Does my controller emit sounds? Beeps, high pitch noises, and humming power adapters

Are you hearing a beep, high pitch, or humming sound coming from nearby your controller and wondering if there is something wrong with your unit? This article will go over possible scenarios of what could be happening.

MY POWER ADAPTER IS HUMMING

By far the most common noise you may hear from a Rachio controller, a power adapter "hum" can be caused by voltage instabilities or a faulty power adapter. If the power is stable and working fine, we can replace the power adapter via the RMA process.

MY SOLENOIDS ARE MAKING A LOUD BUZZ

Solenoids may buzz due to how AC works. The alternating current makes the coil vibrate somewhere between 50 and 60 hertz - i.e. 50 or 60 times per second. Usually, the water pressure will stop the vibration, but air bubbles may allow the plunger to move a bit and cause the noise.

Another possible issue is related to low voltage situations. Far less common, this is usually associated with intermittent issues where the zones don't open. We recommend reaching out to a Pro in case your zones present this intermittent behavior associated with the loud noise, as most of the time this is caused by broken wires, short circuits, or corrosion.

MY CONTROLLER IS BEEPING!

Rachio controllers don't have speakers to beep. Unless you have an accessory that may beep (possibly a wireless sensor), it might be something else near the controller that is beeping.

I CAN HEAR SOME NOISES WHEN IT FLASHES THE LIGHTS. CAN THIS AFFECT ANIMALS?

The controller's LED drivers may emit a low volume high pitch and high-frequency noise that is usually above the normal human hearing range - you may have heard about coil whine from a GPU in a high power graphics card. We understand that this can be heard by animals, but the volume is so low we don't have any reports of it disturbing them.

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