Thought I would bring this up in case anyone else has the same issue.
I’ve been using a 12 year old Irritrol controller for my 4 zone sprinkler system. Moving to the Rachio was a no-brainer since I wanted more control with my phone.
Right after I installed the Rachio, two out of the four zones stopped working. I then removed the Rachio and hooked up the old controller. The two broken zones still did not work.
After doing some troubleshooting I discovered that the solenoids for those two zones ceased to function after I installed the Rachio. My thinking is that they were on the verge of failing anyway and the Rachio simply pushed them over the edge.
So, to make a long story short, after checking the wiring and making sure everything is configured correctly, you might want to check the solenoids as well especially if they are very old. Replacing solenoids is easy and takes less than 5 minutes. YouTube videos will show the actual procedure. Should only cost about $8. It’s worth a try especially if all other attempted fixes are failing.
Checking the source at the solenoids is always a great first step for troubleshooting to determine whether the issue is with the controller or the existing setup. I’m glad to hear you were able to resolve the issue so efficiently and get up and running!
Hope you can enjoy your new “no-brainer” Rachio and experience some water savings! If you need any further help in the future don’t hesitate to reach out.
Just a coincidence. Smart troubleshooting (switching out the controller) too! It’s great you had the patience to figure it out without jumping on the forum when it first happened and blame the controller.
I use a remote control on my system checks. I turn zones on and off several times during my check and repairs to test the zones for proper function. There have been many times that an older system will have a solenoid or diaphragm failure because of the repeated activations. I’m glad it happens when I’m there instead of after I leave!
Exactly! I’m not great at plumbing but I did electrical work while serving in the Air Force and obvious troubleshooting methods must be tried first. I was able to eliminate the Rachio controller immediately by simply placing one of the known good zones wires on the same terminal as the broken zone. Basically, wire swapping to see if the problem moves or stays. That was the easy part. The rest was basic deduction by checking connections and voltages.
As frustrating as it gets to have issues like this, I actually enjoy the troubleshooting part because I end up learning things I didn’t know before.
BTW, the Rachio is AMAZING! It’s been working great so far.
