Wiring-what am I missing? - Troubleshooting / Wiring - Rachio Community
Wiring-what am I missing?
post by Wilhelmthorpe on Dec 26, 2022
I’ve wired up my Rachio 3 with everything from the old Rainbird (which worked fine) other than the 24v and ground wires. I’ve got all the zones wired in, the system is added to the app, yet when I go to test zones. I get nothing. Any ideas?
post by Thomas_Lerman on Dec 26, 2022
It looks to me like someone hooked the valve’s Common to Earth ground by mistake (white). It should have been to ‘VC’ (Rainbird) or ‘C’ (Rachio).
post by Wilhelmthorpe on Dec 26, 2022
Thanks, I’ll give that a try! Can you explain how you know those wires are common and not ground? Just the color?
post by Thomas_Lerman on Dec 26, 2022
Oh sorry, I forgot to mention that. It is hard to tell from the Rainbird picture where those wires are exactly coming from . . . possibly as follows:
- one from the black bundle which looks like the larger set of zones (maybe 1-5)
- another from the brown bundle which looks like a smaller set of zones (maybe 7-9)
- and the final wrapped and soldered to the brown bundle’s white. This looks like a loose wire with 5-6 that might be a couple other zones? And not sure why two wires are connected to zone 5)
Summary is, I am not positive if all of these are valve common wires or if one is an Earth ground.
post by Wilhelmthorpe on Dec 26, 2022
I wish I had been the owner when it was originally wired. I don’t know why some wires are combined. I guess to combine pumps into one zone? Unfortunately I clipped the white wires down to tidy things up so I’ll have to strip some more wire and try later. Thanks for all the help!
post by Thomas_Lerman on Dec 26, 2022
What are the pumps you mentioned?
post by Wilhelmthorpe on Dec 26, 2022
Oh, I don’t know what I’m talking about. I assumed the wires are connected to pumps that pump water to the sprinkler pipes. Maybe it’s called something else.
post by Thomas_Lerman on Dec 26, 2022
I would guess the two wires that I see connect to zone 5 are going to valves. To the right of Zone 6 on the Rainbird is where a “MV / Pump” (MV = Master Valve) would be connected, which no wires are connected. Therefore, I do not think you have either. It is possible you could have a pump for a water feature or something else. It seems unlikely that you would have a pump for one zone of sprinklers though.
post by Wilhelmthorpe on Dec 26, 2022
Ah, gotcha. I think I was just using the wrong word.
post by Thomas_Lerman on Dec 26, 2022
It happens. Please keep us informed. Hopefully getting the white wires hooked in will not be that difficult. I know many people really like to clip wires. I personally like to wrap the spare, unused sprinkler wires around the insulation that is around the wire bundle, never know when I might need it.
post by Wilhelmthorpe on Dec 26, 2022
In hindsight that’s definitely what I should have done. Live and learn!
post by Jason1 on Dec 29, 2022
You don’t have your common wire hooked up
post by Wilhelmthorpe on Dec 29, 2022
This worked. The white wires should have been going to common. Everything works great now. Thanks for your help!
post by Thomas_Lerman on Dec 29, 2022
Glad it is all fixed, good work!
post by DHK on Dec 31, 2022
@Wilhelmthorpe We had a 15 zone controller. When we upgraded last fall to the Rachio we discovered we also had two zones combined. We separated them and now have16 separate zones to control with the Rachio… something to consider if you didn’t do that.
post by Thomas_Lerman on Dec 31, 2022
Good point, I would probably do the same thing . . . create a new zone by separating the two wires connected to zone 5.
post by Wilhelmthorpe on Dec 31, 2022
You know, I did see there were two zones linked together when I tested everything. They’re far apart - one in the backyard and one in the front. I should separate those. Thanks for sharing!