Question
I had a plumber out to work on my hot water heater.  Since then, I can't turn on my sprinklers even manually.  I am getting codes on the display like 1A06 and 5A02. what does that mean?  We've had the system for almost 30 years,  Is it just old?

Answer
I would first check and see if the plumber turned off the main valve feeding the sprinkling system, and never turned it back on!!! This controller has not been around for a long time, but usually the 1A06 would be station #1 on program A set for 6 minutes. 5A02 station 5 on program A for 2 minutes. Before you replace it, turn a station on manually, lets say station #1, now take a volt/ohm meter and put the positive lead on the terminal marked #1 in the bottom of the controller, and the negative lead on the C (common) terminal, and see if you are getting a reading between 22 to 26 volts. If you are getting a good reading, then the controller is probably okay, if not you need to replace it. I recommend a Irri-trol "Rain dial|" controller, they are a quality controller and will be easy to program. Ask your plumber first if he turned off the valve. Good luck and have a great day.