Hi everyone, hope everyone is doing well.
So I just recently purchased a house and know nothing about sprinkler systems so don’t even know what I have. I know that I have 4 zones and they all work. I’ve been turning them manually and opening and closing the valve to switch zones. I bought the rachio 3 to make things easier but now don’t know how to wire it using the old wires from the existing timer. Attached are the pictures of what I currently have, any help would be greatly appreciated… thanks in advance.
@Scruz22 - what is installed is known as an indexing valve. With every pause in the water pressure the indexing valve will move to the next station. The fifth station is a dead spot for it to rest and not provide any water.
Rachio will work with an indexing valve, however to get the most utility out of the Rachio system I’d (and others) would recommend replacing the indexing valve with a gang of four valves or one to each zone. That way each zone can be run independently. Easy to do since everything is right there. There are several posts showing the pictures of the process in the community.
In the meantime, I’d get the Rachio external enclosure to house the Rachio. The red and white wires coming from the on/off switch (I might remove the switch from the equation by wiring around it in the switch box) will connect to the Rachio external enclosure power plug. From there the Rachio transformer will plug into it.
Next, I think the solenoid on the master valve (the left item) may need to be replaced. It looks like the Intermatic timer is putting out 120 VAC to the solenoid. Rachio will output 24 VAC, so a 24 VAC solenoid will need to be placed in the master valve.
Have fun, good luck and welcome to the community. Feel free to post back with any more questions or to show off completion of the upgrade.
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@dlane Thank you so much for responding! So since this is basically Chinese to me is it possible for you to send me a link of what it is I need(gang of 4 valves)?
I already have the rachio outdoor enclosure. So about the solenoid, I was under the impression that the outdoor enclosure would convert what ever I had to 24 vac. If this is not the case a link to what I would need to get would be greatly appreciated. (I am brand new to this so please bare with me)
Thanks again.
@Scruz22 - YMMV
As an example - two of these will create a gang of four (Lowes should carry similar):
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Orbit-2-Valve-Inline-Manifold-Assembly-57250/202206756
Here is a replacement solenoid for 24 VAC instead of 120 VAC (I’m not 100% sure it is the right thread size, etc.).
https://www.homedepot.com/p/24-Volt-Valve-Solenoid-57041/100013771
The Rachio external enclosure has a 120 V AC plug for the Rachio unit to plug into and then the Rachio will provide 24 V AC.
I’d replace the Intermatic timer with the Rachio external enclosure, the Rachio unit and the solenoid valve (be sure the water is turned off to the master valve when replacing the solenoid - looks like it is with the valve handle below the master valve across the pipe) first. I’d take out the master valve solenoid and take it with you when you get a replacement to make sure it fits. Once the system is working with the existing indexing valve, new master valve solenoid and Rachio, then I’d dig out the indexing valve and replace it with a four gang valve system.
Lol man I will ask my friend for you, he is a plumber.
In which area he is working, can you give me his number?
Hi man, I have a similar to your system at the back of my house and know a bit about it. So, in your case, you would need to purchase some items. What I am talking about are four valves. I remember myself purchasing cheap Chinese valves and they did not last long and I needed to purchase another one. You pay twice as much if you do not want to buy a good thing from the beginning 
I did search for USA brands and found 4 valves at https://anixusa.com/ball-valve-2 and bought from them. Shipping was really fast as always in the USA and since I changed the old ones to new ones I do not have any problems for like 4 years. Hope I was helpful.