I2C address at 0x24 is assumed to be the first expander, and by default all expanders have 16 zones. The OpenSprinkler expander first version used PCF8575 which is a 16-channel GPIO expander; the current version uses PCA9555, also 16-channels. Because these chips along with PCF8574, all have the same base I2C address, there is no easy way to tell them apart from the firmware’s point of view (although PCA8575 and PCA9555 can be distinguished from each other because PCA9555 has certain registers that PCA8575 doesn’t have). This is the reason why if you hook up another PCF8574 at I2C address 0x24, the firmware assumes it’s a PCA8575 instead, so assumes it’s 16 zones. Because of this, it will always send 2 bytes to that chip (16 bits) instead of 1 byte. If PCF8574 receives 2 bytes, I think the second byte overwrite the first byte, that explains why your 0x24 board drives zones 17-24.
There is another forum thread that also discusses PCF8575:
https://opensprinkler.com/forums/topic/driving-14-valves-or-12-main-pump-from-os-3-0/#post-71927
I would recommend you to consider using a PCF8575 board if possible (or PCA9555). If not, you will need to modify the firmware code so that it only sends 1 byte to the expander instead of 2.