Help with wiring issues (wires too short)

Hi,

I got the Rachio 3 today, and have some issues with the installation.

A problem that I am having is that some of the wires, like the MV and C wires, are too short to reach the terminal. How would I extend those… what wire would I need to buy and what’s the easiest way to do that? Would it be better to just extend all wires to give me more room to work with? I really have no clue when it comes to stuff like this.

Another problem is that years ago one of the zone wires was cut, so whoever fixed it used a Add-A-Zone to connect two zones to 1 wire. The problem is that the wires from the Add-A-Zone are quite thin/frail so I can’t connect them to the terminals properly, see photo: http://cl.ly/3y3z3i1O3J2n/IMG_7410.jpg

Thanks for your help!

@nico - one can use solid 18 gauge wire to extend the wires. Wire nut the extension and the existing wire together and then you’ll have room to plug in the extension. This should also work on the Add-A-Zone wires.

For the Add-A-Zone wires, I would only put those zones on a fixed/flex monthly type schedule as that system may not keep up with when just one zone runs on a Flex Daily schedule.

If you’re near a Home Depot or Lowe’s they sell sprinkler field wire by the foot, so you could buy one foot of the type that has as many conductors as you have. This way you would have a specific wire color instead of all the same to make troubleshooting a little easier.

Welcome to the community.

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Thanks a lot for the reply! Going to pick up some wire from Lowes later today.

We’re only allowed to water on specific days so it would run on a fixed schedule.

Thanks again

I would suggest? If possible to do a new wire run. It is more work but ultimately the better solution. I did that to solve some issues and am really glad I did.

I ran into same, wire nuts & extra wire from Home Depot as mentioned.