Irritrol 36 plus-12 years old

[jtbland]

controller works, however program one will start and program two and four will not? Also when starting a program it will not continue through the programming through all station on a cycle, it stops at the first valve only. but the main concern would be that the other programs will not start with the programed time starts? Do i do a power disconnect, battery pull and wait 5 min and wiped out and reset the entire program to make this work or is this a faulty clock?

[DanaMac]

Do the reset first, as it cannot hurt to try, and it's free. But it may be the controller is faulty or hit by lightning. Many components on a truck or car need replacing after 12+ years as well. It happens.

[SoCalLandscapeMgmt]

Try erasing all of the programs and starting over. That controller has non volatile memory so just unplugging it will not fully reset it if the problem is a programming issue. The command to erase the program is to turn the dial to the program then press 1 - 3 - 7 - 9 and then enter. Do that for each program and then power the controller down, pull the battery and let it sit for a good 15 minutes and then power it back up and re-program.

[Mike Leary]

I don't even remember that clock. Was it after the MC and before the Dial?

[irrig8r]

Originally Posted by Mike Leary

I don't even remember that clock. Was it after the MC and before the Dial?

The MCs were yellowish-tan and the MC Pluses were pinkish-tan with a funky twist lock on the plastic terminal strip cover and different graphics. Dial ABs were around before them.

[irrig8r]

There are a few on eBay. Here's one. My recollection is they used 4 NiCad AA batteries in a bundle for back up, but maybe it was a NiCad 9 V?

[irrig8r]

Originally Posted by SoCalLandscapeMgmt

Try erasing all of the programs and starting over. That controller has non volatile memory so just unplugging it will not fully reset it if the problem is a programming issue. The command to erase the program is to turn the dial to the program then press 1 - 3 - 7 - 9 and then enter. Do that for each program and then power the controller down, pull the battery and let it sit for a good 15 minutes and then power it back up and re-program.

I thought it was the MC Plus-B that had the NVM.

Edit:
I may be wrong. Found a 1997 MC Plus manual online that says it has a NVM and a 9 V alkaline for current time.
All I can figure is that the one on one of my jobs with the NiCad batteries must be an earlier version.

[SoCalLandscapeMgmt]

Originally Posted by irrig8r

I thought it was the MC Plus-B that had the NVM.

Edit:
I may be wrong. Found a 1997 MC Plus manual online that says it has a NVM and a 9 V alkaline for current time.
All I can figure is that the one on one of my jobs with the NiCad batteries must be an earlier version.

If it's 12 years old it should be an MC-B+. The original MC+ and MC-A+ had the yellowish/brown metal faceplates. There was no functional or cosmetic difference between the MC+ and the MC-A+. There was a slight design difference electronically. The MC-B+ was released once the James Hardie Co bought Irritrol / Garden America from Black and Decker. The Irritrol B+ Series were all engineered by James Hardie.

[irrig8r]

Originally Posted by SoCalLandscapeMgmt

If it's 12 years old it should be an MC-B+. The original MC+ and MC-A+ had the yellowish/brown metal faceplates. There was no functional or cosmetic difference between the MC+ and the MC-A+. There was a slight design difference electronically. The MC-B+ was released once the James Hardie Co bought Irritrol / Garden America from Black and Decker. The Irritrol B+ Series were all engineered by James Hardie.

You mean James Hardie the company, not the man, right? Because the man for whom the company was named died in 1920.

[irrig8r]

Originally Posted by SoCalLandscapeMgmt

If it's 12 years old it should be an MC-B+. The original MC+ and MC-A+ had the yellowish/brown metal faceplates. There was no functional or cosmetic difference between the MC+ and the MC-A+. There was a slight design difference electronically. The MC-B+ was released once the James Hardie Co bought Irritrol / Garden America from Black and Decker. The Irritrol B+ Series were all engineered by James Hardie.

Was there a version that had both an NVM and NiCad backup? One I'm referring too looks just like the one in the photo, but with 12 stations. I'll see if I can find a date code and model # when I get there next time. My recollection is that it didn't have an NVM and lost programming when the batteries died. Slated to be replaced soon.