Question
My old irrigation digital timer (LawnGenie Richdel R416LG)stopped working and I will be installing a new one later on this week.  In the meantime, I tried running one zone (out of three total) manually by just applying 24V-AC between the common wire and the "hot" going to the solenoid (buried somewhere) but nothing happened.  The wiring diagram in the old timer's manual (http://tinyurl.com/6qek4q) indicates that some systems may have a pump, and I see an extra wire coming out of the old timer which I can't account for (three zones, four wires + common).  I don't see any power wire going to where the solenoids are buried.  How else can I tell if the system has a pump ?  Could the pump be also buried ?  Should I dig up the whole thing ? Any suggestions ?  THANKS !

Answer
sorry for the late answer.
It sound as if you may have a master valve. Look at the wiring terminals in the controller. On the post MV/P of the controller do you have a wire? If so, you have a master valve or a pump. However if you can't find the pump, I would guess you don't have one.
Try powering the zone terminal and the MV/P terminal at the same time.
Hope this helps.

Matt