We have a sprinkler system that was already installed in the house we bought. It is from Lawn Genie. I'm sure it's a plain vanilla system, very rudimentary. It runs 2 programs, A and B. Recently it is only activating one program (A) which waters the flowers, while not activating program B for the lawn area. If I test it manually and ask it to run program A or B, it always (for both) waters the flowers. I tried unplugging it completely, including disconnecting the back-up battery, thinking that a power outage might have affected it, but that hasn't changed anything.
Anybody have any suggestions before I'm forced to call a service?
You might try reprogramming it if you haven't tried that already. I think it's a problem with the controller rather than the valves because if the valve for section B was broken then nothing would happen when you tried to manually run program B. These controllers don't last forever, so it's possible you just need to get a new one. That happened to me last year, the controller just stopped working right, all sorts of little bugs like what you're seeing, so I went to the irrigation supply store and got another controller box that was the same brand/model as the old one and plugged it right into the system and everything was fine after that (getting a new one may be cheaper than calling someone for service if it's really a rudimentary plain vanilla system). You could also try searching for your brand and model number on the internet, I've done that with a lot of things around the house if they don't work right and very often the mfg will have a troubleshooting guide on their website.
I had my sprinkler system professionally installed. It has 12 zones. Anyway, my point is, mine is inspected by the installer twice a year, in the spring when it is initially turned on and then again in the fall when they inspect and drain the system for the winter months. I would suggest you get in touch with the installer and have it come and check/service your system. Sometimes it is better to bite the bullet rather than try to save money.
Home
Go Gardening
Store
Print
Flowers
Gardening Questions
Houseplants
Landscaping
Vegetables
What's This Plant?