Just recently had my sprinkler system looked at by a pro for the first time since I had an electrical line parted somewhere that I couldn't find. When they repaired they found out my control lines were actually thermostat wiring, not direct burial electric wiring. Anyway, there are three locations where patches were made and this morning I had two zones running at the same time. This hasn't happened before.

Any advice on how I trouble shoot this? I know the two zones and the wire color that controls them. How do I tell where they crossed or making contact? I'm still under warranty so I can call them back out, but if it's an easy fix, I can probably handle it myself.

Tony Franklins Other Shoe said:

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Anyway, there are three locations where patches were made and this morning I had two zones running at the same time. This hasn't happened before.

Any advice on how I trouble shoot this?

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It probably is wiring since that is what was recently repaired, but sometimes another zone will continue to run when the valve itself either has trash it in (keeping it open) or has a broken part (like a diaphragm).

FWIW, I'm working on this kind of 'stuff' myself. Came home late after working and found that a station that was supposed to run for 20 minutes ran the whole damn day. It appeared a couple of valves had to fail to allow that to happen.

Can't wait for the water bill.

Sweet Kitten Feet said:

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I'd call them back out and insist they rewire it correctly. They just threw whatever crap they had on the truck in there on the install. They need to install it properly or your issues will continue. Tracking down wiring issues like that is not something I'd spend my own time on especially when it's under warranty and they gave you a shoddy install.

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I wasn't clear, it wasn't a new install, just troubleshooting on a 30 year old system. They said quite lot of them back in the day used thermostat wire. The warranty is for a recent wiring repair and zone check.

Home for lunch and all other zones work independently, just these two are crossed. I'm going to look at the main connection and see if it's apparent where the issue is. Also going to pull the control wire at the panel on one of the offending zones and see if maybe the valve is stuck open with debris on that leg.

Unplug zone 3 wire at the control panel and turn on zone 1, zone 3 doesn't run at the same time. I'm thinking electrical connection has somehow crossed. Didn't think to reverse that yet, will try that this evening and then hunt down the main connection where the control wires go to the direct bury lines.

It was at a junction where wire connectors were, I separated them all out giving them some space and the zones did not cross. I just need to add some electrical tape and reset the box. I couldn't see any apparent bare spots on the wiring where the sheath was nicked.