My controller screen is blank. Does it need replacing?

Not until the power and the wiring are tested. A blank screen can come from a tripped outlet, a failed plug-in transformer or a blown fuse, and each is a smaller repair than a new controller. We test the power supply first, then the wiring, and recommend a replacement only when the controller itself has failed.

Rachio, Hunter Hydrawise or Rain Bird: which smart controller should I get?

Rachio or Hunter X2 with Hydrawise: the two we install. How many zones you have, whether Wi-Fi reaches the wall where it mounts, and what your water provider’s rebate covers matter more than the logo. Napa and Windsor run Rachio offers; every other controller rebate, and what it pays for, is on the start-time strip above. We install and program Rachio and Hunter X2 with Hydrawise controllers.

Will a smart controller lower a high water bill?

Only if the schedule is the problem. A leak, a valve that won’t close or a broken head wastes water whatever the controller says, which is why the field gets checked first. When the schedule is the problem, a weather-based controller stops July’s schedule running in January and skips after rain.

Does a smart controller need Wi-Fi where it’s mounted?

Yes. For weather updates and control from your phone. We check the signal where the controller will mount, before anything goes on the wall. Without a signal it can’t pull the weather, which is the point of it.

Sprinkler Controller Replacement in Solano, Napa & Sonoma County

A blank controller can be a tripped outlet, a failed plug-in transformer or a blown fuse. We test the power, the common wire and every zone wire before anything comes off the wall. If the controller has failed, or can’t keep to your water provider’s hours, we replace it with a weather-based smart controller, run every zone and set the schedule before we leave.

Call for a free quote(707) 329-8391

Illustration: a hand in a light blue sleeve connects colour-coded wires to a new white sprinkler controller on a garage wall, next to an old dial sprinkler timer. — Illustration

What does a smart controller do?

The schedule: how long each zone runs, when it starts and which days it skips. The wires, valves and heads in the yard stay as they are, which is why we test them first.

Example week

Every 3 days, as Fairfield advises for summer lawns. Zone 1 runs its full time, starting inside the city’s hours.

A. Minutes follow the weather.
A weather-based controller shortens the runs when the weather cools and adds time back in a heat wave, so the yard gets what it needs and no more.
B. Days follow the season.
Fairfield’s own advice: water summer lawns every 3 days and winter lawns every 5. A clock timer set in July keeps watering like July in January.
C. Start times stay inside the provider’s hours.
Napa: No watering 10 am to 5 pm. Fairfield: Skip noon to 6 pm; midnight to 6 am is best. Pick your provider below.
D. Rain means skip.
Vacaville, Vallejo, Suisun City, Napa, Rohnert Park, Windsor, Petaluma and Sonoma ban watering during rain or within 48 hours after measurable rain.

Start times, by water provider. Pick yours.

Solano

Napa

Sonoma

Fairfield. Skip noon to 6 pm; midnight to 6 am is best.

Hours to avoidThe city’s suggested hours

Toward a smart controller in Fairfield

Up to

50% of a WaterSense weather-based controller, up to $300. Paid by the Solano County Water Agency. Checked Sep 2026.

American Canyon, Yountville, Calistoga, Rohnert Park, Cotati and Sonoma list no controller rebate.

Rebates go to the water customer: read the current terms before you buy. More in Watering rules by city and Lawn and irrigation rebates by city. The field has its own pages: Valve replacement and Sprinkler & drip repair and installation.

What should a new controller come with?

C · common
1 Front lawn
2 Front beds
3 Back lawn
4 Back beds
5 Trees
6 Side yard

Example: the terminal strip of the same example controller, every wire labeled for whoever opens the cover next.

Rachio or Hunter X2 with Hydrawise
Weather-based, sized to your zones and your provider’s rebate rules. In the yard, we install Rain Bird valves and heads. Gerri Hogan’s Google review (2024–25) (opens in a new tab) mentions “…installing my new Rain Bird Controller and solenoid”.
Every zone named and labeled
Every zone runs while you watch. Each one is named in the app and labeled at its terminal, so whoever opens the cover next knows which wire waters which bed. Start times sit inside your provider’s hours, and lawn zones get short cycles with a soak between.
…even programmed a weekly schedule for our lawn to be watered Zac Post, Google review, Jun 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Pause, run or skip from your phone
Before we leave, you can pause a zone, run one by hand and skip a day from your phone. Ask which parts of your job fall under the 3-year warranty on qualifying irrigation and lighting systems.
Carlos took a lot of time to explain to me how things worked Cassandra J., Yelp review (opens in a new tab)

Why test the wires before replacing the controller?

A bad wire looks like a dead controller. A taped splice that has let water in, or a nicked wire under a bed, gives you a zone that won’t start or won’t stop, the same as a failed controller would. Every zone hangs on one buried wire to its valve, plus a common wire they all share, so swap the box and the fault stays.

So Carlos and his crew start in the field. Each connection at the valves is checked, a patched run gets a new section of wire instead of more tape, and splices go into waterproof connectors. If the fault is out there, that’s what gets fixed, and the controller stays on the wall.

How the whole system gets tested: Irrigation.

Because the best irrigation repairs aren’t just about getting the system working… They’re about making it last.

Eco Scapes on Nextdoor

Replaced my sprinkler valves, drip line timer, and drip line wiring Luke Vera, Google review, Sep 2026 (opens in a new tab)

Eco Scapes technician wiring a sprinkler valve manifold in a gravel side yard next to a wood fence — Wiring a sprinkler valve manifold in a gravel side yard.

Technician in gloves wiring a new Rain Bird anti-siphon valve on a PVC manifold against a stucco wall — New Rain Bird valves wired on a PVC manifold against a stucco wall.

Blank screens, brands and Wi-Fi

Not until the power and the wiring are tested.
A blank screen can come from a tripped outlet, a failed plug-in transformer or a blown fuse, and each is a smaller repair than a new controller. We test the power supply first, then the wiring, and recommend a replacement only when the controller itself has failed.
Rachio or Hunter X2 with Hydrawise: the two we install.
How many zones you have, whether Wi-Fi reaches the wall where it mounts, and what your water provider’s rebate covers matter more than the logo. Napa and Windsor run Rachio offers; every other controller rebate, and what it pays for, is on the start-time strip above. We install and program Rachio and Hunter X2 with Hydrawise controllers.
Only if the schedule is the problem.
A leak, a valve that won’t close or a broken head wastes water whatever the controller says, which is why the field gets checked first. When the schedule is the problem, a weather-based controller stops July’s schedule running in January and skips after rain.
Leak detection & repair
Yes.
For weather updates and control from your phone. We check the signal where the controller will mount, before anything goes on the wall. Without a signal it can’t pull the weather, which is the point of it.