Rain Bird Par+ clicking and cycling through sprinklers Cancel The title field is required!

1. James Smith

   

   112 posts
   
   6/26/2012 6:06 AM

   I have one Par Plus controller that has double stations (48) that has started clicking a lot and cycling through different sprinklers without being turned on. Has anyone else had this issue?

   
   
   
   
2. Keith Lamb

   

   3 posts
   
   6/26/2012 7:06 AM

   Each ROM controls 8 stations. If it is cycling through stations controlled by a ROM, then that ROM is bad. To check you can turn power off and unplug the ROM and then power it up. I think you can do it without turning power off, but I always turn power off before I start unplugging things. You should have 6 ROM's in the clock. Check which station(s) are clicking on and it should be within a 8 station range....ie: 1-8, 9-16, 17-24, 25-32, 33-40 & 41-48.

   
   
   
   
3. Rocky Tharp

   

   0 posts
   
   6/27/2012 9:06 AM

   We recently had a Par+ where heads were randomly turning on when we powered up the controller. We were able to trace it to heads only running on one ROM. When we pulled that particular ROM, we saw that a small slug had crawled into the controller through a hole we discovered in the side of the controller and then somehow got behind the ROM and fried the circuit board. We replaced the ROM and all was back to normal.
   
   Rocky Tharp
   Interbay GC
   Seattle, WA

   
   
   
   
4. Keith Lamb

   

   3 posts
   
   6/27/2012 10:06 AM

   Ants will do the same thing.

   
   
   
   
5. Gregory Pattinson

   

   0 posts
   
   6/27/2012 12:06 PM

   We also have the same problem sometimes and it always is a problem with the ROM. We are heavily wooded and tend to get mice nesting in the box and they will chew the ribbon that connects each ROM to each other. The smallest slice in that ribbon will cause the whole controller to go "crazy" as the pro shop explains it to me when we get the call.
   
   Greg P
   Captains Club at Woodfield
   Grand Blanc, MI

   
   
   
   
6. Rocky Tharp

   

   0 posts
   
   6/27/2012 1:06 PM

   The pink urinal blocks are a good all around pest deterrent when placed inside the controller. They dissolve or dissipate and need to be replaced every 3 months or so.
   
   Rocky Tharp
   Interbay GC
   Seattle, WA

   
   
   
   
7. Ronald Conard

   

   4 posts
   
   6/27/2012 2:06 PM

   It's most definitely a ROM or connecting ribbon. The trick is to find out which one. A bad ROM, even though it controls, say, stations 41-48, can make other stations turn on and go crazy. It's now a matter of replacing one at a time, seeing if that cures the problem, and if not, move to the next ROM.

   
   
   
   
8. Tod Blankenship

   

   0 posts
   
   6/27/2012 8:06 PM

   James,
   
   Any luck? I agree with all of the others, certainly sounds like a bad ROM. Have you done a relay test? I like the relay test. If there is a bad ROM it will certainly show up doing this with some excessive clicking, buzzing, or nothing at all will work.
   
   Let us know what you find..................

   
   
   
   
9. Melvin Waldron

   

   43 posts
   
   6/27/2012 9:06 PM

   Tod Blankenship, CGCS said: James,
   
   Any luck? I agree with all of the others, certainly sounds like a bad ROM. Have you done a relay test? I like the relay test. If there is a bad ROM it will certainly show up doing this with some excessive clicking, buzzing, or nothing at all will work.
   
   Let us know what you find..................

   
   
   How would you do a relay test?
   
   I would like to learn more on how to do some testing on my boxes, I have one Rain Bird Par and a bunch of SBM's, would like to learn how to really troubleshoot rather then just switching parts.
   
   Mel

   
   Melvin H. Waldron III, CGCS, Horton Smith Golf Course, City of Springfield/Greene County MO
   
   
10. James Smith

    

    112 posts
    
    6/28/2012 7:06 AM

    Melvin Waldron, CGCS said:

    Tod Blankenship, CGCS said: James,
    
    Any luck? I agree with all of the others, certainly sounds like a bad ROM. Have you done a relay test? I like the relay test. If there is a bad ROM it will certainly show up doing this with some excessive clicking, buzzing, or nothing at all will work.
    
    Let us know what you find..................

    
    
    How would you do a relay test?
    
    I would like to learn more on how to do some testing on my boxes, I have one Rain Bird Par and a bunch of SBM's, would like to learn how to really troubleshoot rather then just switching parts.
    
    Mel

    
    I also would like to know what you mean by a relay test.
    
    Yesterday we found that the box was no longer working correctly. I had turned on some heads from my main controller and the faceplate showed the stations running but nothing was happening. I shut down the computer and tried turning them on from the box and still nothing would come on even though the faceplate showed them running. I swapped out faceplates and everything worked again.
    I have had issues with faceplates in the past and always found that after sitting unplugged for a few days they would work again. I have not heard the clicking since (yet anyways) but it seemed like the issues may be more related to the fact that is is a double controller and it may have been trying to turn both sections on instead of the one that was needed (station 1 and station 25) I do not know if this is done in the faceplate or the modules but I assume it has to be in the controller. It always seems like the only problems I have with boxes are double controller boxes (48 stations).

    
    
    
    
11. Tod Blankenship

    

    0 posts
    
    6/30/2012 2:06 PM

    Mel,
    
    To do a relay test go to the "self test" screen by hitting the system information button and then hit start, as soon as it says "active" hit the system information again. Once you hit it again a new screen should light up. If it goes into a self test you did not hit the system information button quick enough. Keep hitting the system information button and you will see a "relay test" option. Once on this screen, hit "start" and all of your stations will begin to come on, one by one in order (for 1 second). It will keep going through this until you hit the system information button again. Once you have stopped the relay test hit the system information button until you see the "warm start" option, hit start and it will run a quick self test and go back to the "home screen". You have to hit the "warm start", if you hit "cold start" it will erase the memory in the clock.
    
    It is a cool feature to at least help trouble shoot ROMs.
    
    Hope this helps.

    
    
    
    
12. Melvin Waldron

    

    43 posts
    
    6/30/2012 4:06 PM

    Thanks Tod,
    
    That sounds similar to the station test on the computer for testing decoders.
    
    Mel

    
    Melvin H. Waldron III, CGCS, Horton Smith Golf Course, City of Springfield/Greene County MO
    
    
13. James Smith

    

    112 posts
    
    7/2/2012 12:07 PM

    Tod Blankenship, CGCS said: Mel,
    
    To do a relay test go to the "self test" screen by hitting the system information button and then hit start, as soon as it says "active" hit the system information again. Once you hit it again a new screen should light up. If it goes into a self test you did not hit the system information button quick enough. Keep hitting the system information button and you will see a "relay test" option. Once on this screen, hit "start" and all of your stations will begin to come on, one by one in order (for 1 second). It will keep going through this until you hit the system information button again. Once you have stopped the relay test hit the system information button until you see the "warm start" option, hit start and it will run a quick self test and go back to the "home screen". You have to hit the "warm start", if you hit "cold start" it will erase the memory in the clock.
    
    It is a cool feature to at least help trouble shoot ROMs.
    
    Hope this helps.

    
    My boxes may be a little older then yours because I had to fiddle around hitting information until I could get the self test part going but you gave me enough information to do this test. I love this test by the way. there is no better way to test all your heads to make sure they are working.
    
    I personally think that my cycling issue was related to the control board because watching the board move through the test is very simular to what it was doing when it was clicking and cycling through the heads.
    
    Thanks for the help