Ohm out Question?

[Florida 5 Star]

OK Guys I need some help.
I have a question about my darn sprinkler system. I have a old rain bird esp6 that keeps popping fuses. I know the new ones show the fault codes for the zone that might be bad but I don't want to replace the controller if I don't have to.
I know I read it in one of my darn books but I cant find it again. When I ohm out a Solenoid what should the values be to indicate a properly working zone one against a bad one?
Thanks in advance

[Mark B]

They should read between 20-50 ohm's. If none of the solenoid's have been replaced you should get a fairly consistant reading. If you are popping you could have a cut wire but if havn't had any digging around your home then you might have a bad solenoid. You can test the controller with the meter to make sure it isn't bad. I'm sure someone will explain it better then me. Hope this helps.

[Florida 5 Star]

bump

[Planter]

With the common and station wire disconnected from the clock you can test the two wires.
0-5 ohms shorted solenoid
8-10 shorted solenoid or perhaps multiple valves on the station wire
10-50 or 55 should be ok
above that you likely have bad connections, nicked or broken wires or an open solenoid.

You can then check the solenoid at the valve and see if it is shorted or open.

If the solenoid checks out ok, you can isolate which wire (station or common) is bad by doing an ohm check to ground and seeing the difference in their resistance.

A good primer on this is "Trouble Shooting and Maintaining Electrically Controlled Zone Irrigation Systems" from Progressive Electronics.

Hope this helps.