How to Troubleshoot Irrigation Wiring

Unplug the irrigation controller power cord from the power source if all valves fail to turn on. The unit might have experienced a power surge that knocked the unit offline. Allow 10 seconds to pass and plug the unit back in.

Open the irrigation controller panel to reveal the irrigation wire terminals. Gently remove all the wires from the terminals to reset the connections. Inspect each wire tip to confirm that the part inserted into the terminal is free of its insulation. In other words, confirm that each wire tip is stripped down at least 1/2 inch.

Insert the white wire into the "Common" terminal of the irrigation controller. Use a thin object such as pen tip, if necessary, to press the top of the terminal and allow the wires to slide in easier. Once the wire is in place, release the pen tip from the top of the terminal.

Insert the color-coded irrigation wires into the station terminals according to the valve number. For example, if the red wire is connected to valve number 3, insert the red wire into the "Station 3" terminal.

Confirm that all inserted color-coded wires match up to the color-coded wires connected to the terminals. It's not uncommon to use an irrigation burial wire with many color-coded irrigation wires. This allows for additional valves in the future.

Remove the irrigation box lid from the irrigation valve manifold. You will see bundles of wires coming from the solenoids of each valve. These wired bundles are bound together by watertight splice connectors. Unscrew each connector, one by one, and confirm that the bundled wires are stripped 1/2 inch and are touching.

Screw the watertight splice connectors firmly onto the end of each bundle. One color-coded wire should be connected to one wire per solenoid. The white common irrigation wire should be connected to the remaining wire from all the solenoids in the valve manifold to make for a larger bundle.