Just noticed this morning while leaving for work that one zone (a flowerbed zone) seemed to be dry.

I just recently turned the system back on after all the spring rains, so it hasn't run since the end of last summer.

So, I went to run a manual cycle on this one zone to give it a little extra water. I turned it on and it acted like it was running, but no water. After 30 seconds or so, it came on and I thought all was good. After another 30 seconds it shut off, then came back on for about 20-30 seconds, etc. Controller always acted like it was running.

When it is running, it comes on as it should, water flow looks great. When it shuts off it is just like the cycle ended, no in-between.

I didn't have time to check the other zones but those areas seem to be getting the desired water. What would cause this? Loose wiring connection? Seems like if it was a valve it either wouldn't be turning on or if it finally did, it would be able to stay on.

Last season I had some valves replaced when I was getting an error when trying to run particular zones. This isn't throwing any errors.

Curious where I should start looking.

My guess is a solenoid wearing out.

Sweet Kitten Feet said:

---

My guess is a solenoid wearing out.

---

In the zone valve? makes sense.

licensed irrigator here. Do you have a volt meter? If you do test the ohms of that valve at the controller. You should get a steady number anywhere from 24- 53. If you know where the valve is located check the wire connections and make sure they have waterproof connectors.

Connections is my first guess
Second solenoid

Connections or could be a module in the controller. Switch the wire from that terminal to a different one that's working fine and see if it still does the same thing.