Hunter Sprinklers 526200 Pro-C and PCC Controller Front Panel

The digits on my old face plate were garbled. I was told by my irrigation company that the front panel was no longer available and I would have to replace the whole control unit. True the EXACT panel is no longer made BUT the redesigned unit works fine. My old face plate had additional arrows on the left (for seasonal adjustment), the newer face plates do not have these buttons on the left side. Instead the seasonal adjustment is on the dial. This is not an easy unit to program but there are many youtube videos that will help you program and troubleshoot any problems you may encounter. My box would not recognize all stations after the new face plate was installed. But by doing a search there was a couple videos out there that instructed me in simple terms. By doing my own research I found this face cover and saved a couple hundred dollars by not listening to my irrigation company who wanted to install a new control box. Works perfect now!!

When the screen wasn't showing anymore numbers or words, I was initially worried that the entire sprinkler system needed fixing. But, upon watching some videos I found out that only the front panel needed replacing. After I got it delivered the installation was as easy as disconnecting the single cable from behind the panel and unlocking the hinge on the back and popping the new front panel in. The screen came on instantly and it was an easy fix. Couldn't be happier!

Last week when I tried to turn on my irrigation system to start the summer watering schedule, the controller was acting wacky. The numbers didn't make any sense when I try to adjust the number of interval days. I only could pick 4-7 before it cycled over. When I tried to adjust the date, it said the current year was 2047 and again I couldn't adjust beyond 2044 to 2047. I couldn't manually turn on the system. I tried the hard reset, replaced the 9v, etc. Nothing worked. Now I was faced with getting this repaired before the summer heat burns up my yard. I was worried that this would cost alot of money to repair. After 17 years, I guess this was bound to fail.After doing a bit of research, I realized that I was fortunate to have a pretty nice, easy to repair/maintain setup. Hunter control boxes are pretty straight forward. I realized that it's likely that the control panel just needed to be replaced and it can be done without needing to do alot of work with wires and such. It was designed as a separate item from the rest of the irrigation system which is great! This item, as it is described, is just the front control panel. You need it to communicate and control the rest of the system which sits behind this panel. The connection is done via one single ribbon cable. Given my control panel is 17 years old, I had the ORIGINAL PC-300 model (no part number) version. This item is no longer made by Hunter. And since then there has been an updated font panel PC-300 (526200; 2006 to Current). There is also a FX version. BE AWARE there is also a newer PC-400 front panel. DO NOT get this as this will not be a compatible replacement for older PC-300. I think PC-400 has a different ribbon cable. THIS newer panel (part #526200) is a 100% compatible replacement for the original PC-300. Aside from the color scheme, the only other difference is the "adjust for season" arrow buttons on the left side of the display has been replaced with a mode dial option. This panel will work with the ribbon cable.Replacement is SUPER easy. FIRST thing you MUST DO, is to TURN OFF THE POWER to the unit either via your circuit breaker or plug if it's locally plugged in. The control panel comes with warning labels saying DO NOT unplug ribbon cable when power is on. All of the online instructional videos I watched also stated to remove power to the system before replacing. I don't know what happens if you don't. Also keep in mind that the unit has a backup 9V, so when you disconnect AC power, the display will either go out OR it will flash "No AC". To completely power off the panel, disconnect the 9V batter backup. After this, simply unplug the one ribbon cable, pull down on the hinge release, replace with the new panel, and re-attach the ribbon cable. THAT'S IT!!! If your 9V is old, you can replace with a fresh one (which I did). Then turn on AC power to the unit and voila you're back in business. For me, I was able to immediately re-program everything and my irrigation is back online! It was 10 mins worth of work at most. LOVE IT!!!!!

After I moved in my house. I found out the house had installed Hunter Pro-C sprinkler system and the control panel LED is not display properly (I live in AZ and it get 115F in the summer). I checked on the website the Hunter Pro-C outdoor sprinkler controller cost about $200-$300 for 9 stations. Once, I found this product on Amazon and I was not sure how many stations, indoor or outdoor, can this product support Pro-C 300, 600, 900 etc.. So I wrote an email to seller and they told me it will support all models. Therefore, I got one to try it out. When I received it I notice the product is different than the picture on Amazon. It does not have two triangle bottom on the top left corner (my old one had that). After I replace my panel. I found out this unit support 9 stations (I got 8 stations). And the only difference is the water pressure adjustment (the two triangle bottom on the top left corner). Other than that, everything works fine.

I had an 8 year old Hunter Pro-C controller (which by the way is a great sprinkler controller) that was being used to control 4 drip sprinkler zones and a water feature (2 zones-12 hours a day). The problem was when it rained over .25 inches, the next day the entire system would be shut down because of the rain sensor. This meant that to operate the water feature, it would have to be turned on manually. I really didn't want to add a second controller because of the difficulty of wiring behind a stuccoed wall. When Hunter brought out the latest version of the Pro-C they added the capability of operating any zone independent of the rain sensor. The design of the Pro-C is such that you can change out the front panel only and not have to replace the entire controller, which meant I was able to upgrade to the new firmware with a simple 5 min. operation. A great controller with excellent technical support.