Ram failed Cancel The title field is required!

1. James Smith

   

   112 posts
   
   5/6/2015 6:05 AM

   Good Morning everyone, this morning we noticed that one of our Rainbird Par Plus controllers did not work last night and when we checked it out it gave us a ram failed warning. Does anyone know if this means the faceplate is bad or has seen this before. my system is 18 years old so I know I will have some issues.

   
   
   
   
2. Keith Lamb

   

   3 posts
   
   5/6/2015 8:05 AM

   "RAM" or "ROM" ? You can try a cold start, just remember that this will clear out the memory and you will have to reprogram afterwards. Cold Start. 1. Turn power OFF. 2. Hold "COPY/PASTE" & "SYSTEM INFO" buttons down. 3. Turn power on. 4. Hold buttons down until display reads "NEW SYSTEM SETUP." If this doesn't work you may have a bad DALLAS CHIP. The DALLAS CHIP is the brains and has a battery inside it. Sometimes a cold start may work for a short while then it will start failing again. That would most definitely be the battery in the DALLAS CHIP being bad. After so many years the battery may not be able to hold a charge and may cause this to happen. You can also take a face plate from another clock and see if this makes a difference if you don't have a spare.
   
   If none of this works, let me know.

   
   
   
   
3. James Smith

   

   112 posts
   
   5/6/2015 9:05 AM

   Thanks Keith, That was going to be my next step. I had a feeling that a battery might be the issue much like a computer has the battery for the Bios. I know when it went down we lost all information on it anyway and have to reprogram it. Thankfully I do not have any watering programs stored on it that I would have to put back into it. I do have a spare faceplate I just cannot remember if it had a problem also. If it is a battery I am guessing that I can expect the same issue with my other faceplates in the near future also.
   Thanks

   
   
   
   
4. Keith Lamb

   

   3 posts
   
   5/6/2015 4:05 PM

   If you are tech savvy enough and your spare has a good DALLAS CHIP, you can open up the faceplate and change them out...carefully. I know I have a few spare ones I pulled out of damaged faceplates and if I can match up the right number you can buy them off eBay for anywhere between $10-$25. Let me know and I can look it up or drop you one to try in the mail.