Battery-powered latching controllers for valves with no power run to them — sillcock timers to full field controllers.
A DC controller runs valves that have no power at them. Most fire a latching solenoid with a short pulse from a battery, which is why they can live in a valve box or clip onto the valve itself and go a season or more without attention. That covers a lot of nursery ground: a mum field across the road, a propagation bench on a hose bib, a container block on the far side of the pond.
This page runs from single-valve units through multi-station battery timers to cellular controllers that schedule, fertigate and read water meters from a phone. Below is how we sort them with growers.
Which type of DC controller fits the block?
Start with the valve count and whether anyone will be nearby when the schedule changes.
One valve, nothing to wire. A valve-mount unit. Hunter's NODE clips straight onto the solenoid, Bermad's BIC 1 mounts in line on the valve, and Galcon's 7000 Series pairs the controller with a hydraulic valve, 3/4" to 2", so there is no separate solenoid. Dramm's ii ri Smart Controller covers the same ground with Bluetooth programming and misting as well as irrigation, so it turns up on propagation benches and mum fields.
Two to sixteen valves, set at the box or by phone. A multi-station battery timer. Bermad's BIC 2 / BIC 4 / BIC 6 keeps an independent schedule per valve on two AA batteries. Rain Bird's TBOS-BT Series is buriable, Bluetooth-programmed, in 1, 2, 4 and 6 stations. Galcon's 6100 and 6200 Series run one to twelve valves, and Heron's HM Battery Controller reaches sixteen outputs with a solar panel input.
Valves you want to adjust from the office. A cellular or wireless controller. Bermad's Omega R, M and L give 4, 9 and 13 latch outputs over 4G, Toro's Tempus DC Series is battery powered with the wireless link built in, and Galcon's GSI AG Series (DC) and GALPRO Series (DC) add proportional fertigation. Above them sit full management systems, Bermad's BIC 1500 (DC) and BIC 2500 (DC) and Galcon's Galileo Cloud Open Field, for a grower running several sites from one screen. Between tiers? Send us the valve count.
What do the valves, wiring and site need to be?
The solenoid comes first. A battery controller pulses a DC latching solenoid open and shut; a standard 24 VAC solenoid will not hold on that pulse. Hunter's PGV and ICV bodies take a DC latching solenoid as well as 24 VAC, so one body works on either controller; see the DC latching solenoid valve page. The exception is Heron's HM Battery Controller, which drives any 24 VAC solenoid and boosts output so cable runs can be longer than a battery controller normally allows. Galcon's 6200 Series takes two-wire or three-wire solenoids; check before ordering.
Keep the wire short. Battery controllers are built for a valve within reach, not a long run back to a head house. If distance is the problem, look at the wireless tier: Toro's Tempus gets specified because on planted ground the cable is usually the whole cost of automating, and Galcon's GSI AG Series (DC) reaches its terminal units by radio and works with valves already in the ground.
Plan for water in the box; a flooded valve box is where these controllers usually die. Galcon's 6100 Series and 7101 models are IP68 for valve-box or pit installation, Rain Bird's TBOS lines are buriable, and Bermad's Omega R, M and L are IP65. The 6200 Series is IP54, so keep it out of the valve box. Cellular units need signal at the valve; the Omega logs through outages and falls back to 2G. Filtration and pressure regulation belong upstream. A controller only opens the valve.
What goes wrong, and how the lines differ
The mistakes repeat. A standard station timer bought for a mist bench, when mist wants seconds, not minutes; Galcon's 6100 and 6200 Series S models run seconds-based cycles and Dramm's ii ri Smart Controller is built for misting. A 24 VAC solenoid wired to a latching controller. A battery change never put on the calendar; Galcon's 7000 Series carries a low-battery alarm and manual mechanical override. A schedule running through rain because the rain-sensor input on a BIC 2 / BIC 4 / BIC 6 or 7000 Series was never connected. And a controller expected to fix a pressure or grit problem that belongs to the filter and regulator.
The lines take different routes to the same valve. Hunter and Rain Bird keep it simple: valve-mount and buriable units for automating one zone. Bermad runs one family from BIC 1 through the Omega cloud controllers to the BIC 1500 (DC), which measures water delivered rather than minutes run, and the multi-site BIC 2500 (DC). Galcon spans the widest range, from a 7000 Series controller-and-valve to Galileo Cloud Open Field at fifty mainlines, with fertigation on F11 models, GALPRO and GSI AG. Toro's Tempus is wireless, with sensor inputs from flow to soil moisture. Heron Electric builds for protected cropping; the HM Battery Controller takes sensors and solar. MicroGrow's MultiGrow (DC) folds irrigation into environmental and dosing control across eight zones. Netafim's GrowSphere ONE monitors rather than controls, feeding soil, plant, pressure and flow readings to crop models.
Frequently asked
Do I need special valves for a battery controller?
Almost always a DC latching solenoid. A battery controller latches the valve with a pulse, and a standard 24 VAC solenoid will not hold. Hunter's PGV and ICV valves are available with DC latching solenoids as well as 24 VAC, so one body suits either controller. Heron's HM Battery Controller is the exception in this category: it drives any 24 VAC solenoid. Galcon's 7000 Series includes its own hydraulic valve.
How long do the batteries last?
It depends on the unit and how often it fires. Bermad's BIC 2 / BIC 4 / BIC 6 is rated up to three years on two AA batteries. Rain Bird's TBOS-II Series runs roughly one year on one 9 V. Bermad's Omega R, M and L run offline on four C-size alkalines or online from a 9-18 VDC solar or grid supply, and Galcon's GSI DC builds use rechargeable lithium charged from a solar panel or the grid.
Can a battery controller run a mist or propagation bench?
Yes, if it counts in seconds. A standard station timer runs in minutes, which floods a mist bench. Dramm's ii ri Smart Controller is a battery-operated irrigation and misting controller for one solenoid valve, programmed by Bluetooth, and the S models on Galcon's 6100 Series and 6200 Series do seconds-based irrigation on minute-long cycles. Ask us which suits the bench before ordering.
Can I automate a remote block without trenching wire?
That is what the wireless tier is for. Toro's Tempus DC Series is battery powered with the wireless link built in, so neither power nor signal is trenched. Bermad's Omega R, M and L and Galcon's GSI AG Series (DC) connect over cellular. For a valve someone visits anyway, Hunter's NODE-BT and Rain Bird's TBOS-BT Series program by Bluetooth from a phone at the valve.
Who does ML Irrigation sell to, and where do you ship?
ML Irrigation sells wholesale to production nurseries, greenhouse operations and horticulture education programs, and ships to growers in all 50 states from Fountain Inn, South Carolina. Send us the valve count, the solenoid type and whether there is power or signal at the head when you request a quote, and ask about matching valves at the same time.
