Question
Hello Jim,
I acquired a Rain Bird model RC-7Bi with our home a couple of years ago. This seems to be a very good system, but for some reason the system does not change from zone 1 when it is programmed. I tried one last time before looking on line for help. I programmed each of the 7 zones to run for 15 minutes, beginning at 6am today. When I got up and went out to check it at 7am, it was still on zone 1.  I have to run it manually any time I want to water, and have been doing so for 2 years now.  Any thoughts on how to remedy this issue?

Thanks,
Jay

Answer
Hey Jay, so this particular controller has 2 motors, one that keeps the time of day/and also times the zone duration, and one motor that advances the big turret (zone run times) from zone to zone. It sounds like the timer motor is working fine. When you say you run it manually, do you have to physically turn the dial from zone to zone, or once you get it to click past the zone, does it automatically advance to the next zone? If it does not advance on its own, then the motor has gone bad, and needs to be replaced. If it advances on its own, once you turn it past the zone run time, then it is the switch at the top back of the controller that needs to be replaced. Rainbird has not made this controller for a long time, and I do not believe you can get parts anymore, but you might want to check with Rainbird and see if parts are available. If you can not get parts, then either replace it with a Irri-trol "Rain dial" controller, or a Rainbird ESP series controller, either one is compatible with your current system. Good luck and have a great day.