Rain Bird Decoder System Line Surge Arrester

Rain Bird LSP-1 line surge protector

The LSP-1 is a grounded surge-protection device for Rain Bird two-wire decoder paths. Correct placement helps protect the field cable, decoders and connected irrigation equipment from damaging electrical surges.

Design guidance

• For compatible Rain Bird two-wire decoder systems.
• Rain Bird requires an LSP-1 at intervals no greater than 500 ft, approximately 152 m, and at the end of a decoder wire run.
• Rain Bird golf guidance also limits spacing to no more than eight decoders between protectors, or 500 ft, whichever is less.
• The LSP-1 must be connected to the specified grounding system; it is not simply joined across the two-wire path without an earth connection.

FD-401 and FD-601 decoders include built-in line surge protection, so a separate LSP-1 is not required at those decoder locations. The overall path still needs to meet Rain Bird's grounding and protection layout.

Installation note: Earthing, conductor routing and protector spacing must be designed for the actual site and installed to Rain Bird requirements. Poor grounding can leave the system unprotected.

See the supporting gallery guide for readable LSP-1 placement and earthing requirements. Rain Bird’s technical sheet requires resistance from the two-wire path to ground to be no greater than 50 ohms. The full sheet below retains the typical wiring diagram and remaining technical information.

Rain Bird LSP-1 technical specification (PDF).