Tracing Irrigation Wiring
 

Is it possible to trace irrigation wiring on my Irrigation system around my house?

My system has 4 zones with one controller for each zone.
If one of those controllers' malfunction's I am screwed because I only know where one is. 😟


Cheers!

In all of the homes I have seen, ALL of the controllers were in one box. There was a main manual cutoff valve, and several electrical zone control valves. Look for a pink (possibly another color) box close to the house wall. When you open this you should find the previously mentioned equipment.
Hope this helps.

I believe you have only one cable with at least 5 conductors going to your manifold, which is in your irrigation box. Four of the conductors go to four valves, each of which controls one zone. The fifth conductor is the ground which is used for each zone.

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A direct and accurate answer
 

Yes you can. The device you use to do this is called a fox and hound. They start around 40.00 to hundreds of dollars.see amazon.

The proplem with the small ones is the detection range of two or less inches. As you would suspect more dollars buys range.

Neat, I’ll have to get one!

I do not think these work on low voltage wiring, all the ones I have seen plug into sockets and have a sensor to see which breaker is feeding the socket, however I could be wrong on this.

And you are incorrect, I have done this several times. Infact several models include the fittings to trace phone wires.

I have traced cable tv lines, dead circuit household wiring and doorbells with one. The ones you are talking about are for live household circuits. They are clearly not the same and plainly marked

Tone Generator
 

Yes..
This is the one I use.

Amazon.com

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The electric control/scheduler module is usually in the garage. A multi-conductor cable runs from this module out to a inground box outside of your garage. All the wires/conductors inside this cable runs to the same inground box with a lid that should be visible outside. All the electric solenoids that control the zones are inside this inground box. If your desire is just to locate the route of this cable, so that you don’t accidentally cut this cable when planting something you need someone with specialized locating equipment to do that. 15-20 minute job. (Electrician or plumber)

I had to have the irrigation wiring moved when we expanded our lanai. It appeared that the wire was placed very close to the foundation, about 6 inches below the surface. On the other hand, I've spoken to some landscapers, and they say it usually is in the same trench where the irrigation piping is laid. Two different locations. Can't tell you if my installation was an anomaly or the landscapers were wrong.

Irrigation Wire
 

I believe you want to trace the control wire from the controller to the manifold box. The controller or somewhere inside the low volt Leviton box should have a sticker indicating the name of the landscape company who did the work. Call them, they should know the routing of the wire.

In my opinion if you had an issue with your irrigation wiring it would be easier just running a new wire than trying to fix the existing wire. If it's like mine it would be run along the house where the landscaping is and then trying to dig with all the plant roots would be a nightmare.

I don't work in TV, but at home in Colorado, the irrigation supply stores rent the locator for $15/day. They work well on irrigation wires. I am surprised, this may by the first time I have seen TVT being incorrect. He is correct about the one-box thing though. I wonder if we don't quite understand how you system is installed. The location process is particular, and waving the magic wand locator is an art. But the signal should be clear enough in the shallow, sandy soil. Just read the directions, and/or get advice from the supply store.