Converting from a RainBird -> no zones work

Troubleshooting
1

Hi all - My new home has a three zone front yard that was on an old RainBird. I’m trying to switch it over to an R3e.

The install was simple enough. The only thing I got slightly hung up on was the two 24vac wires that go into a Cin-Tran irrigation Timer / Power supply. From my reading on here, it seemed like that wasn’t needed for Rachio.

Here is the wiring from the old setup

before
before1800×2400 736 KB

Painless switch over to the Rachio.

after
after1800×2400 578 KB

But no zones work. I tried the control wire in both slots, just to check. Also tried hooking up to a few different zones.

I’m not sure what else to do? The old system fired up faithfully every night to water the front yard.

2

@thenjr - is there a freeze/rain sensor in line on the common wire that could be preventing the system from running. That configuration was common with older systems.

If you have access to a volt/ohm (AKA multimeter) what is the resistance measurement between the common wire and a zone wire with one or both wires removed from the Rachio terminal?

1 Like
3

I agree, I wonder about that. It is hard to see the old controller setup with the cable in the way.

4

image
image3024×4032 2.89 MB

Here is a clean shot of the old setup.

I can’t imagine there is a freeze sensor (in Southern California) but possible there is a rain sensor.

I never use my multi meter, so it’s possible user error, but I’m seeing 24.1 OHMs when checking Common to zone 1, both removed from the terminals.

5

Here is a link that should help with multimeter diagnostics. I presume you do not have any master valve or pump, plus the water is not shut off to the sprinklers anywhere? You might want to go to one of the valves and manually turn it on to see if the water flows through (you should be able to hear it, plus you should see the water coming out of the heads).

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6

Seems you have enough wire, I’d try cutting off the old, exposed, ends and stripping back to use new copper. You can also use an AC voltage reading on the multimeter to verify that supply provides 24VAC and connect a zone to a 24v- terminal to test if it runs (commons are tied to 24v+).

7

Hah wow. When you said “is the water turned off” something clicked. My wife used the front hose to water/spray some indoor plants the other day. The master sprinkler valve is next to the hose valve. I remember noticing she forgot to turn off the hose.

You guessed it - She turned off the master.

Front yard is now working! Next up, figure out how to fix sprinkler heads and add new ones to a zone.

Thanks for the trouble shooting. I’m glad it was something simple.

2 Likes
8

We are glad it was something simple too. If you have further questions about the next things, feel free to ask here. We would be glad to help in whatever way we can.