Question
Hi,

I just moved into a new house. The basic problem is zone 1 pops up when it should but then instead of turning off when zone 2 comes on it stays on. It continues that way through all 5 zones and then it shuts off when zone 5 turns off. I've been able to find 4 of 5 valves so far and of course the one I cannot find is the one for zone 1.

Do you have any clue how they could have wired it so it stays open for all zones?
How do valves operate? Are they given a brief charge to open and another to close, or do they maintain constant power throughout the cycle and then when power is removed the shut?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Answer
Hey Jared, first off, the way a valve works, is that the controller sends a 24 volt charge to the solenoid, this solenoid basically acts like a magnet, and lifts a plunger (piston) inside the solenoid, and this allows the valve to open. When the controller turns off the valve, the power to the solenoid is shut off, and the plunger drops back down and the valve shuts off. You could have three different things happening with your valve. #1, the controller might be shorting out, and no matter what valve is turned on, valve #1 is turned on. #2, your hot wire going to valve #1, could be frayed, and is making contact with all the other hot wires to the other valves. #3, your #1 valve could be stuck on all the time, and the reason it runs all the time while the other valves are turned on, is because you have a master valve hooked to your system. A master valve is a valve that is installed at the very start of the mainline pipe going to the rest of you valves. Before the other valves have water pressure supplied to them, the controller turns this valve on first, and then the mainline is supplied water. To determine if your system has a master valve, check in the back of the controller, and see if you have a wire hooked to either the MV (master valve) terminal strip, or the PS (pump start) terminal. If it does, then you probably have a master valve. If you need to find your valves, there is a tracer you can rent, or you can hire someone, to trace out your wires to find your valves. It is hard for me to tell you exactly what is wrong, but at least you can narrow it down to 3 different  things, and let me know what you find out. good luck and have a great day.