Soil Moisture Sensor Not Found, Conventional Wire

Learn how to diagnose and troubleshoot when a newly installed soil moisture sensor is not found on a conventional wire system.

At the Controller

• Turn the dial to Assign.
• Open the device you want to assign (ex. Zones).
• Search should be highlighted → Enter.
• Once search completes, the left panel shows found serial numbers from wire path.
• Move the correct serial number to the right side to assign, Q245151 → Zone 1.
• If a serial number (Q245153) doesn’t appear, it may already be assigned.

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Inside the Controller

• Go to Moisture Sensors controller → highlight Search → press Enter.
• If the sensor isn’t found, open the controller.
• Baseline controllers use 2-wire technology with powered biCoders.

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Check Sensor Terminals

• Soil moisture sensors must be connected to terminals A1, A2, B1, or B2, only these are sensor-enabled.
• If need to move a zone, power down the controller (unplug controller, turning off circuit breaker off, or disconnect orange plug) and move the sensor wire to one of these terminals.

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Identify Sensor Wiring

• If unsure which wire the sensor is connected, you may need to use a wire toner or refer to installation documents that are in the package or online.

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Test Powered biCoder Board

• Re-run the search and assign process.
• If you haven't found the sensor yet:
  • Power down the controller again.
• Disconnect the valve common and one of the sensor-enabled terminals (A1, A2, B1, B2).
• Connect a known good solenoid and run a Self Test.
  • If it works, the biCoder board is functioning properly.

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Field Inspection: Soil Moisture

• Inspect splices at the sensor location.
• Polarity matters: 
  • Black wire = zone common.
  • Red wire = irrigation zone wire.
• If changes are made, re-run the search and assign.
• If the sensor is still not found, carefully dig it up.

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Sensor Removal and Direct Test

• Do not cut the wire short, remove it all the way back to the original box to save entire wire length.
• Industry Standard: 
  • Splices should be in a pull box with 18" of slack.
• Bring the soil moisture sensor back to the controller, connect it to a sensor-enabled terminal and valve common.
• Power the controller back up and try assigning the sensor again.
  • If controller can find the sensor, the issue is resolved!

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Wire Troubleshooting

• Check splices, wire integrity, or damage.
• If still not detected, the sensor may be faulty.
• Contact Baseline Support to check warranty eligibility.

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