How To Wire Orbit Sprinkler Timer

If you have a sprinkler system, it is high time that you start planning about connecting the sprinkler timer onto the system. The timer will provide you lots of benefits in the long run.

As a homeowner, you must know some basic skills regarding electrical stuff, including wiring the orbit sprinkler timer. Instead of hiring an electrician, you can get this kind of job done by yourself without any hesitation. As a result, your time and money will be saved.

With the help of a sprinkler timer, you can control its timing. This means that you will have the power to adjust the timer in a way that it will turn on at a specific time of your choice and then it will automatically stop without your presence. Thus, your beloved lawn will get watered automatically without any physical effort from your side. Sounds lucrative, right!

Following the article, you will get the complete guideline about the wiring of orbit sprinkler timer in a very process. Read on to find out more.

Necessary Equipment

• Electric drill
• Drill bits (Masonry bits for drilling concrete walls or bricks)
• Metal center punch (Usable in marking the center of the drilling holes)
• Drill bit (Wood type – necessary for drilling holes in timer cabinet)
• Marker
• Hammer
• Level
• Screws
• Screwdrivers

Steps To Set And Wire Orbit Sprinkler Timer

There are some steps you need to follow if you want to set yourself the sprinkler timer with caution.

Step 1: Find out the desired location of the sprinkler timer. Check the power supply and decide whether you will use the timer as an outdoor model or an indoor one. If you are going for the first one, you have to go for hard wiring, and for the second one, plugging into the outlet will do the work smoothly.

Step 2: Take the timer and unpack it first. For the installation and wiring process, you will find out all the necessary documents in the package.

Step 3: Remove the face of the timer, and don’t panic; the face will come out easily. There will be clips or plastic tabs on to the front unit. If you don’t find it, check the sides also. Don’t forget to detach the ribbon connector. You can also take out the cabinet door if you prefer, and you can do this by taking out the steel pin that connects the door to the cabinet.

Step 4: To be on the safer side, drill some extra mounting holes. Do it on the back of your cabinet. Sprinkler timers normally come with already drilled holes or mounted hardware. If your one comes with the drilled system, you can ignore this step.

Step 5: Likewise, if you are interested in doing hard wiring, you should start by cutting the power of electricity. Then, turn off the break that is directed to the wires. For precaution, check the electricity wires whether they are completely shut down or not.

To do this checking, use volt-meter in all cases. If the meter creates an alarming sound, you should back off as it proves that there is still some electricity running. Avoid touching the wire in this situation. Touching it accidentally will harm you in a bad way, and the timer will also get damaged along the process. So, be careful!

Step 6: Mount the cabinet at the level of your eye. Make it as comfortable as possible. Gently put the cabinet in the wall and use the scale to check whether the cabinet is even or not. Take the marker and start marking the walls. Do it through the holes precisely.

Step 7: Use the metal center punch and line it up accurately onto the wall marks. Gently hit it with the hammer to make a small dimple into the wall. This is done to ensure that the drill bits get properly centered and are stable throughout the drilling process. After you complete this task, start drilling into the marks.

Step 8: Take the plastic inserts and put them onto the holes. Use the hammer onto the inserts to make it stick to the wall.

Step 9: Mount the timer cabinet onto the wall with the help of the screws. Make the connection of the station wires and take notes about the purpose of each cable for each valve of the overall sprinkler system.

Step 10: This is the most important part. You have to re-mount the face of the timer and then re-attach the connector onto the board. After this step, you can turn the power on with confidence. If you haven’t finished this step, take a step back from the power supply.

Step 11: Do the replacement of the cabinet door. The timer is now fully prepared to operate. Congrats!

Proper Way To Wire The Controller To The Valves

• Use the sprinkler wire in this case. White wires are generally known as the common wire, and the other wires are used for the connection of electricity for different sprinkler valves.
• Carefully turn off the power supply to the sprinkler. When you will start the wiring process, read the instruction of the wires. From there, you will find all the wiring colors and their connection. Find out the terminal in the sprinkler. You will see that the alphabet ‘C’ is written on it. Connect the white wire onto that terminal.
• Connect the wire from the solenoid on each of the zone valves and run it back to the sprinkler. If the valves are located in the underground, run the wire on the line of the PVC pope towards the valve. As it is an electrical connection, you should make sure that everything is waterproof. If some water leaks out of the blue, the waterproof will shield the solenoid.
• You should take note of all the wiring connections because each of them works differently from their starting point to the sprinkler. Hence, we recommend that you should make a circuit diagram, including the wiring connections so that you can use it in the future if some malfunction arises.
• After setting up the wiring, turn on the power to test the orbit sprinkler.

Conclusion

As you have seen, wiring an orbit sprinkler is not a complicated process. Like the other kind of project that you prefer to do to improve your home, this task also requires you to have patience and proper knowledge.

Always make your work an enjoyable one.

Have a good day!

Comments: More or less, this article is all about instructions, and instructions need to be written in a flow. Here is the lacking, steps are not properly engaged with each other.