Wow! What a great product!! Thanks for uploading this!! I want to add 3 new sprinkler zones to my existing system - This video talks mainly about replacing broken and old valves/wiring but I presume it can also be used to add 3 new zones to my existing sprinkler system?
Thank you! Yes, you can add new valves to an existing system using Doubler2. As long as you have a good hot wire on an existing valve you can add up to three new valves and operate all four using the Doubler2 to run them independently.
Man I just really appreciate the professional videos! They helped many of my clients as well as myself save money. Keep up the fantastic work. Much appreciated, I will order from your website if any further specialized concerns arise!
What if I've already maxed out my stations on my controller, and have no empty spots available there to jumper? It's a digital controller, so suppose I just have to make an entirely separate run program in addition to the general program, and just have this program do that one valve? And run this single-valve program 3 separate times? It'll remember over the course of several days even, to cycle between the doubler's extra stations?
Yes, you are correct! You can use Doubler to add valves even if your controller is out of stations. Just like you said, you can use a single station to run all your valves. The Doubler will advance and run the next valve each time it receives power. Instead of running jumper wires you would just program the same station on four different programs. Program A would run the 1st valve(maybe an existing valve), Program B would run the 2nd valve, Program C would run the 3rd valve and Program D would run the 4th valve. Effectively adding 3 more stations to your controller! We know that every system is different and if you ever have questions you can always contact us directly. We would be happy to help you get it setup correctly to work with your system.
Situation: I have a manifold setup for 3 zones. Meaning, 3 valves. All 3 are connected to the "common" wire of course. I just replaced two outer valves and left old one in the middle. Question: If that middle valve with old solenoid is bad...would it also prohibit the 2 new ones from turning on from main control box (not to be confused with manually turning on)? Was thinking maybe so considering all 3 are connected via common wire. Thx!
While all valves use the same Common wire, a bad valve would not prevent other valves from operating unless they were all on the same Hot wire. If that was the case and the controller saw the bad valve and skipped the station that operated those valves then all valves on that Hot wire would be skipped. Systems are typically wired as one valve per station and most controllers these days cannot handle operating more than one valve at a time (plus maybe a master valve). If you have more than one valve operating on a single station it is probably best to separate them and operate them on individual stations. A Doubler or Doubler2 can be a great option for this if you don’t have enough wires in the ground. If the three valves are not all on the same Hot wire then you may have a bad connection in the Common wire. You can redo the Common wire connection in the valve box to see if that will remedy the situation. If it does not you may want to check the voltage on those stations at both the controller as well as at the valve to be sure you are getting full voltage (should be around 24 to 28 VAC). Using a multimeter you can measure this voltage between the station and the common terminals on the controller and then again between the two solenoid wires at the valve. I hope that made sense and I wish you luck in your troubleshooting!
Will this product work if I have a 22 zone Rainbird controller and currently all 22 zones are being used. I’d add to 23 and 24. Will this product allow me to add zones beyond what my controller accommodates? Or will I have to get a second control box and Set up a watering cycle independent for my two new zones?
Hi Yes, Doubler or Doubler2 would allow you to add valves beyond the number of stations on your controller. We call this the dual program method. You can do this by using a Doubler2 and programming that station on multiple programs. For example, if you were to use a Doubler2 on station 22 you would program station 22 for a watering time on Program A, Program B, Program C and Program D. The Doubler will water the first valve on Program A, then water the second valve on Program B, third valve on Program C and fourth valve on Program D. Just a note to let you know that you would still need to have the program D run time even if you did not have a fourth valve on the Doubler2 as it will keep it in sequence so all the valves run on their correct stations for correct watering times. The Program D run time can just be a minimum time though and not a full watering time. Another option may be to use a Doubler (2 valve model) instead of a Doubler2 (4 valve model) and double two stations instead of running all the valves off one station. This would only require two programs instead of four if your controller was not capable. I hope this answers your question but you can always contact us if you need further assistance
Thank you for taking the time to check out the video! Yes, you can manually water a single station on any controller. Note that the Doubler2 cycles through its outputs each time it gets power so you would need to reset it once you are done. Say you wanted to give station 4 in this video a manual watering. You would activate station 4 until valve 4 is watering. Once valve 4 has finished watering you would need to put the Doubler2 back into sequence by activating station 8 until valve 8 is watering. You can see this at 5:20 in the video. Once you turn station 8 off the Doubler2 would be reset so it will water the valves in the correct sequence when it waters automatically.
The lights were connected to the controller as a visual indicator for which valves were operating but are for demonstration purposes only and not functional.
That would depend on why the Master Valve was not working correctly. If it was something in the field wiring the Doubler may be able to help. While you would not be able to run a Master Valve on a Doubler or Doubler2 itself, they would allow you to steal a good hot wire from a nearby field valve to use for the master valve. Then use the Doubler or Doubler2 to operate multiple field valves without having to run new wiring back to the controller. We know that every system is different so if you ever have questions you can contact us directly. We would be happy to help!
Give this person a medal!
Wow i never knew this product existed. Thank you for this tutorial.
Wow! What a great product!! Thanks for uploading this!! I want to add 3 new sprinkler zones to my existing system - This video talks mainly about replacing broken and old valves/wiring but I presume it can also be used to add 3 new zones to my existing sprinkler system?
Thank you! Yes, you can add new valves to an existing system using Doubler2. As long as you have a good hot wire on an existing valve you can add up to three new valves and operate all four using the Doubler2 to run them independently.
Man I just really appreciate the professional videos! They helped many of my clients as well as myself save money. Keep up the fantastic work. Much appreciated, I will order from your website if any further specialized concerns arise!
Thank you, we are here to help!
What if I've already maxed out my stations on my controller, and have no empty spots available there to jumper? It's a digital controller, so suppose I just have to make an entirely separate run program in addition to the general program, and just have this program do that one valve? And run this single-valve program 3 separate times? It'll remember over the course of several days even, to cycle between the doubler's extra stations?
Yes, you are correct! You can use Doubler to add valves even if your controller is out of stations. Just like you said, you can use a single station to run all your valves. The Doubler will advance and run the next valve each time it receives power.
Instead of running jumper wires you would just program the same station on four different programs. Program A would run the 1st valve(maybe an existing valve), Program B would run the 2nd valve, Program C would run the 3rd valve and Program D would run the 4th valve. Effectively adding 3 more stations to your controller!
We know that every system is different and if you ever have questions you can always contact us directly. We would be happy to help you get it setup correctly to work with your system.
Situation: I have a manifold setup for 3 zones. Meaning, 3 valves. All 3 are connected to the "common" wire of course. I just replaced two outer valves and left old one in the middle.
Question: If that middle valve with old solenoid is bad...would it also prohibit the 2 new ones from turning on from main control box (not to be confused with manually turning on)? Was thinking maybe so considering all 3 are connected via common wire.
Thx!
While all valves use the same Common wire, a bad valve would not prevent other valves from operating unless they were all on the same Hot wire. If that was the case and the controller saw the bad valve and skipped the station that operated those valves then all valves on that Hot wire would be skipped.
Systems are typically wired as one valve per station and most controllers these days cannot handle operating more than one valve at a time (plus maybe a master valve). If you have more than one valve operating on a single station it is probably best to separate them and operate them on individual stations. A Doubler or Doubler2 can be a great option for this if you don’t have enough wires in the ground.
If the three valves are not all on the same Hot wire then you may have a bad connection in the Common wire. You can redo the Common wire connection in the valve box to see if that will remedy the situation. If it does not you may want to check the voltage on those stations at both the controller as well as at the valve to be sure you are getting full voltage (should be around 24 to 28 VAC). Using a multimeter you can measure this voltage between the station and the common terminals on the controller and then again between the two solenoid wires at the valve.
I hope that made sense and I wish you luck in your troubleshooting!
Will this product work if I have a 22 zone Rainbird controller and currently all 22 zones are being used. I’d add to 23 and 24. Will this product allow me to add zones beyond what my controller accommodates? Or will I have to get a second control box and Set up a watering cycle independent for my two new zones?
Hi
Yes, Doubler or Doubler2 would allow you to add valves beyond the number of stations on your controller. We call this the dual program method. You can do this by using a Doubler2 and programming that station on multiple programs. For example, if you were to use a Doubler2 on station 22 you would program station 22 for a watering time on Program A, Program B, Program C and Program D. The Doubler will water the first valve on Program A, then water the second valve on Program B, third valve on Program C and fourth valve on Program D.
Just a note to let you know that you would still need to have the program D run time even if you did not have a fourth valve on the Doubler2 as it will keep it in sequence so all the valves run on their correct stations for correct watering times. The Program D run time can just be a minimum time though and not a full watering time.
Another option may be to use a Doubler (2 valve model) instead of a Doubler2 (4 valve model) and double two stations instead of running all the valves off one station. This would only require two programs instead of four if your controller was not capable. I hope this answers your question but you can always contact us if you need further assistance
Outstanding video
Hello can you do manual single stations with the doubler on a Hunter timer? Thanks for the great video!
Thank you for taking the time to check out the video! Yes, you can manually water a single station on any controller. Note that the Doubler2 cycles through its outputs each time it gets power so you would need to reset it once you are done.
Say you wanted to give station 4 in this video a manual watering. You would activate station 4 until valve 4 is watering. Once valve 4 has finished watering you would need to put the Doubler2 back into sequence by activating station 8 until valve 8 is watering. You can see this at 5:20 in the video. Once you turn station 8 off the Doubler2 would be reset so it will water the valves in the correct sequence when it waters automatically.
That’s so much unnecessary confusing nonsense to just water a zone. Why not make it simple like a add-a-zone?
What are those lights/indicators after the valves? How are they tripped?
The lights were connected to the controller as a visual indicator for which valves were operating but are for demonstration purposes only and not functional.
I’m having issues with my master valve staying on. Will this work with the master valve?
That would depend on why the Master Valve was not working correctly. If it was something in the field wiring the Doubler may be able to help.
While you would not be able to run a Master Valve on a Doubler or Doubler2 itself, they would allow you to steal a good hot wire from a nearby field valve to use for the master valve. Then use the Doubler or Doubler2 to operate multiple field valves without having to run new wiring back to the controller.
We know that every system is different so if you ever have questions you can contact us directly. We would be happy to help!
I think rocks under or around valves is a horrible idea. Hard to work in rocks.
Remote indexing valve ,,, 👍🏻
Thanks