New sprinkler system

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New wiring by valve box and valve wire color

Valve box Valve wire color Zone Description Cable?
Front   ⬤ red 1 Front parkway and central lawn sprinklers original
Front   ⬤ green 2 Back north-side lawn, side and front lawn sprinklers original
Front   ⬤ blue 5 Front north and central big plantings microsprays original
 
South ⬤ red 3 South-side lawn and mailbox parkway sprinklers new
South ◯ yellow 6 South-side (side yard) microsprays new
 
Back   ◯ green 4 Back lawn under deck sprinklers new
Back   ⬤ orange 8 Back under-deck and down-hill microsprays new
Back   ◯ blue 9 Back yard bottom new
Back'  ◯ brown 7 Back south-side microsprays new

Legend for table above

In working order
Electrical problem: bad wiring or solenoid

Box wiring color

—from left-to-right as you face the box standing on the grass or at the most practical
working point.

Valve box Valve #1 Valve #2 Valve #3 Cable? Notes
Front red green blue original Original-only in valve box
South red yellow new Original still in valve box, but unused
Back blue green orange new Original still in valve box, but unused
Back' brown new Wired from back box through a connecting conduit

New controller wiring by type, zone and color (at the controller)

The Wyze controller offeres only 8 zones, but it was crap, didn't power the zones and we went back to the original, working controller which offered 9 zones and it powered the zones. From controller's point of view. In the old cable(s), the wire color sometimes changed somewhere so the wire color in the valve box couldn't match the color leaving the controller. This was only characteristic of the old cable which we ultimately began to ignore everywhere except the front box.

Zone Controller color Description Valve box Wire-color change Cable?
    Sprinklers 1 red Front parkway and central lawn sprinklers Front original
2 green Back north-side lawn, side and front lawn sprinklers Front original
3 purple South-side lawn and mailbox parkway sprinklers South yes new
4 black Back lawn under deck sprinklers Back yes new
 
 Microsprays 5 blue Front north and central big plantings microsprays Front original
6 yellow South-side (side yard) microsprays South new
7 brown Back south-side microsprays Back' new
8 orange Back under-deck and down-hill microsprays Back new
 
9 grey Back yard bottom Back yes new

Valves by box and color with original zone assignments at controller...

The important thing to observe is that the wire color at (either the new or the old) controller doesn't always match what reaches the value. This is because the original system installers didn't leave enough slack to bring the controller inside to the furnace room.

Zone Valve wire Description Status Diagnosis
assignment color
all white Common wire—goes to every valve
 
Front box:
1 red Front parkway and central lawn sprinklers
2 green Back north-side lawn, side and front lawn sprinklers
5 blue Front north and central plantings microsprays
 
South box:
3 red South lawn and mailbox parkway sprinklers
6 yellow South (side yard) microsprays - solenoid?
 
Back box:
8 orange Back planter, back hedge and back down-hill microsprays
4 green Back lawn under deck sprinklers - solenoid?
blue Back yard bottom (not controlled)
 
Back (little round) box—wired through from back box:
7 brown Back south microsprays
(from opposite back door to south fence)
- solenoid?

Random notes

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