Question
QUESTION: I haven't used my irragation system for two years now. I went to put it on and everything started to work fine, until I noticed that there was no water or heads coming out of the ground. The water is going in to it just fine, but I don't know where it is. I checked all the zones and none of them work. The other problem is that when I went to shut them off, I couldn't. The water kept going, so I had to shut the water off.

ANSWER: Hey Curtis, I hope this helps. I'm a little confused, so bear with me. The first thing you say is that everything started to work fine, until you noticed there was no water coming or heads coming out of the ground. Before this did the system work off the controller, or did they never work? When you say the water is going into it just fine, I'm assuming you mean the main water line that feeds the sprinkler valves. When you say you checked all the zones and none of them work, do you mean you checked them by the controller, or checked them at the individual valves? The one thing that confuses me is that you say that when you went to shut them off, you couldn't and  the water kept going so you shut the water off. How can the water be running if none of the zones work? When you say you had to shut the water off, do you mean the water to the sprinkling system, or to the house? When you say the water is going to it just fine, but I don't know where it is, are you referring to the automatic valves? Normally to find your valves, you can get what is called a wire locator, or valve locator. What this is, is a device that you hook up to the field wires in the back of your controller. It will send a signal through the wires to the valves, that you can trace with a wand and headphones, to find the valves. I think this is what you're asking me, and this would be a good starting point. Most irrigation supply stores would have a wire or valve locator that you can rent.I'm sorry Curtis, but I'm not exactly sure what you are asking. Please follow up with me any more questions or information you can give me, and I will write you back. Thanks and have a great day.

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QUESTION: Sorry for the confusion. I hope that this helps. The control panel in my house that controls the zones was shut off and the water to the irrigation still was going to the irrigation system. The heads are not coming up and I was wondering where the water was going? My question is that I can't find where the water is going and why if I shut off the main control box is the water still pumping into it. I haven't checked the boxes and valves in the ground, because I didn't want to start ripping up the ground if I didn't have to. I have the water shut off at the main that leads to the irrigation system or it would still be pumping out. I'm not very knowledgeable about the system as you can see, but I was hoping that it wasn't anything big that I could fix myself, and that someone had the same problem at one time. Thanks, Curtis

Answer
Hey Curtis, You make a lot more sense now. Basically the main control box or your controller either turns your automatic valves on or off. If this is turned off, or unplugged, and you're still hearing water running, then there is probably two things that could be going on. Number one is a break in the mainline, basically the mainline runs from your main shut off valve to the different automatic valves. If this line is cracked or broken, you should see alot of water in one area. If it is a small leak, you might have to let it leak for awhile to see where the water is showing up. The second thing it could be, is an automatic valve or valves that are stuck on. If this is the case, then you should see water coming out of the heads on a particular valve or valves. If a valve is stuck on, then you need to find them, and most the time they can be rebuilt, without having to replace them. I hope this helps. Let me know if I can help you anymore, and have a good day.