Question
Jim, I can't get my system running.  I the control panel works fine and I have located two water boxes that says water irrigation system but can't tell if the valve is on or not.  I opened one box and was filled with water, we did have a bad storm a few days prior.  How can I tell if the valve is open/closed/etc..Where would the global valve be?  Thanks for your help

Answer
Hey Neil, I hope this helps. I know you say the control panel works fine, but since you had a storm, you might want to make sure. What you can do is open up the access panel in the bottom of the controller, and find the field wires coming in. They will be marked 1, 2,3 etc. Also you will see a wire marked C for common. With the controller, turn a valve on manually and with a volt/ohm meter touch the black(negative) lead to C (common) and the red (positive) lead to whatever number you have on. It should read from 22 to 26 volts. If you're not getting a read out, it could be a blown fuse or breaker built into the controller (depends on what brand you have). If the controller is working fine, the next thing to check for is the pressure to the valves. On most automatic valves, there is what is called a bleed screw. If you unscrew this screw, water will bleed from this screw and the valve will open. If when you open this screw, you don't get any water, then somewhere in the main pipe feeding your valves, you have a blockage. This could be as simple as the main valve not turned on, or a rock in an elbow. If your valve doesn't have a bleed screw, you can unscrew the solenoid, and this will also bleed water off the valve, and allow it to open. If you try to unscrew the solenoid, I would first make sure where the main shut off valve for the sprinklers is. Second, turn this valve off so no water is getting to the valves. Third un-screw the solenoid. Fourth turn the water back on. You should see a steady stream of water from the port where the solenoid was un-screwed and the valve should turn on. If you are getting no water, again you have a problem with the mainline or main turn on valve. I'm assuming when you say globe valve you are referring to the main turn off valve. In the warm weather states, the main waterline from the meter to the house is fed from the outside of the house, because it doesn't freeze. Normally the main shut off valve would be where your main waterline goes into the house. Usually one valve turns off the whole house, and another valve turns off the sprinkling system. In cold weather states the line is run underground all the way to either the basement or crawlspace. If your water meter is in the basement or crawlspace, then the sprinkler shut off valve is probably past the meter in the basement or crawl space. If the meter is by the street, then normally the shut off will be in the ground usually in a sleeve anywhere from the meter to the house. The other thing that might be going on with your system, is if you have a master valve hooked up, and it is not working. What a master valve is, is another automatic valve, that is installed past the main turn off valve , but before any of the other valves. This valve must turn on by the controller, before any water is sent to the other valves. To tell if you have a master valve hooked up, look in back of the controller, and see if there is a wire hooked to a lead marked MV (master valve) or PS (pump start relay). If there is, then you probably have one installed, and it's not working. The other thing that could be going on, is a broken or loose wire at the valves, controller, or in the ground. Normally if none of the valves are working, then the common wire is a problem. The way the system is wired is simple. One common wire runs to all the valves and is hooked to one of the wires coming out of the solenoid (it doesn't matter which wire from the solenoid). Then another wire (hot) runs from the terminals 1, 2, 3, etc. to the other wire on each individual valve, thus telling it which valve it is. As far as water in your valve box. Once you can get the water out, and see the valves, look for any signs of the valves leaking. Normally you will see screws or bolts on the top of the valve. These bolts hold the top half and bottom half of the valve body tight together. Between these two halfs, there is a rubber membrane called a diaphram that seals these two halfs, but is also what raises and lowers to turn the valve on and off. If it looks like there is water seeping from between the two halfs, simply tighten the screws (or bolts) and this should stop it from leaking.With the information you have given me, I've tried to answer the best I can. If you have any more questions, or information, just let me know. Thanks and have a great day.