QuestionHi, I've had a RainBird controller ESP-8TM running my irrigation system for 4 years. Over the last 6 months it has started to intermittently blow the 250V 0.5 amp fuse. On replacing the fuse, the unit continues on from the zone it failed on and works through the end of the cycle. This happens maybe every 2 months and it never seems to fail on the same zone (otherwise I would suspect a faulty control valve for that specific zone). It has never failed on a zone below zone 3, but I've had it fail on zone 4, 5 and 6 with no set pattern to the failure. All zones are in use with durations between 30mins and 60 mins each zone. could this be a controller falure ??
AnswerHey Eric, I hope this helps. More than likely it is not a controller problem. It sounds like it is either in one of the solenoids on the valve, or in the wiring itself. Normally if a fuse blows, it either meams the solenoid is bad, and is shorting out, or a field wire is crossed with the common field wire. The first thing I would try, is to set each zone for about 30 minutes each, and let each zone run one at a time, and see if a particular zone blows the fuse (sounds as though this is not the case). If the 4,5,and 6 zones are the only ones failing, then I would suggest tracing out these wires, and seeing if there is a cut or nick in the wire, or wires, and if one of your hot wires is crossed with common field wire. Let me know if I can answer any more questions, thanks and have a great day.
