2 valves come on at once

[CNT]

For some reason I have 2 zones that are coming on at the same time. I have verified at the controller that there is only power to one zone at a time. I then traced the wire to where it comes into the control box and it appears to be wired correctly. Valve 1 has a white and blue wire and valve 2 has a white and red wire which corresponds to the same zones in the controller. If I unhook just the red or blue wire both valves still come on when you activate either zone 1 or 2. If I completely unhook the 2 wires from one of the valves then it operates correctly. What could be causing this?
Just a note this is a six zone system with 2 valve boxes. One has 2 valves and the other has 4 valves. The main problem is in the box with 2 valves but the other box does have 2 valves doing the same thing. I did find where the wires are spliced together and everything looks good.

 

[Upper]

No dought you got wires crossed.......Upper

 

[Sponsor]

 

[CNT]

Would it be the wiring to the solenoid crossed? Because I can trace the blue, red and white all the way back to the control box and it looks good. One thing I did not look at was the white wire in the control box. Could that be messed up some how? I would think that is ok because 2 valves do operate correctly.

 

[Upper]

so you are useing 7 wires total? 6 different colors and a common? Upper

 

[CNT]

Correct. It comes out of the house from the control box then splits only the red, blue and white go to the one valve box and the other colors and white go to the other valve box.

 

[CNT]

I think I know what might be causing this and will test this weekend. I think I may the red and blue wire may be touching each other somewhere between the controller and valve box causing it to complete the circuit. Because when I removed the red wire and left the white it still came on when either zone 1 red or zone 2 blue was on. It's the only way I can see that happening. I will get some new wire and test.

 

[CNT]

I think I know what might be causing this and will test this weekend. I think the red and blue wire may be touching each other somewhere between the controller and valve box causing it to complete the circuit. Because when I removed the red wire and left the white it still came on when either zone 1 red or zone 2 blue was on. It's the only way I can see that happening. I will get some new wire and test.

 

[CNT]

Update: I checked the power with a voltage meter in the valve box and verified both the red and blue have power when zone 1 or 2 are on. I then went back to the split and there was power on both wires so I went all the way back to the control box and both zone 1 and 2 have power at the same time. I tested that at first and they did not but I must have done something wrong. Looks to me then that the controller is bad. Does anyone know if there is any kind of jumper for a Rainbird ESP6TM? If there is not then I will need to replace. I am going to contact Rainbird to verify also.

 

[Upper]

Are there any start times in program b or c?...........Upper

 

[CNT]

There is no settings for program B but I did read that there can be problems where they hold settings in memory even though you do not see them. It says from rainbird to remove battery and fuse for a few minutes then put back and reprogram. I guess that will be my next attempt.
I did play around more and removed the red wire for zone 1 from the control box and when I turned on zone 1 nothing happened but when I turned on zone 2 both zones came on. I then reversed the test and removed blue wire for zone 2 and when zone 1 was turned on both zones came on but nothing with zone 2. When I unhook the white and 1 color from either zone that zone does not come on at all as expected. This seems to indicate that the valves are functioning properly.
I am at a lose here as this seems very strange. I will try the battery thing and report back.

 

[Upper]

CNT Test the number 1 with the wire off ,then with the wire on.Easy deal .............Upper

 

[CNT]

Fixed..... I ran a new low voltage line from the control box to the valve and everything works great. Must have been a cut in the wire somewhere causing the 2 wires to make a complete circuit all the time. Thanks for all the help and have a great summer.