Irrigation Cable

Being exposed to the weather, water damage will occur any where water can get in. Electrical tape isn’t quite water tight & over time water will creep into the circuit & create havoc & void all warranties. For this reason you should always use waterproof cable joins like heat shrinks.

Irrigation valve cable is a multi-core electrical cable used to connect irrigation controllers to solenoid valves. It is the connection between irrigation valves & the irrigation controller, delivering power and signals to operate automated irrigation zones reliably. It’s suitable for direct burying in the ground & is colour coded for easier zone identification.

Select cable based on the number of valves (cores needed) & distance from controller to valves (to prevent voltage drop). At minimum the number of cores must allow for the number irrigation valves used, plus allocation for a common wire.

No. Irrigation valve cable is specially designed for outdoor and underground use, featuring UV and moisture resistance. Using standard electrical cable, or other cable types risks failures due to water ingress and insulation breakdown.

You need one core for each valve and one common wire. For example, 4 valves require a 5-core cable (4 active + 1 common). Always consider possible future expansion.

Check cable connections for loose wires, breaks, or corrosion. Test continuity with a multimeter. If the cable is damaged, replace the affected section with waterproof connectors or new cable.

Irrigation cable should generally be buried at least 150mm deep for protection from garden tools and vehicles. In areas with heavy traffic, use conduit for additional safety. Quite often, it’s convenient to install irrigation cable in the same trench, and underneath main line irrigation pipework. And that’s generally accepted practise.

Yes! Cabling to flow sensors require specialised ‘shielded’ cabling, to protect from electrical interference. And decoder cable has a different manufacture composition to suit the specific electrical signal requirements.

9-12v DC Circuits do use standard irrigation valve cable, but due to the lower voltage, they require a thicker gauge to minimise voltage drop. For low-voltage DC systems, ensure cable size matches the current and distance requirements.