moveing sprinkler timer

[genius]

Hey all,

I am trying to move my sprinkler controller (an Orbit digital job about 4 years old) to a more convenient spot in the garage. It has very thick, I would guess 12 gauge wire going from the valves to the controller box. Is that the required thickness? I was thinking if I used cat5e, there's 4 twisted pair so I can get a unique colored wire for each of my 8 zones which would make reconnecting after I spliced in 25' or so of cat5e, to the timer quite simple since I know which wire would be which zone. I googled all over and it looks like minimum 14 gauge for underground use. Since I am above ground and in a garage, can I use the cat5e even though it's 24 gauge?

TIA

[trader4]

Just google it online. 18 gauge is pretty much standard. I've never seen 14 gauge used on a residential system.

14 gauge would support 15 amp AC circuits in a house. Must be a real pain to work with, connect to terminals, etc. Whoever used that must be a real knucklehead. The sprinkler system probably uses less than 100miliamps to work the valves. Look at the rating on the wall transformer.