I have my sprinkler system set to run from 9PM to 11PM (no other time). The control box is NOT set to come on at any other time.
Today a neighbor told me it's been coming on during the night (3 or 5 AM).
Any ideas on what I could check?
Does it also come on at the scheduled time? If not, the clock's off.
Your neighbor's wristwatch?
Jeff
Sorry, that part was a victim of overediting. YES it does come on at the scheduled time.
Is that when your water softener starts a backwash cycle?
Mark,
I'd start by sitting up one night and checking whether the sprinklers come on. So far you have nothing to go on.
Dave M.
No. There is no other device in this house that would be changing it's use of water at that time.
I'm considering connecting an electronic buzzer on a long pair of wires (I already have the wires) connected to the "master valve" output (not otherwise used) of the sprinkler controller. This would be an alarm that would sound it the controller became active during the night.
How about turning the main valve off so it can't water and asking the neighbor if it is anyway?
4-6 am would be a better time.
Verify with your buzzer idea. If so, the controller is broken. Replace it.
Controllers fail. I had one that did this. Do check that you don't have a second "program" active.
Bob
Already done that last thing. The controller (Hunter SRC) has 3 programs (called A, B C) each of which has 4 places to set start times. Only A1 has a setting other than "off' (9PM).
I have seen such a device with a clock that was exactly 100% fast. That is, it could say 9PM at 9PM but also at 9AM (9AM would show at
3AM and 3PM). However, this does not fit the symptoms (it waters for the normal amount of time not the 50% you'd get with a fast clock, and it's correct at multiple times of day).It may still be a controller that needs replacing. I suppose it's not too hard to get a new one that works (the valves need 24VAC, I think the current is around 250mA).
I just posted in another thread how smart my mother was, but there was one time she wasn't so smart. We had a self defrosting refrigerator, bought around 1953. She was supposed to set the clock for the current time, but she thought she was supposed to set it for the time she wanted it to defrost. So if it was noon and she set the clock to
2AM, the fridge thougght it was 2AM then and it defrosted an hour later, 1PM, which it thought was 3AM. If she set it to 2AM at 6PM, it thought it it was 2AM then and it deforsted an hour later, at 7PM, which it thought was 3AM. My mother didn't pay attention to when she set it, only that it defrosted during the day instead of 2AM like she wanted it to. So she never figured it out until I read the instructions.
If you can't stay up that late, sleep in the yard. The sprinklers will wake you.
Early morning is better for the grass. Have you tried taking out the battery, shutting off the breaker and resetting the time?
My grandmother thought that when you set the alarm on a digital clock, that messed up the current time setting (because the display changed).
You left out the explanation, and the alternative.
Nothing's perfect. Evening watering gives the water more time to soak in before it evaporates in the sun (it's been really sunny here lately).
Apparently my system is NOT coming on. A neighbor's (on the other side) IS. I haven't talked to the one who complained yet, maybe she got confused by the runoff (the other neighbor's runoff passes in front of my house because it's on a hill).
It is set to use military time vs normal 12 hour clock?
Oren
"Well, it doesn't happen all the time, but when it happens, it happens constantly."
Wouldn't it be wunnerful if all things got solved as easily as that?
Nonetheless, you showed good technical thinking when you pondered putting a audible alarm on the control system's output to rouse you if it came on in the wee hours.
Jeff
No. I would actually prefer "military time", but have it set to AM/PM for consistency with other clocks.
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