Question
I have had my Toro system in place for 17 years. I have one Program (P1) On, with 4 zones, and the two other P2 and P3 are Off. Each zone runs 30 minutes every night. Never changed it, never had a problem. Just turtned on the controller (Auto On) when I wanted it to go, and Off the rst of the time.

Because of a probable leak in the system that we were never able to find (higfh water bills even when not using it), after annual setup by my irrigation guy, I close the valve at the tap so that no water runs in the system. When I want irrigation, I turn on the valve at the tap, and away it goes according to its preset schedule; that抯 worked the last couple of years. Last week, I turned it on for the first time since May, the back zone with 3 sprinklers came on. After an hour, it was not switching over, so I turned it off at the tap. I have since attempted to run it manually onto the other zones, nothing doing; I can抰 even turn 揙ff?the sprinklers at the controller; that back yard zone just runs (4 hours last night) until I shut off the valve at the tap.

Today, I went through the user manual and saw that the system has a default of 5 minutes per zone, so I disconnected all power (battery and electricity) to the controller and it reset itself. It made no difference, the back zone just runs until I shut off the valve.

So it looks like the controller is not talking to the system any more. This being the first time I use the sprinkler system this summer, I can抰 be sure if it worked when the irrigation guy did his opening. With my controller in the basement, it抯 not something they look at when they're here. Could it be  a disconnected wire in the outside box? Any ideas that I can try myself before scheduling a service call?

I'm in Canada and the system gets drained/pressurized fall and spring. Appreciate any advice. Yvan

Answer
Hey Yvan, the problem is in the valve, and not in the controller. If you have completly disconnected the power from the controller, then there is no way the controller can turn this valve on. If a valve sticks on, it is usually either the plunger inside the solenoid that is sticking in the up position and not allowing the valve to shut off, or the diaphram inside the valve is bad (either a tear, separation,etc.). Before you replace the whole valve, you might want to replace the solenoid and or the diaphram. Go to www.irrigationtutorials.com, and this website will show you how to re-build this valve. Good luck and have a great day.