Question
Hi Jeff,

I patched up couple of pipes which I broke as a result of digging a trench in the lawn.
This is a 6 zone system and the broken pipes were before where the zone 5 and 6 area start.

Now, when I went to turn on the sprinklers, the last zone, #6 does not turn on. There is not even a trace amount of water out of the head or even a hissing sound.
This can mean only two things?no water supply to the circuit or pipe totally blocked.
The third possibility that another pipe may be broken somewhere is ruled out because if a pipe is broken then water comes out of the ground like a geyser since these pipes are only few inches deep匢 have gone around to see if there was any such leak..

Here is what I know for sure:
-All zones, including #6 was working before trench work.
- The debris from the broken pipes were cleaned manually as best as I could, but water was not turned on to ensure flow or to flush out any dirt that might have gone inside.
- The ends of the broken pipes were cut off and left exposed, away from dirt overnight.

It almost seems like there is a vapor lock of some sort. I open up the solenoid/distribution box. But I can抰 figure out anything.. It抯 a jumble of wires.
Wondering there is a simple way of diagnosing the problem?
Any ideas? I am afraid I will end up fixing things that aren抰 even broken.
Yash


Answer
There could be one more problem, that the electrical power to the valve is not connected or is interrupted at some point.  Your excavations may have damaged wires along the way.  Check to see if the power is getting to the valve by carefully unscrewing the solenoid (the object that the wires connect to) and operate the valve by turning on station 6. If the solenoid moves or clicks then you have power, and there must be some other problem.  Try this and then get back to me.