servicing Two Rocks to Trigg – call Andrew 0400044236
Not sure how to set your control box and lost the manual?
Then just check this page and you may well find your box listed and them manual that is required.
This is the Brighton Reticulation Blog and our main site can be found here For service or advice with the issues in this post call Andrew on 0400044236, or email us hereEvery now and then you hit puzzling jobs. Today was one of those.
Yesterday I tested the retic, set the control and box and left with everything working well. Then just as I had got home the phone rang and it was the person who I had just worked for.
Their retic no longer worked…
What had happened in the 2 hours in between?…
Well… a bobcat had come thu and made a mess of one solenoid, but now the station that did work no longer worked. Strange…
I got there today to test things. The most obvious check is to test for power at the solenoids. I did that and we had it, then we didn’t, then we did again… and so on.
I suspected a broken wire because the only solenoid that would work was the master. However it too stopped working… So we went to the control box and tested each terminal for power. One registered voltage and the others were dead.
After looking everywhere for the obvious broken wire (a bobcat had been thru so anything could have happened) we ended up coming back to testing the control box and discovering that it was the issue. We replaced the control nox and everything worked.
Bizarre… nothing very logical about it, but by a process of deduction we got there. So if you have similar problems it may be your control box.
This is the Brighton Reticulation Blog and our main site can be found here For service or advice with the issues in this post call Andrew on 0400044236, or email us here
Before I got into retic I used to get my wife to do this… so if you find it difficult then know you’re not alone!
These days I can set most controllers quickly and easily so its a case of having a minimum charge. For local suburbs (anywhere north of Hester Ave) I charge $35.00, but for other areas it is a minimum fee of $65 + GST.
This is the Brighton Reticulation Blog and our main site can be found here For service or advice with the issues in this post call Andrew on 0400044236, or email us here
Some of you will know how to do this, but if you don’t then you need to know because in Western Australia today is the start of winter and it needs to be turned off for the next 3 months.
Basically whichever controller you are using, the dial needs to be turned to the off position. If you aren’t sure what to do then you can either give me a call, simply turn it off at the switch or remove the fuse if its a hardwired box.
Hopefully it will be pretty straightforward.
We desperately need lots of rain this winter and for everyone to turn their retic off!
This is the Brighton Reticulation Blog and our main site can be found here For service or advice with the issues in this post call Andrew on 0400044236, or email us here
If you live in Brighton then chances are you will have an Irritrol Quikdial control box like the one below.
I can only guess that the developers picked these up as a real bargain because they are far from being the best control box on the market.
Their major fault is the absence of a battery backup, so every time you have a power outage you lose your settings. However it is also common to be rung and told the controller is showing the word ‘fuse’ and failing to run on one or more stations.
Nine times out of ten the fuse message indicates a faulty solenoid coil. If it shows up when you try to run every station then it is most likely the master valve. If it only faults on a particular station then that is the one that needs replacing.
To test if it is the master solenoid remove the master solenoid wire from the control box, reset the box so the ‘fuse’ message disappears (put a flat blade screwdriver over the ‘reset’ terminals) and then test each station in turn. If nothing faults then you have found your problem.
If it still shows a fuse message then simply observe which station it faults on and that will be the source of the problem.
The next task is to find the solenoid and replace the coil. I have written about how to do this here.
Occasionally it is not the coil that is the problem, but its actually the control box. Unfortunately the only way to verify this is by eliminating the variables. I’d suggest you start with the coil as its much cheaper to replace, but be aware that you might have to replace the box as well.
If you need a kwikdial manual then you can get one here.
For help with any of these issues call Andrew on 0400044236 or email brightonreticulation@gmail.com
If your controller is showing a ‘fuse’ message or actually blowing a fuse then the most likely cause is the coil on the solenoid or some wires crossed somewhere in the system.
The coil is the electrical component of the solenoid and when it malfunctions it causes the fuse to blow and protect the control box. If your control box doesn’t have a fuse or isn’t able to show a ‘fuse message’ then it may actually damage the box and end up causing you more $$ for a new box.
The fix for this is relatively simple – assuming you know where your solenoids are…
Once you have located the faulty solenoid simply unscrew the coil and disconnect it from the common and power wires. Make sure you label the wires so that you know how to put it back together.
Take the coil down to your local retic shop and ask for a replacement. Assuming its a common model they should be able to fix you up for $20-$30.00 and then you can go home, screw it back in and reconnect.
If this doesn’t fix the issue then it will most likely be a case of locating faulty wiring, a more time consuming process, or it may be that there is a fault in the control box itself.
For help with any of these issues call Andrew on 0400044236 or email brightonreticulation@gmail.com
