Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

GoControl Irrigation Controller

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    #16
    I installed my GoControl tonight and something isn't right. My pump relay made an awful buzzing noise when I turned on a zone. I hooked a separate 24 VAC power supply to the pump relay and it clicked on. I measured the output from the master valve connections and it was only 6-7 VAC instead of the expected 24. I measured the power supply that came with the unit and its 18 VDC as expected. I also measured the output from the active zone and it was the same 6-7 VAC. I measured by placing one probe on the zone terminal and the other probe on the common terminal.

    It seems like the GoControl would need to output 24 VAC to both the master valve and each zone in order for the water valve to open, right? Does it sound like I got a bad unit?

    Comment


      #17
      AZWeimiller,

      I just measured my controller and I got 9.75 VDC on each of the valves (w/load) and I got 16.33 VDC across the pump outputs (no load). I haven't tried the controller yet, that will be tomorrow. So I will have to get back on the results.

      Hope this helps.
      Last edited by cowinger; May 4, 2017, 12:00 AM.

      Comment


        #18
        Originally posted by cowinger View Post
        AZWeimiller,

        I just measured my controller and I got 9.75 VDC on each of the valves (w/load) and I got 16.33 VDC across the pump outputs (no load). I haven't tried the controller yet, that will be tomorrow. So I will have to get back on the results.

        Hope this helps.
        I measured the same output on my controller and it is working perfect to open/close the 24v valves.

        My brother has been in the irrigation business for 30+ years and he mentioned that the 24 AC valves can be held open with low voltage DC. Read this article I found discussing it.

        http://rayshobby.net/understanding-2...inkler-valves/

        Near the bottom it talks about sending a high voltage impulse to retract the solenoid when turning it on and then 9v DC to hold it in. Since it impulses the higher voltage so quick when turning on, I think it's hard to see the spike with a volt meter.

        Comment


          #19
          zakrzep, thanks for the info. Luckily I was aware of these voltages already and how it works. I was trying to give some readings to AZweimiller for him to reference to. He wanted to know if the readings he was getting were correct or not. I guess I didn't do that very well.

          AZweimiller, The buzzing sound is normal. My controller does it too. You might try measuring for dcv again and see if you get the same voltages I did. If so, it is working correctly.

          Comment


            #20
            Originally posted by cowinger View Post
            zakrzep, thanks for the info. Luckily I was aware of these voltages already and how it works. I was trying to give some readings to AZweimiller for him to reference to. He wanted to know if the readings he was getting were correct or not. I guess I didn't do that very well.

            AZweimiller, The buzzing sound is normal. My controller does it too. You might try measuring for dcv again and see if you get the same voltages I did. If so, it is working correctly.
            Thanks for the readings. Interestingly it's not my controller that is buzzing. It is the relay that passes 220v to my pump when it receives 24 VAC from the irrigation controller. From additional reading it sounds like this is called relay "chattering". I wired the relay to the master valve terminals on the GoControl the same as my Rain Bird. The Rain Bird would output 24 VAC on the master valve terminals which causes the relay to click and send 220v down to the pump. The GoControl does not appear to put out 24 VAC on the master valve terminals. As a result the relay fails to engage and makes an awful and loud buzzing noise. The GoControl manual says the master valve terminals support pump start relays that are 24 VAC but I don't see how. Does anyone else use a pump with a relay?

            As far as the water valves: I saw that zakrzep mentioned that they don't necessarily need 24 VAC to open. I can test tonight to see if the solenoid engages with the lower voltage. I didn't actually check I just measured with the multimeter after the relay made that god awful noise.

            Comment


              #21
              Understood. If push comes to shove you could replace your relay with one that has a 15vdc coil and it would work fine with your system. Let us know how it goes!

              Comment


                #22
                Originally posted by cowinger View Post
                Understood. If push comes to shove you could replace your relay with one that has a 15vdc coil and it would work fine with your system. Let us know how it goes!
                The relay is brand new so I can just return it to Amazon. Just bought the house and the old relay was shot. It wouldn't pass the 220v when receiving 24v. The new relay works fine when I use a 24v power supply. I'm going to reach out to Nortek to see what they say before abandoning the controller or my new relay.

                Thanks for the advice.

                Comment


                  #23
                  Nortek literally just told me to return the controller as they are still in testing by the manufacturer and not intended to be sold yet. Bizzare. I'd like to keep it but I can't seem to find the correct relay to trigger at 15VDC and pass 220VAC.

                  Comment


                    #24
                    I think you could get away with a solid state relay. They accept 3-32 vdc at very low current on the input and I have seen them for 220 vac output up to 40A. If you are pulling over 10A on output then I recommend a heatsink for it. There are single phase and 3 phase versions. Saw them on Amazon.

                    Added: FYI, the irrigation controller works perfectly. Just finished setting up. All zones work with UI and HSTouch.
                    Last edited by cowinger; May 4, 2017, 03:55 PM.

                    Comment


                      #25
                      Valve Voltage

                      The controller hits the valve with about 17VDC for a short time then drops to a littler under 5VDC with very short pulses of 17VDC until it turns off.

                      There is a current limit that might be being hit if the solenoid for the relay takes much more current than a valve.

                      Comment


                        #26
                        The coil must be less than or equal to the current required for a valve, about 500mA.

                        Comment


                          #27
                          There are Z-Wave commands to load a schedule into the controller. I haven't figured out how to do that yet.
                          The on time for each valve can be set in one second intervals if the HS allows that. The other way to do that is to just turn on the next valve when you want the previous one to end. Since only the master valve and one zone valve can be on at a time, it will automatically turn off the previous valve.

                          Comment


                            #28
                            Here is an example of a water schedule event I created. Maybe you can create yours based on some of the entries. Sorry it's in two pics but couldn't get it all to fit in one.
                            Attached Files

                            Comment


                              #29
                              I have this controller and am curious as to what the System Enable does? Does it turn on a pump?

                              Comment


                                #30
                                The system enable actually can control the unit and the running of the event. If it is disabled the controller will flash a red led on the controller and the event will not run. If it is enabled the controller will show a steady green led. Now all events will run. As a double precaution I have an appliance module on the power adapter to the controller that I can turn the power on or off entirely.

                                The pump output is turned on automatically by the unit before it turns on a valve.

                                Re-test change!!

                                It appears that the system enable doesn't do anything to stop the running of the event. I stand corrected. I ran an event that applied power to the power adapter and then turned on a valve with the system enable off and the event ran and the valve came on. So the lines with the system enable can be removed.
                                Last edited by cowinger; May 30, 2017, 03:03 PM.

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X