TMetz60
New Member
About 2 months ago I upgraded my controller to a Weathermatic SL 1600 and I have a 7 zone system so I have 2 of the four zone modules. It has worked GREAT until a few days ago when I noticed my lawn hadn't been watered for several days.
I went to check on the controller and the screen was blank. Checked for power at the outlet and was 120v. I put a new 12v battery in and the screen came back on. But a fault error was blinking on the screen. The built in diagnostics showed I had "0" zones and that the VAC output was only 6.87v
when it should read about 24 volts.
After researching online what could be wrong, it appeared I had a bad controller. I took it back to the supply house and they readily gave me a new controller under warranty.
I tried re-installing it this afternoon. After attaching all 7 zone wires, I plugged the controller into the outlet and started to run through the self tests again and it showed I had all 7 zones but a fault in zone 3.
This SL 1600 also has a built in valve locator feature that makes the valve chatter loud enough to find it under the grass. I set zone 3 to chatter only to have smoke start coming from my BRAND NEW CONTROLLER!
I quickly unplugged it. I removed the #3 Zone wire and plugged the unit back in but now it is doing the exact same thing as the 1st one that I replaced.
Can a bad valve cause the Controller to burn up? What else could be wrong?
I went to check on the controller and the screen was blank. Checked for power at the outlet and was 120v. I put a new 12v battery in and the screen came back on. But a fault error was blinking on the screen. The built in diagnostics showed I had "0" zones and that the VAC output was only 6.87v
when it should read about 24 volts.
After researching online what could be wrong, it appeared I had a bad controller. I took it back to the supply house and they readily gave me a new controller under warranty.
I tried re-installing it this afternoon. After attaching all 7 zone wires, I plugged the controller into the outlet and started to run through the self tests again and it showed I had all 7 zones but a fault in zone 3.
This SL 1600 also has a built in valve locator feature that makes the valve chatter loud enough to find it under the grass. I set zone 3 to chatter only to have smoke start coming from my BRAND NEW CONTROLLER!
I quickly unplugged it. I removed the #3 Zone wire and plugged the unit back in but now it is doing the exact same thing as the 1st one that I replaced.
Can a bad valve cause the Controller to burn up? What else could be wrong?