For over 10 years we’ve been helping people solve their sprinkler timer issues.   

Scroll down to see the many DIY troubleshooting topics below

1. Go through DIY list below.
2. Contact us about repair/replacement options or
3. Post questions if you have them. You’ll get a response within a day or two at the most.

This do-it-yourself page will help you troubleshoot and diagnose problems with the Irritrol Rain Dial RD-600 and other irrigation systems.  We don’t want you to send in a sprinkler timer in for repair if it doesn’t need it. Click the links below to navigate the troubleshooting sections.  If you’re asking “How do I …”, keep reading.

Manuals and User Guides for RainDial RD-600, 900, 1200 PROGRAMMING HELP and manuals, click here

Use the following topics to solve your Rain Dial RD600 series problems

• Get smart – learn the terminology
• Get user manuals
• Choose the best problem description
  • Timer Behavior problems
  • Display error messages
• See the “How Do I” … and troubleshooting topics

Get smart – learn the terminology and concepts from the “What is a” topics: Irritrol Rain Dial Timers

1. Learn the terminology – what is the back terminal board, timer, transformer 
2. What are valve boxes, valves, and solenoids?
3. How is a Typical Sprinkler System Wired?  See this Valve Wiring Diagram?

Official Manuals, User manuals, programming information etc :

1. Programming guide and template worksheets: click here
2. Manuals and user guides: click here

Behavior Problems: RD-600/900/1200 :

1. Rain Dial Sprinkler/irrigation valves chatter or buzz or water pressure seems low.Or you have continuous water hammer.
2. Valves do not come on when they’re supposed to (a good page to start with)
3. Valves stuck on,  won’t turn off or more than one is on.
4. Valves come on when they shouldn’t be on
5. Two valves come on at once or run twice.
6. Time is frozen or cannot change the time
7. The case door won’t open or you lost your key 
8. The case door breaks off or comes apart
9. One station does not shut off before the next station starts
10. Voltage measurements don’t make sense

Display Error Messages for the Irritrol RD600, RD900, RD1200 Irrigation Timers:

10. Display shows OFF or blinks when turning on a valve manually
11. Display is Blank.
12. Display says FUS or FU5 and a number
13. Display shows 5En or SEn
14. Display shows OF1 or OF… some number
15. Display shows P:On or P:Off
16. Display is blinking – see the earlier topic
17. Display shows “—-“ for days of the week – refer to skip days

Programming Information for Irritrol RD600, RD900, RD1200 Irrigation Timers:

19. Programming tutorial for RD-600/900/1200
20. Programming worksheet for RD600/900/1200
21. Understanding the Skip Days Feature

“How do I …” sprinkler timer-related topics

1. 30. How do I turn on a valve using the manual button?
   31. How do I program the timer to irrigate a newly seeded or overseeded lawn?
   32. How to reset the RainDial controller and set it to factory defaults
   33. How do I water while my timer is being repaired (Manually watering without using a timer)
   34. How to check the fuse (also see FUS topic above)?
   35. How to test the transformer to know if the transformer is bad?
   36. How to test if the valves or solenoids are bad?
   37. Rain Sensor information for Irritrol RD600 and other timers.
   38. How do I replace the dial?
   39. How do I replace the Solenoid?
   40. How do I replace the valve guts for a leaky or stuck valve?
   41. how do I connect an older timer to a newer back-terminal board (16pin timer to 20pin board).
   42. How do I replace the transformer on an outside enclosure.
   43. How do I get a replacement screw for the little ‘ground’ terminal screw:
       30. Try Ace hardware or equivalent; the size should be: #4-40 thread.

RainDial Plus Model (Different than the regular RainDial timers)

• RainDial Plus Information
• Rain Dial Plus:displays “Opn” or “Open“

Video of common symptoms that indicate the Rain Dial Controller needs repairing.

If this information wasn’t enough to resolve the issue, we can help:
Send Rain Dial Timers in for repair?

Irritrol Rain Dial RD600 repair services

For other issues, or ones that are in progress and do not have a link yet, just contact us, or see details here: How do I send it in for repair?