Question
I have a Rain Bird ESP-LX 12 station controller. The programmed event started normal but never switched stations and the first station in the program ran for approx 30 minutes before I noticed it. The station could not be stopped at the controller. I had to shut off all the irrigation water. Once I found the valve for this station, I manually turned off the valve. However, I cannot any stations to start with the manual switch? There are no error lights, and I have reset all programming to the factory defaults with no luck.

Can a bad solenoid cause this or is it likely the outdoor 11 year old controller.

Answer
Hey Kevin, I hope this helps. First to tell if it is a valve or a controller problem on valve #1 sticking on, try just disconnecting the power all together on the controller. Now with the water back on and the valve turned back on, is the valve still running with no power to the controller? If it is, then the problem is in the valve itself, either the solenoid is sticking, dirt is in the valve, or you have a bad diaphram. If the valve shuts off with the power off to the controller, then the controller is probably the problem. Usually to check for power going out to a valve, you can put a volt/ohm meter on the terminals to check this. Put the black probe on the C(common) terminal on the bottom of the controller, and the red probe on whatever # valve you want to check for. It should read from 22 to 26 volts.If you turn the different stations on manually from the controller, and don't get an output, then the controller is probably shot. If a solenoid goes bad, it can short out, but normally would only affect that particular valve, and not all the valves. Let me know if I can be of anymore assistance. Thanks and have a great day.