How do I set the Rain Bird ST-8 2.0 to work with an indexing valve

Question

Equipment:

Timer: Rain Bird ST-8 2.0 Indexing Valve: K Rain 4000 4 zone

I recently had a new irrigation timer installed, the unit I purchased required the use of a pump relay due to the voltage requirements.

The system is connected and starts the sprinklers.

I've set up the zones and now I'm trying to start a specific zone. When selecting the zone the valve will only start the next zone in the index not the selected zone.

For example: I ask for zone 3 but zone 1 starts, try again and zone 2 starts.

How can I resolve this?

Answer 1

That's the expected behavior.

The manufacturer's Indexing Valve Instruction Guide, at Page 1 of 6 in describing the cam that distributes the water flow, says this:

[The cam is] Used to index the valve to the next zone and controls how many outlets are to be used.

The words "next zone" are telling. The user sets the cam to a specific zone, and then when water is supplied, the indexing valve rotates one place and provides water to the subsequent zone.

If you want to start with zone 1, you must set the cam to the last zone before turning on the water.