Zone was running on its own, but why?

post by Random on Jul 29, 2022

I came outside to find a single zone, 10 of 12, running for no reason that I can figure out. I checked the Rachio app and it didn’t show anything running. I quick ran the zone, but it didn’t stop. I had to turn off the water at the backflow to shut it down.

The system has not run a full schedule for a while. I did a quick run of zone 11 this morning to ensure some potted plants I moved would get hit with overspray.

Is this a failed zone valve, something else? Rachio software error? Any ideas?

I am sure glad I was home as that water bill could have been much higher.

Thank you

post by Thomas_Lerman on Jul 29, 2022

It certainly can be one of several issues such as what you said: zone, software, hardware, and maybe other things. However, one was to narrow it down quickly would be to disconnect power to the Rachio. If it is still running, you know it is the valve. The most common issue in this circumstance is that the baffle inside the valve is dirty. In other words, depending on the valve, you should be able to take apart the valve, clean it, put it back together, and it works great. This usually can be done without removing the whole valve, just the top.

post by Random on Jul 29, 2022

Thanks, when the power was off the zone stayed on so I’ll uncover the valve and investigate. I have a round about idea where it is. It’s just covered my grass at the moment.

It’s just odd that it turned on by itself. I didn’t know it could do that. That makes me think it’s more than just a stuck valve.

post by tmcgahey on Jul 29, 2022

The diagram on a valve uses the pressure difference on the front side and back side of the valve, plus the solenoid plunger to actuate. If there is a tear in the diaphragm, or debris that would not allow it to seal, then the valve can’t create the negative pressure seal. I would lean towards the diaphragm being an issue, but it also could be a solenoid. I just had to replace one in my yard. I got home to one of my sprinkler zones running at about half pressure. Found the solenoid to be completely blown out the side, and the plunger was stuck partially engaged. I don’t know if it stuck during a run or not.

A crude drawing to somewhat illustrate.

post by Random on Aug 7, 2022

I spent about 4 hours on this today and no resolution. I don’t believe it is the zone box that I was guessing. I opened up the box and manually turned the two valves in it off and the water did not shut off.

It really would be nice if the valves were labeled. I am sure there is some kind of label that would last.

I spent a lot of time trying to find another valve box and was not successful. I scalped the grass, probed, and used my leaf blower in high to move the grass that remained. No luck.

Any other tricks to finding the box? I know the irrigation guys charge by the hour so I don’t need to pay for three hours or so just to find the box if I don’t have to.

post by Thomas_Lerman on Aug 7, 2022

A neighbor was looking for valves in his yard and I helped for a bit. We stomped around to listen for the hollow sound, used a probe that was maybe a foot long, dug a bit, and anything else we could think of. He ended having someone with a “wire tracer device” find some of them buried more than a foot down (not sure how that happened). They also found that all of their valves are all in individual small round valve “boxes”, which is not the norm in my opinion. Anyway, I believe the tracer device probably can be rented. It has some kind of transmitter that get hooked on the zone wire(s) and then follow the wire (tone generated by the transmitter) with the receiver.

post by Random on Aug 8, 2022

Well surprisingly I had the same idea and found YouTube videos of using a wire tracer. I bought a tracer an I’m going to trace and probe some more.

Mine are typically surface level, but some are just below it. Sadly many are two valves in a small 4 inch circle box too. Ugh

I’m also the second owner of the home. I have mapped out many of the boxes but not the one I need apparently.

post by Thomas_Lerman on Aug 13, 2022

My questions:

1. Will any valve work? If so is there a preferred or more reliable one to look at or less reliable to stay away from?

2. While looking at all my valves I notice some of my valves have two of the same colored wires connected and some only have one. The bundle has two of each color and the colors do repeat at the controller. Any idea what is going on there?

post by Random on Aug 19, 2022

So I got around to digging it up today and lo and behold I found the last valve right next door to it. I’m going to just switch all three to hunter valves and put in a new large valve box. This is right next to a tree too so there is a ton of roots. I’ll add landscape fabric and pea gravel under it too.

post by Random on Aug 21, 2022

Well the hard work was completed yesterday. I’ve replaced my back flow preventer plumbing and plenty of heads but this is my first valve repair and it was a doozy. I was cursing it plenty and wondering why I chose to do it. I forgot that pipes are not flexible and getting those last connections in is a chore. I will be keeping an eye on it as I wasn’t able to do the 1/4 turn in to places when applying the cement for the last connections. I was worried this morning when I turned it on that it would be all for nothing but no leaks.

post by Random on Aug 26, 2022

So it all is fixed and the yard is back together. The small leak I had was in another valve, the one I originally thought was the bad valve. I had taken it apart and either got some dirt in it or broke. Since I had three Toro valves that I replaced with Hunter valves I just cleaned one of them and swapped tops. Saving the other two for future repairs.

Some things I have learned that may help another if this ever pops up on a Google search.

1. My valve failed because the solenoid on my Toro 254 physically broke off.
2. Like any project take pictures of everything you take apart. This will ensure you can put it back together easily.
3. The valve wires are all color coded in my system. Somehow I had a brain fart and didn’t realize this right away. This made it easy to see which valve belonged to the zone that failed.
4. Harbor Freight wire tracer worked very well but you need to wear headphones which means you will need a long wire. Attaching the tracer to a long stick and slowly moving worked great for me. Using it without headphones failed.