Question
QUESTION: I have a Rainbird sprinkler controller.  I was running each zone manually and when I got to the last zone (8), I put the minutes in, hit the enter button and the controller screen went blank.  No water came out of zone 8.  I tried zone 1 again to see if there was a problem with the controller or electricity and it worked perfectly.  Is it a solenoid wire or the controller wire that is causing this problem?  Where do I start looking and how?

ANSWER: WHICH MODEL OF RAINBIRD CONTROLLER DO YOU HAVE?

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I have an EC 9 zone controller.

Answer
FIRST OF ALL TRY THIS SITE OUT WHEN YOU HAVE A MINUTE - ITS AN INTERACTIVE TUTORIAL FOR YOUR CONTROLLER:
http://rainbird.com/contractor/literature/ec_guide.htm#

THEN TRY THIS FOR THE USER GUIDE (STARTING ON PAGE 24 OF THE GUIDE IS THE TROUBLESHOOTING SECTION):
http://rainbird.com/pdf/turf/man_Ec.pdf

MAKE SURE THAT ZONE 8 HAS A RUNTIME PROGRAMMED INTO THE CONTROLLER AND THAT IT IS INCLUDED ON A PROGRAM WITH START DAYS AND START TIMES ETC... ALSO, HAVE YOU RESET THE CONTROLLER (IN CASE THERE WAS A POWER OUTAGE OR LIGHTING STRIKE? REMOVE THE BATTERY, DISCONNECT THE POWER, WAIT 5-10 MINUTES, AND THEN PLUG BACK IN AND REPROGRAM IT. I SUPPOSE THAT A BAD SOLENOID CAN AFFECT THE OPERATION BUT I AM UNSURE IF THIS MODEL OF CONTROLLER HAS THAT CAPABILITY FOR DIAGNOSIS OF HIGH OR LOW RESISTANCE FAULTS.

LET ME KNOW HOW THAT WORKS AND IF YOU NEED ANYTHING FURTHER.