Wiring question - two wires for each station

post by Brightside on May 1, 2024

Hi,

I am switching from Irritrol KD2 to Rachio 3 4zone controller. There are two zones currently on KD2 and two solenoids outside that are dedicated for front and back. On KD2, there are common wires going to one slot, two green wires and two red wires going into station slots. I did the exact same wiring on rachio but both zones turn on with zone 1 and zone two does not sprinkle any water. I also tried inserting common wires to two C slots on rachio but it is same result. Here is the KD2 wiring picture. Please suggest how should I wire rachio

post by ady624 on May 1, 2024

Could you please post a picture of how you wired Rachio? And one of a solenoid and its wires?

post by Brightside on May 1, 2024

Thank you. Here they are

post by ady624 on May 1, 2024

Something is odd here, only one cable makes it to the valves, right? Where is the second going?

The wiring is simple, and should only need one cable.

At the controller:

COM - white wire

Zone 1 - green wire

Zone 2 - red wire

At the solenoids:

Solenoid zone 1 wired to white and green

Solenoid zone 2 wired to white and red

Polarity at solenoid does not matter, alternative current.

You should not need the second cable, but you need to figure out which of the two reaches the valves.