We had a brief power outage today and when I got the mail, I noticed that there was water coming out of one of the sprinkler heads. It was just kind of squirting, not really coming out full force. I thought it was odd and figured the timer reset to midnight and 5 minutes a day (I think that's what happens when it loses all power). So I checked the settings, and the zones were all set to run for times like AH minutes or 72 Minutes or C5 minutes. But the start time was set to off for all of them.

So I turned it to off/rain, then tried running one zone, but it didn't really run so I just set it to off/rain and went back to work. Then I thought I could hear water running, so I checked the valve inside and I could hear it running. A zone that I haven't used in years (because of how much my neighbor waters) was running, but the heads weren't popping up so it was just flowing. So I shut off the valve inside so nothing will run.

I'm wondering if it's likely just the timer thing that's broken or if it's the control that the timer connect to (wherever that may be).

Anybody have any ideas?

The problem is likely the solenoid valve feeding that zone. The valve could be malfunctioning or it could have a particle stuck in it preventing it from the valve from closing fully. A couple of summers ago, the pipe from my house to the bank of solenoid valves for each zone detached. I fixed it by cleaning up the mating surfaces and then priming/gluing the pvc pipes back together. A couple of weeks later, I noticed one of my zones was active without activation from the controller. I turned off the water supply, opened up the valve (after visiting the Hunter website and finding the solenoid valve schematic) and sure enough, a piece of debris was caught in the solenoid mechanism. Give that a try after you make sure the solenoid valve is not actually getting a signal.

If you have a little digital voltmeter around (doesn't everyone?) see if it is getting 24V at the valve. I had an issue with a valve buzzing, and it turned out the voltage was a little low. At least that will isolate the problem to either the valve or the timer. If its getting 24V, its the timer. If not, you've isolated it to the valve.

It was two zones at once (at least). I think that was what was contributing to the seeping rather than spraying.

I've got a digital voltmeter, but I haven't used it in a while. I know where my hydrometer is, but the hydrometer helps make beer. Maybe when I make a temperature controlled fermenter I'll find the voltmeter.

But the next step would be to find the valve. I only know where the box for setting timers is.

Maybe I'm overthinking it. I'm down to watering 3 times a year anyway. Maybe it's time to use the hose.

BP, I'm on the opposite side of that move-back-to-manual right now. With the boys grown and moving out, I have to spend my time on tasks that can't be done automatically. Watering CAN be done automatically, so I can eliminate that from my task list. Already I'm finding, though, that I'm losing touch with watering the grass when it needs it - I'm beginning to say "let the automatic timers deal with it". I'm not sure that is a positive thing.

I decided to try unplugging it and plugging it back in. When I unplugged it, it died completely, so I need a new battery for it (and I thought I had it plugged into a small UPS, but it's just a surge suppressor; I wonder what happened to that UPS). I plugged it back in and it looked normal (just the wrong time of day), no AH minutes or anything like that. So I turned the water back on and tested the stations I use and they all work. I then decided to turn the water off at the valve in case this happens when I'm gone (water running for 4 or 5 days would be a bad idea) and I'll turn it on next time I need it.