How often should controller runtimes change?

AMWUA recommends adjusting irrigation schedules at least four times a year as the seasons change. Desert plants need much less frequent water in winter than in summer, so a program left on summer settings wastes water for months. Check soil moisture before and after each change.

If one station will not run, is the controller broken?

Probably not. When one station fails and the others work, the fault is more often its wire, solenoid or valve in the yard. When every station fails, a shared problem such as power, the common wire, a master valve or the supply becomes more likely.

Irrigation Controller Repair

Work out whether the timer, a sensor, a wire or the valve is behind skipped or runaway watering.

Request an estimate(623) 292-2515

A timer that never left July

The most common controller problem in Surprise is not a broken box. It is a schedule. The City of Surprise Landscape Watering Guidelines give a desert-adapted shrub 7 to 21 days between waterings from May to October and 30 to 45 days from December to March. A controller left on its summer program waters that shrub several times more often than the city suggests all winter. The city's water conservation ordinance lists failing to maintain automatic timers among the causes of water waste, alongside broken heads and pipes.

Storms add their own faults. The National Weather Service Phoenix office marks the monsoon from June 15 to September 30 and warns of downbursts and lightning, and a power interruption can leave a controller with the wrong clock or a rain delay nobody remembers setting.

Diagnosis, then a program built for the yard

Repair begins by recording what is in the controller: date, clock, every program, start times, runtimes, seasonal adjustment and sensor status. Then each station runs manually. If every station fails, power, the common wire, a master valve or the supply is the likelier cause. If one fails, the fault is usually that station's wire, solenoid or valve out in the yard. Testing inside the controller or at a valve belongs with someone qualified to do electrical work.

A finished repair leaves a program that fits the plants: start times before sunrise, as the city advises, separate runtimes for turf, shrubs and trees, and a plan to change it with the seasons. If an owner wants the controller to adjust itself, the city's rebate program covers a WaterSense weather-based model under its current terms. Related pages: smart and Wi-Fi irrigation controllers and valve and solenoid repair.

Source: City of Surprise, Landscape Watering Guidelines, Checked Oct 1, 2026