I have been using a Hydrotek model 1114 for a number of years for 3 zones. Suggestions please. It used to work OK. Now, it still keeps time but the day indexing wheel does not index so my lawn does not get watered unless I put it on manually. What to do? Is this finished after 13 years?
Hydrotek Problem
- Thread starter Claypool
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Gary Swart
In the Trades
I have no clue about this controller, but a small controller to handle your system is so cheap, I think even if parts were still available, they would cost as much as a new controller.
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Gary, this unit was put in by the builder when the house was built. I am sure it's the cheapest garbage they could find although it has give me 13 years of service. Here's a link to their site. My location is south florida. Thanks for the response.
http://www.krain.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=pages.CompanyInfo&CFID=143579729&CFTOKEN=81713735
http://www.krain.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=pages.CompanyInfo&CFID=143579729&CFTOKEN=81713735
Gary Swart
In the Trades
I'm sure your right about it being the cheapest thing they could find. I have never heard of the brand, but that doesn't mean too much. The fact that it is 13 year old just makes my original point. It has served its time. Retire it and put in a new unit of a known brand. I like Rainbird, but Toro, Orbit, and Hunter, among others, are popular too. With only 3 or 4 circuits, you don't need a controller with a multitude of bells and whistles that can control 59 circuits with 14 difference time settings. All you need is a basic controller. I don't know if there are parts available for your old unit, but even if there are, why put $20 in repairs into a 13 year old controller when you can buy a brand new unit for $25? ($$$ figures are just to illustrate, not quote prices)
Hydrotek controllers are for running indexing valves. If your system is running on city water, then you should have a wire running from the Hydrotek controller to an electric valve, which turns on and off to operate the indexing valve.
The best replacement for an indexing-valve-controller is another of the same. It doesn't have to be a Hydrotek. Intermatic makes this sort of controller, including models that power a shallow-well pump, rather than an electric valve.
That being said, one could always buy the cheapest big-box-store sprinkler controller, and use the "master valve" connection to operate an electric valve feeding the indexing valve. You would do this out of cheapness, and hope that it works. The reason it might fail to work, is that the controllers that are designed for indexing valves have a built-in delay between zones. That delay may be necessary for proper operation of the indexing valve. Nearly all sprinkler controllers will have some short delay between zones, but you can't really depend on it being enough to properly operate an indexing valve.
The best replacement for an indexing-valve-controller is another of the same. It doesn't have to be a Hydrotek. Intermatic makes this sort of controller, including models that power a shallow-well pump, rather than an electric valve.
That being said, one could always buy the cheapest big-box-store sprinkler controller, and use the "master valve" connection to operate an electric valve feeding the indexing valve. You would do this out of cheapness, and hope that it works. The reason it might fail to work, is that the controllers that are designed for indexing valves have a built-in delay between zones. That delay may be necessary for proper operation of the indexing valve. Nearly all sprinkler controllers will have some short delay between zones, but you can't really depend on it being enough to properly operate an indexing valve.
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