Question
I have a 5 zone Orbit system.  My question is do I need to do something in the valve box to get the timer/controller to work in conjunction with the valves.  I can manually( in the valve box) turn all the solenoids on, and water flows to each zone.  When I turn them off(manually) and go to the timer to run each zone manually nothing happens.  So the question is how do I check if it's a wiring issue or bad solenoids?

Answer
Hi Chris

The controller should deliver 24V to the valve when you turn on at the controller, if the controller does not, the controller is damaged. If it does check the wires from the controller to the valves you should have one common wire (C) connected to ALL valves (white wire) and a zone wire to each valve(different colors). Measure the voltage at each valve (should be at least 24V)if the voltage reach each valve the problem is the selenoids. I you don't get voltage at any given valve the most probable cause is the common wire damaged or cut.

Regards
Guillermo