Want to upgrade from Hydrotek 1114 to Orbit B-hyve

[Newguyirragation]

Hello everyone, bought my first house acouple of months ago in Martin County FL
I am new to homeowner stuff including the irragation system that this house came with.

What ive learned so far is this house has one valve and assuming 4 zones with a Hydrotek 1114

I want to upgrade this system so i bought a "Orbit 57946 B-hyve Smart Indoor/Outdoor 6-Station WiFi Sprinkler System Controller"
Also bought a new "Irritrol 2713APR Electric Anti-Siphon Valve of Stainless Bonnet with Flow Control, 1"" just to have things new.
This valve is an exact match of what i have.

Replacing the valve is no big deal to me, pretty straight forward, but when it comes to this controller, it has me stumped.
I cant find anywhere on the internet that shows a Hydrotek to a newer system.

Can this be done?? i'll post pictures of what i have. Sorry if i post them incorrectly.

I have 3 conduits going into my Hyrdo box.
Left: conduit is the 2 wires going to the valve.
Middle: i have no idea what its going to
Right: Power source (which has no ground (i am removing the plug from the Orbit and hard-wiring it since i dont have an plug outlet outside for this))

Also have a PVC pipe (2 tied together) coming out the ground with what looks like a sensor in one of them. Is this a Rain sensor and is this with the middle conduit in the Hydro box is for?

Would anyone know how to wire my old system to this new one?

Thank you all!

 

[Newguyirragation]

I think i figured it out.. somewhat.

I can connect the power source from the right condiut (white/Black) to the correct connection inside the plug box. But not grounded as i dont have a ground wire. I have already opened up the plug box.
Then connect one of the wires from each conduit (left and middle) to each Common
Then left conduit wire connected to blue, i would connect to 1
and the middle conduit wire connected to blue, i would connect to 2 (even though i dont have another valve.

Its the middle conduit that i dont know where to connect the wires to.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[WorthFlorida]

I just noticed this post. Did you get the new controller installed. I had the same system on my last home in Lake Worth. Around 2005 I upgraded with zone valves by eliminating the PIA indexing valve and a new controller.

With conduit it may be possible to run a ground wire. I would not hardwire this unit because you still need a cutoff switch unless the breaker is nearby for easy access. Your post is a bit confusing. Is this on city water?

 

[Newguyirragation]

I just noticed this post. Did you get the new controller installed. I had the same system on my last home in Lake Worth. Around 2005 I upgraded with zone valves by eliminating the PIA indexing valve and a new controller.

With conduit it may be possible to run a ground wire. I would not hardwire this unit because you still need a cutoff switch unless the breaker is nearby for easy access. Your post is a bit confusing. Is this on city water?

Thank you for replying. Cool, I grew up in Lake Worth! John I Leonard 05! lol

Anyways.. i dont know much about irrigation. As im brand new to this. Like a 15yr old driving stick shift.
Im trying not to be confusing. Yes city water on HOA grounds and no i haven’t installed it yet. Sitting in my garage.
Breaker is located on the other side of the wall (garage) about 5 feet away inside.

The only thing i just dont know what to wire up, is the middle conduit coming from the ground to the box.
The left conduit one is going to the valve (and thats wired from controller transformer (blue) and common (clear) ) and the right is the power supply but no ground wire.

The middle is going to UNKNOWN (that is wired from controller transformer as well (blue) and clear (thinking its common too) )

So wiring this with the new B-Hyve controller, i dont know where to wire that middle conduit (blue wire going to the transformer) … looks like it could only wire up to either “sensor”, “pump”; I don’t think, or “valve 2”; I don’t have another valve.

Thinking for Sensor for a rain sensor.

In my first picture, theres 2 PVC piping coming straight out of the ground about 4 ft up. Another pic of the top view of those PVC piping with my foot in it.
I am tempted to unscrew some of that PVC to see if its blue/clear wiring; If so then that would HAVE to be the middle conduit and it would have to be a rain sensor.


Here in the HOA community, all the houses have these piping near the irrigation system like mine.

 

[WorthFlorida]

With a zone valve, there is only one solenoid to operate. It looks like it is on the left conduit going to the grass level. The right one is definitely AC power. The 24v ac seems to go into both middle and left conduits. Need a picture with the wires spread out better.

What are those two pipes zipped tied together?

You need to dig out the left conduit to see where to goes two. I think it's the main solenoid from the water main.

 

[Newguyirragation]

With a zone valve, there is only one solenoid to operate. It looks like it is on the left conduit going to the grass level. The right one is definitely AC power. The 24v ac seems to go into both middle and left conduits. Need a picture with the wires spread out better.

What are those two pipes zipped tied together?

You need to dig out the left conduit to see where to goes two. I think it's the main solenoid from the water main.

Awesome thanks
So sorry i forgot to include this ... The left wires going to the valve (or my picture showing it going to the ground level) is the broken connection that is supposed to be going to the valve. i just have it hanging down and its touching the grass. Its also the other reason why i bought a new valve. So yes the left conduit definitely goes to that.

The 2 pipes ziptied together are in question as well. i think its a rain sensor that is traveling underground to the middle conduit box but its a good idea that i dig up the ground to see where the middle box conduit is going to.

I do know that the blue wires coming from the transformer/controller ("Power out") is going to left conduit (valve) and middle conduit (unknown).
I'll take better pics soon.

Question: If i dig up that middle conduit and it doesnt lead to those zip tied pipes (and goes into another direction underground, then i would have to go with what you are saying and say that its the main solenoid from the water main. IF SO, where do i connect those wire to the B-Hyve? to the one labeled "pump"?

 

[johnslawngarden]

Awesome thanks
So sorry i forgot to include this ... The left wires going to the valve (or my picture showing it going to the ground level) is the broken connection that is supposed to be going to the valve. i just have it hanging down and its touching the grass. Its also the other reason why i bought a new valve. So yes the left conduit definitely goes to that.

The 2 pipes ziptied together are in question as well. i think its a rain sensor that is traveling underground to the middle conduit box but its a good idea that i dig up the ground to see where the middle box conduit is going to.

I do know that the blue wires coming from the transformer/controller ("Power out") is going to left conduit (valve) and middle conduit (unknown).
I'll take better pics soon.

Question: If i dig up that middle conduit and it doesnt lead to those zip tied pipes (and goes into another direction underground, then i would have to go with what you are saying and say that its the main solenoid from the water main. IF SO, where do i connect those wire to the B-Hyve? to the one labeled "pump"?

I would also suggest to remove that indexing unit entirely (the black unit on those 3-4 pipes), and install a new manifold with valves serving each of those zones. One of the reasons you're having an issue is because the old system is a bit archaic now. Since you bought a smart timer box, it would be great to get full use out of it. Essentially the indexing valve is taking that control away from you.

I have no idea what those random zip tied pipes are. If it's a rain sensor, I wouldn't bother including it on this system. B-Hyve doesn't work well with them from my experience, and has smart software that connects weather forecasting for that instead.

If the extra wire you have is going to a master control valve at the water main, then connecting it to the "pump" option would be appropriate. You may or may not have a master control valve, and so you should verify this physically. Look for irrigation boxes, check in the meter box, and check around the meter box for any obvious signs of an irrigation box. In California, it's extremely rare to have a MV on a residential property. We mainly have manual ball valves (usually copper) going to PVC irrigation piping. I am unsure of how it's done in Florida.

Irrigation wiring should feel straight forward. If it doesn't, then you might be overthinking it, or there might be something done wrong or odd that you can simplify yourself. The common connection on timer box connects one line to all valves in the yard. Each colored wire has 1 line from a valve attached to it (1 valve per colored line going to timer box). The wires on the solenoids themselves are interchangeable and which one you attach the "hot line" and "common line" to is completely inconsiquential.

IE: Imagine you have the following setup:

1MV - 1C to common on timer box
1VLV -1C to common on timer box
2VLV- 1C to common on timer box
3VLV- 1C to common on timer box
All 1C connect together and then to a single wire going to the common on timer box.

1MV -1Blue to Pump on Timer Box
1VLV -1Red to Zone 1 on Timer Box
2VLV -1Green to Zone 2 on Timer Box
3VLV -1Brown to Zone 3 on timer box.
Each "hot" line runs directly to timer box and each "hot" line differentiates a different zone/valve.


Thanks!
John
Landscaping & Irrigation John's Lawn & Garden

 

[WorthFlorida]

Question: If i dig up that middle conduit and it doesnt lead to those zip tied pipes (and goes into another direction underground, then i would have to go with what you are saying and say that its the main solenoid from the water main. IF SO, where do i connect those wire to the B-Hyve? to the one labeled "pump"?

If you want to continue to use the indexing valve you'll need to wire the solenoid to terminal 1 only. You cannot use the motor terminal since it will not cycle off and on during a scheduled programmed time.

I believe the controller has four program. You'll need to schedule A, B, C and D with a few minutes apart for zone one. Between each schedule the power is removed from the solenoid allowing the index valve to rotate to the next zone.

This old controller when using a rain sensor had the 24v ac switched by the rain sensor. Usually the rain sensor was mounted on the rain gutter.

 

[Newguyirragation]

Thank you for the help!! i wired up everything including the 2 ziptied PVC to the "sensor" as a rain sensor and everything works as it should. Fun part was going around the house and digging holes finding any stuck sprinkler heads as the grass grew over some.

Yea i will scheduling A,B,C and D. I kind of wished the indexing valve was open for all 4 zones so it can water the entire lot grass at once. But from my understanding there wouldn’t be enough pressure? or could an indexing valve get eliminated and go straight the PVC pipes to water the house at once? might be a silly question, thought i asked.
Well im very happy with having a system up and running.

 

[WorthFlorida]

I had a neighbor cut out the zone valve, tie it all together, He had a small canal behind his lot and installed a 2HP irrigation pump. Glad I was able to help.