A blank screen feels like a dead timer. Sometimes it is. Often the controller is doing what a sensor, a program, or a tripped outlet told it to do. Work through the safe checks below before you buy a replacement. When the field side is the problem, controller and wiring repair tests both.
Power, safely
Confirm the display and the outlet. If a breaker trips again or the wiring looks burned, stop. That is not a reset-button job. Say so on the request so the visit plans for power, not just programming.
Date, time, and overlapping programs
Outages reset clocks. Check start times, watering days, and the seasonal adjust percentage. Several programs can stack and water at odd hours, which is common on builder setups in New Caney. A wrong clock is not a failed circuit board.
Rain delay and sensors
A rain sensor, freeze sensor, or manual delay will pause watering on purpose. Read the status screen. If the yard is dry and the sensor is still closed, that is the fault. The note on a system that runs in the rain is the opposite problem, and both are controller checks.
One zone is not a dead timer
If the other stations run, the controller is partly alive. The fault is often that station’s wire, solenoid, or valve. Replacing the faceplate will not fix a cut wire. Valve repair belongs in the same conversation. A single-zone fault is also the first question in system repair.
When replacement is reasonable
Replace the unit when the display, transformer, or output terminals have failed and parts are gone. Smart features are useful after the valves and heads are sound. In older parts of Kingwood, the timer and the field wiring are different ages. Both get tested.
Write down the model, any fault code, and whether every zone is dead or only one. That is the useful version of “the controller is not working” for a Cleveland visit.