Controller install

476 Views 21 Replies 10 Participants Last post by Sprinkus, 4 d ago

FLC2000

Discussion Starter · 7 d ago

So as a few of you know we decided a year ago to get into irrigation repair and maint. My son who just graduated HS will be attending our local CC to get a small business degree and this is what he wants to do.

We have done some light work like replacing and adjusting heads and fixing some small leaks. He will be replacing my moms backflow which is fairly easy.

A friend of mine has offered to let us work on his system. The first thing we are going to do is replace his controller. He has one of those old ones with the pull out knobs. We are going to replace it with a Hunter Pro C controller.

For someone with very limited experience but who catches on to things very quickly how long should this take? From what i understand its taking the old one off and then matching up the zone wires with the new one.

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1idejim

· #2 · 7 d ago

FLC2000 said:
So as a few of you know we decided a year ago to get into irrigation repair and maint. My son who just graduated HS will be attending our local CC to get a small business degree and this is what he wants to do.

We have done some light work like replacing and adjusting heads and fixing some small leaks. He will be replacing my moms backflow which is fairly easy.

A friend of mine has offered to let us work on his system. The first thing we are going to do is replace his controller. He has one of those old ones with the pull out knobs. We are going to replace it with a Hunter Pro C controller.

For someone with very limited experience but who catches on to things very quickly how long should this take? From what i understand its taking the old one off and then matching up the zone wires with the new one.

My pass-fail the BS test is how much effort you put into the final appearance.

Wires should be numbered, and neatly arranged as possible, not perfect but if you strive for perfection, the end results will be top shelf.

A benchmark card with all of your electrical values placed in the cabinet door. Multiple commons should be labeled telling which valves they support, really important when troubleshooting in the future.

Best of luck to you guys

Reactions: 4

FLwater

· #3 · 7 d ago (Edited)

3

It’s really that simple, sort of. You’re replacing an old RC sounds like. I always take a pic of the inside of its a small controller. For my larger ones I get wire tags and number them according to the zone. For a homeowners controller they usually don’t want the zone numbers changed. Figure out how you are going to mount it and have the supplies with you. On garage drywall , have decent anchors, not the ones supplied ( my opinion). On outdoor wood, use deck screws, on stucco….. yeah that stuff sucks.

look at how the wires run into the controller. The Pro C is pre punched with a 3/4” hole, maybe 1/2” make sure to check and have appropriate male adapters or pipe size.

A run (or 2 ) to HomeDepot is usually necessary, don’t worry about it. Make it neat and clean.

Most of my controllers are larger but you get the idea.

Oh , yeah , buy a torpedo level and make the damn thing level !!

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Reactions: 5

GreenLight

· #4 · 7 d ago

If it's an old rainbird mechanical rc, value his youth. Zone wiring will be attached to a pigtail wiring harness with extremely small print on each outgoing wire from the harness. On some of them I think there is a color code diagram on the inside wall of the controller, but certainly not all of them.

Reactions: 2

SoCalLandscapeMgmt

· #5 · 7 d ago

1idejim said:
My pass-fail the BS test is how much effort you put into the final appearance.

Wires should be numbered, and neatly arranged as possible, not perfect but if you strive for perfection, the end results will be top shelf.

A benchmark card with all of your electrical values placed in the cabinet door. Multiple commons should be labeled telling which valves they support, really important when troubleshooting in the future.

Best of luck to you guys

I saw this crap install on a new job I walked on Monday. If after you are done it looks like this then you have failed:

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Reactions: 2

SoCalLandscapeMgmt

· #6 · 7 d ago

4

In all seriousness though, just try to be neat about it like Jim said. Label things, leave enough slack in wires but not a ton, make sure that connections are secure. Approach it from the standpoint of you want the next guy who works on it to not be swearing at you.

Here are some pics of an install I did late last year.

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Reactions: 5

FLC2000

Discussion Starter · #7 · 6 d ago

Where can i pick up those number tags from?

Reactions: 2

RhettMan

· #8 · 6 d ago

FLC2000 said:
Where can i pick up those number tags from?

Seconded

SoCalLandscapeMgmt

· #9 · 6 d ago

FLC2000 said:
Where can i pick up those number tags from?

These are actually printed shrink tube. I have a Dymo printer that will print whatever you want onto shrink tube and then I just use a Milwaukee battery powered heat gun to shrink them on the wire. I like doing it this way because the labels won’t come off like the 3M number tape. Probably overkill but I’m a weirdo with stuff like this. 😆

Reactions: 5

FLC2000

Discussion Starter · #10 · 6 d ago

SoCalLandscapeMgmt said:
These are actually printed shrink tube. I have a Dymo printer that will print whatever you want onto shrink tube and then I just use a Milwaukee battery powered heat gun to shrink them on the wire. I like doing it this way because the labels won’t come off like the 3M number tape. Probably overkill but I’m a weirdo with stuff like this. 😆

Overkill or not it looks great.

Reactions: 3

FLwater

· #11 · 6 d ago (Edited)

3

FLC2000 said:
Where can i pick up those number tags from?

RhettMan said:
Seconded

This is what you’re looking for. This particular brand actually sucks and and only goes to 15. They will work. Peal the whole number line off and wrap it around the wire

The Klein tools booklet is very good.

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Reactions: 2

FLwater

· #12 · 6 d ago

SoCalLandscapeMgmt said:
In all seriousness though, just try to be neat about it like Jim said. Label things, leave enough slack in wires but not a ton, make sure that connections are secure. Approach it from the standpoint of you want the next guy who works on it to not be swearing at you.

Here are some pics of an install I did late last year.
View attachment 544163
View attachment 544162
View attachment 544161
View attachment 544160

Damn!!! Terminal strips! That’s impressive as hell. Thanks for the idea!

Reactions: 4

GreenLight

· #13 · 6 d ago

FLwater said:
Damn!!! Terminal strips! That’s impressive as hell. Thanks for the idea!

Yea, that's nicely done for sure.

Reactions: 1

GreenLight

· #14 · 6 d ago

SoCalLandscapeMgmt said:
These are actually printed shrink tube. I have a Dymo printer that will print whatever you want onto shrink tube and then I just use a Milwaukee battery powered heat gun to shrink them on the wire. I like doing it this way because the labels won’t come off like the 3M number tape. Probably overkill but I’m a weirdo with stuff like this. 😆

Very nice... Im jealous, I have a dymo printer for labels, but it prints off roll. Do you have a possible model number for that? Also have the Milwaukee battery powered heat gun. Love Milwaukee, a little underwhelmed with the heat gun.

SPman

· #15 · 6 d ago

FLwater said:
Damn!!! Terminal strips! That’s impressive as hell. Thanks for the idea!

GreenLight said:
Yea, that's nicely done for sure.

DIN rail. Looks great.

SoCalLandscapeMgmt

· #16 · 6 d ago

GreenLight said:
Very nice... Im jealous, I have a dymo printer for labels, but it prints off roll. Do you have a possible model number for that? Also have the Milwaukee battery powered heat gun. Love Milwaukee, a little underwhelmed with the heat gun.

I’ll look at it next week when I am in the office and get you the model number.

Reactions: 2

AI Inc

· #17 · 5 d ago

If you start installing systems yourself , always use the same wiring color code. Makes troubleshooting easy
Ours is
red z1
blue z2
green z3
yellow z4
brown z5
black z6
orange z 7
grey z8
tan z9
purple z10
pink z11
z12 will vary on manufacturer, sometimes clear , sometimes light blue

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Reactions: 3

FLC2000

Discussion Starter · #18 · 5 d ago

AI Inc said:
If you start installing systems yourself , always use the same wiring color code. Makes troubleshooting easy
Ours is
red z1
blue z2
green z3
yellow z4
brown z5
black z6
orange z 7
grey z8
tan z9
purple z10
pink z11
z12 will vary on manufacturer, sometimes clear , sometimes light blue

I was wondering about this. Is there a standard in the industry for colors and zones or is just kind of a free for all?

AI Inc

· #19 · 5 d ago

FLC2000 said:
I was wondering about this. Is there a standard in the industry for colors and zones or is just kind of a free for all?

Free for all , we do it that way because thats the way wire is
Almost all brands of 4 wire are red, blue , green , white .
5 is red , blue green , yellow white , ect.

Reactions: 1

GreenLight

· #20 · 4 d ago

SoCalLandscapeMgmt said:
I’ll look at it next week when I am in the office and get you the model number.

thank you, would love to add that

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