# Short in Wire between controller and valve



## Gamendorf (Apr 1, 2020)

I'm trying to decide on the best course of action. Zone 1 will not fire, and I believe that I have diagnosed the problem as a shorted wire between the controller and the solenoid. This is what I am seeing:
1. When I connect the solenoid directly to a 24 volt battery pack, it activates and water flows.
2. When I reconnect the solenoid to its wire and attach the controller end of the wire to the battery pack, nothing happens.

In my limited experience, that means I have a short somewhere in the wire. Last fall I did some digging in that area, so I guess it is possible that I damaged the wire. My system looks like it was built with single red wires running beside the pipes as opposed to a multi-colored wire bundle.

2 questions :
1. Does this sound like an accurate diagnosis? If not, what else should I consider?
2. If so, how in the world do I begin fixing the issue? The valve is about 100 feet from the controller and a cross the driveway. Laying a completely new wire would be pain. Or do I re-excavate the area I was digging in to try to find the damaged wire section for repair?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

1. It sure sounds like it.

2. Yes to both. A new wire will be a sure way. If you find the spot, try to solder it and cover the connection to avoid rust.


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## Gamendorf (Apr 1, 2020)

Thanks for the confirmation. I found a long length of speaker wire this morning and ran a wire from the controller directly to the solenoid and it works like expected. I'll see if I can find time to excavate the area. For the connection, what do you mean by covering it? If I solder the wires together, is it safe to put them in a grease cap and then burry it? Or do I need one of the fancier covers to bury?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I would use the fancy grease ones to only do this once.


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