3 wires to zone 7 or reconfigure it whatever way makes you happy.

 

[JM Aggie08]

Opened up the valve covers in the front yard today, and they were all completely flooded (read, 6" of water in each). Hoping there isn't an ever bigger issue at hand :|

 

[JM Aggie08]

Granted, it's been pissing down rain, so I can't help but wonder if they just were not completely sealed. In any case, the valves themselves were rusted, and part of the handle broke off on each...

Definitely calling in some warranty work from the builder.