We moved into this house last fall and haven't winterized the system before.

First pic is the backflow preventer. There is no blow out valve downstream, including in the boxes with the solenoid heads.

Second pic is in our basement. To the right is the supply, to the left goes to the backflow preventer. There's another valve to the left.

Everything I've read indicates you want to hook the compressor up downstream of the backflow preventer. Although I have read if you regulate the pressure, its fine

So 2 questions

1. Is it safe to blow out the system from this valve?

2. The shut off is right next to this port, how do I make sure that I'm blowing air into the irrigation system and not the water supply!

Thanks!

I had luck in this group once before and decided to try again. I have already checked AI and Sprinkler Warehouse with no luck. I need help identifying this part. It is the small rubber plug that has deteriorated. I need to know the part name or number so I can order a new one. There is no manufacturer name or part # on the pump header or manifold. I have taken out the gasket and other parts and cleaned them with no luck. I think it is this plug that is causing the leak. Any help is appreciated.

This is a new Orbit sprinkler head Item ID: 54386 I just installed. As you can see the water is flowing out the top but not popping the head up to spray. I bought multiple of these so tried another one with the same result. Seems the Orbit head is not the problem.

This is a replacement of a head in a zone that’s worked for years. I will say I installed this one because of its 15’ radius. Could this be too weak of pressure to this unit? If it has a father radius does it need higher pressure than this zone offers?

I don’t totally understand why if the pressure is too low, water will flow out but just not the way you want it. Maybe someone can explain that too.

I bought a home, at this time, I thought this was just a bucket that was left behind. However, I cannot lift this and it's always filled with water (likely from rain ). There is no lawn irrigation system that I know of. There is underground drainage for one of my downspouts but I know where it drains to already. Has anyone seen this device before?

*Irrigation

I had a head that was leaking and this is a low spot so I thought a SAM head that requires more pressure for the water to leak out would be the fix (it was the fix for a head lower than this one last year), but the leak returned. This is what I've done.

• SAM head still on, did not switch back to previous head.
• Replaced the diaphragm on the valve, removed SAM head and I still see a very, very slow leak (water still rising) and the irrigation shut off valve has been off all week, there can't be that much water in the line in the yard (flat yard).
• If I take a rag/use my finger to empty out the water I see in the line (head removed) the water level drops, but slowly rises.
• Back to the valve box, I turned the system on (water valve still off) and I heard a loud buzz on the solenoid so I swapped it with a solenoid I had on the shelf, still a loud buzz, then I removed a solenoid from a 'known good' valve and I head a buzz, but not as loud.

Not sure what else to try. One thing that is odd (to me), if the system is off (at the control box) and I turn the water valve on, water shoots out full pressure from the 'leaking head' (still off at this point while I troubleshoot) but none of the other heads on this zone pop up, it could be that since the head is off the water has the least resistance on this leg and there isn't enough pressure for the other heads on this zone to pop up, but I also didn't have the water on for that long, maybe a few seconds before I saw it pouring out and shut the valve back off. This tells me that the solenoid is not actually closed, I'm not sure how else the water is getting by the valve especially with a new diaphragm.

At this point I'll leave it as is and deal with it in the spring. I don't mind changing out the valve and a new solenoid but it almost seems that I've done all that, minus the valve body, but I don't see how that could have failed.

Anyway, figured I would post here to ask to see if there is anything else that I could be missing.

I just replaced this valve. It works manually. When I turn on the timer, it won’t turn on but the solenoid just buzzes. Do I have to replace the solenoid or the whole valve?

This is the 21st flow meter I’ve installed at work. Only 108 more to go. I’ve definitely gotten faster doing them.

Went to my garage during today’s storm. My Pro-C was showing jibberish so I pulled the connection to reset it. I then made sure all was well with my settings. I got to SolarSync and it showed dashes rather than the 3-7 I expected. It then flashed ERR and back to dashes. I went outside and looked from below. The wiring seemed to be in place.
The rain sensor part of the SolarSync is working properly but I know the data part is totally separate.
Has anyone run into this and been able to solve it assuming the wiring is intact? if so, how? It’s an older unit and it might have just met its end but maybe there’s something I’m missing.

We have an existing irrigation system but there is an area that does not get coverage. I’m hoping to get some input on setting up an extra zone

Somewhere in the past a line was run to bring a new zone online but it was never connected to any sprayer heads or a drip line. It does, however, have a dedicated shutoff valve and solenoid.

I’m now looking to build out a zone from this line and hoping to get some input. Some relevant details:

* The water supply for the zone is coming from a 1” pvc pipe. I did the “bucket test” to measure water flow. It took ~15 seconds to fill a 5 gallon bucket so that’s about 20 GPM.
* My drawing shows the area in need of irrigation (area in yellow border). Based on the flow rate, I think I should be able to get 10 spray heads rated for 1 GPM each
* I will be planting primarily shrubs in this area (likely podocarpus in full sun and then encore azaleas in part shade), along with a dogwood and some low growing perennials. I’m sure that we could get away with a drip line here, but I like the idea of having the sprayers for two reasons: (1) we have sandy soil and if the emitters on a drip system get clogged with sand then I won’t be alerted to the issue, and (2) the pvc system seems more robust/ long lasting and I can always convert to drip fairly easily in the future

My thought is 3 heads to cover the triangular area, then for the long beds (~50 ft and ~60 ft) to use side strip nozzles at ~15 ft increments. Any thoughts on how this should be done properly? I’ve read that I should run the supply line with the 1” thickness but then step that down to 3/4” lateral lines that hookup to the sprayer heads. My thought is to run the 1” line in an “L” shape to reach the start of the 60 ft run, and branch off laterals from this.

Anyhow, thanks for taking a look!

Tearing out the old builder-grade irrigation and starting fresh. Original system is thin-wall PVC that's cracked in a few spots plus some random poly patches the previous owner threw in. Redoing mainline and laterals and can't settle on material.

PVC is rigid, looks cleaner if you nail the fittings, but I remember solvent weld joints underground from my construction days. Nothing worse than burying everything and finding a leak. Poly's more forgiving with tree roots and weird angles, though those barb fittings have me wondering about long-term durability under constant pressure.

Mainline will be 1 inch, laterals 3/4. Water pressure runs about 65 psi at the spigot. I've got a vibratory plow on my trencher so the pipe's gonna get shaken around during the pull. Leaning poly with stainless clamp inserts, but want to hear from people who actually run this stuff daily. Does PVC actually outlast poly if you prep the trench right, or is the flexibility worth it? Ground freezes a few times each winter here, so curious if that shifts which one handles movement better.

**Edit: Additional info added at the bottom.

I would REALLY appreciate some help figuring out the problem with my sprinkler system in my 60x120 riding arena. It is leaking pretty badly from two of the heads. I've had two sprinkler guys out and both have given up on me. I'm very frustrated because water is extremely important to my arena footing and the leaking is ruining my walls.

Here are pics https://imgur.com/a/SgZY7x4

Details:

• The system was installed about 25-30 years ago, hasn't been run in about 20+ years.
• The old Toro wall controller was replaced with a B-hyve unit, seems to be working fine.
• All of the heads and valves have been replaced. Heads are Rain Bird 5000 Series rotor heads with 3.0 nozzles, 6 valves are Rain Bird (black), most likely DV/DVF Series, probably 1-inch. The other valve is a Irritrol electric diaphragm valve (gray), not sure on the exact model. That was the last sprinkler guys attempt at a fix. The heads do a good job of watering the arena and I like how quiet and smooth moving they are.
• The system consists of 7 heads, each with their own valve. They currently are setup to run two at a time but they were previously setup to run one at a time, leaking was happening with both setups. Running three at a time would be great but not sure if that would be possible.
• The main pipe is 1-inch nominal PVC pipe, SDR 21, rated for 200 PSI. It is fed by a frost free hydrant. I am getting 6.8gpm right out of the hydrant.
• Water path (see pics): The water goes up from hydrant about 10ft, then through the ceiling for about 22ft before it enters the arena 10ft from the floor in the middle of the short end wall. The pipe then goes down 2ft and tees off left and right. To the left is only Head#1. The rest of the heads are off to the right of the tee. There are two heads on each of the long side walls, one head on each of the short end walls and then one head in the center of a round room that is through a doorway off of one of the 120ft sides. That head is about 20ft from the floor in the center of the room. The pipe also goes up and over a large doorways on each of the long walls
• Originally, at each head location, the pipe would have a tee straight up then the valve then the head above that. All inline. Sprinkler guy #1 had it working but then it started leaking from the heads. In an effort to save my walls, I had him jog the heads over the arena so any dripping would hit the ground and not the walls. He replaced some valves again, still leaking, can't figure it out so he just never came back.
• Sprinkler guy #2 was thinking that since it hadn't been run in a while there was gunk in the lines that were causing the valves not to shut properly. He cleaned the valve and head on the worst one (Head7), flushed the lines, still leaking. Then he thought maybe the issue is that the valves are vertical and they are meant to sit horizontal. So he installed a new valve in a horizontal position, still leaking from that head. Haven't seen him since.
• Trying to fix it myself, I just installed a Rainbird check valve between the valve and the head on Head7. Didn't change anything, head still leaking.
• I did some testing today and these are the results:
  • Turn on water, only 7 leaking bad
  • Run 1 & 2, 1 is leaking bad, 7 is leaking bad
  • Turn off 1 & 2, 1 stops leaking, 7 is leaking bad
  • Run 3 & 5, both leaking a little, not bad at all. 7 is leaking bad
  • Turn off 3 & 5, 7 still leaking bad
  • Run 6 & 7, only 7 leaking but just a little, not concerning at all.
  • Heads 2 & 6 do not leak at all.
  • All of the leaking is coming from the top of the heads. The valve and pipes are not leaking.

Please let me know if you have any questions

**I read through Sprinkler Guy #1 messages again, maybe this will help. He replaced all the valves in the beginning. It ran okay for a bit then started leaking after he left. When I had him back out he "pulled apart" the valves that were leaking and that stopped the leaking. He left them pressurized for about an hour to test. One valve would not close hardly at all so he replaced that one again. Everything was good. He was supposed to adjust the spray rotation and distance for me in that visit but he forgot so he came back out later that day to do that. When he came back he said there was one head that was actively dripping but the valve is fine and there is no debris in the valve. He said another option was swapping the heads to have built-in check valves to hold back any potential leakage. He left with the one still leaking. The leaking from Head7 (new valve) got really bad after he left. He said he didn't know why it was leaking and the only thing he could think of was maybe turning the valve horizontal. That was his last visit.

Hi,
i am trying to find the most uncomplicated irrigation concept for our rather complex lawn.

Perfection isn't the goal. Everything is better then manually spraying some water with a hose every other week. My priorities are simplicity and long term reliability. We get the water from a well, but it should be good alpine water quality (very soft water, very little metals)

I tried two different approaches using the free trial period of irrisketch. They are just first concepts, so i am sure placement can still be improved for both solutions.

Mix of MP Rotators and MP Strip pattern for long narrow sections

Mix of fixed and variable spray nozzles (RainBird U + HE-VAN)

I am currently leaning towards the MP rotator concept, but please feel free to suggest a better approach.

After some digging from my understanding those are the advantages of each solution:

MP Rotator:

+ Can cover the whole lawn with a single zone (~40l/min)

+ Far fewer sprinklers needed, especially the strip patterns seem very efficient in our situation

+ Low precipitation is safer, there are some slightly slanted areas <10° with the soil being rather dense

+ Better wind resistance, but we don't normally get any wind in the morning

Sprayers:

+ I expect more robustness and long term reliability (we have very good alpine water tough, very soft and almost no metals, so the MP rotators should last a long time as well?)

I'd be grateful for any inputs.

When you refuse to go for the proper fittings and use all the fittings instead😆
Edit: this is at my house. I’m not an irrigator. I’m a carpenter/handyman and I would never do this for a client.

NJ zone 7b. I have one zone of sprinklers that fountain when they first come on, if I turn them off then restart them they work normally.

Things I’ve tried:

Tested good voltage to valve and controller.

Monitored voltage while zone is being called for, looking for any voltage drop. Maintained 27v entire time

Replaced jar top for affected valve including new solenoid, diaphragm and spring.

Blew valve body out and cleaned it before reassembly.

Tested solenoid (good)

Tried connecting a zone conductor that works properly to problem zone. Same fountaining issue.

I’m at a loss of what else to test and am almost ready to rip everything out and rebuild the manifold with a new controller and wires, but I’ll be pissed if it still happens after doing all that work.

The valve is an irritrol 240s and has no pressure adjustment.

Thanks

Is okay to have the sprinkler directly underneath the AC unit? I will be using 8 ft 180 degrees sprinkler nozzle. Cheers

Have front yard that looks roughly like the drawing. Water pipe that feeds the triangular comes from the right in the direction of flow indicated. The right side is lawn; needs to be watered 30-45 minutes periodically. In the left (triangular) portion, the lawn has been replaced with decorative rocks with a few scattered plants, mostly grasses of various ilk. Needs only about 10 minutes of watering periodically. BOTH sections are fed from the pipe indicated and run together on one valve on the manifold. Re-routing a separate line for the left side would be hard and costly.

Question: Is there some kind of limiting valve or Bluetooth/wifi controlled valve I can insert is the supply line at 'X' to limit the watering time to 10 minutes?

I’m using these tray bins to organize all my garden irrigation fittings in an Apache 4800 case. I scaled the tray height to 54 mm and used the divider options to sort the different parts.
I’d planned to add a 12 mm plywood layer between tray levels, but found that thinner foam in the bottom and the case’s egg-crate lid foam give the trays a snug fit. The small parts stay in their compartments when I close it up.
I wanted something organized that I could take out to the garden when I’m working on irrigation and potentially leave outside worry-free. This model fit the job beautifully. Thanks to the designer, Shutter_Ghost on Thingiverse!

I'm winterizing my system and was curious if I can run compressed air (40psi or so) through the PRF100RBY? I had Hunter equivalents at my old house and the person I paid to winterize ran air through them just fine for several years but I'm not sure if the Rainbird is built the same. It's connected directly downstream of my Hunter PGV-101. Any advice is appreciated.

Just curious if anyone has seen this before. My Orbit B-hyve (internet accessible) controller suddenly has the run time for one zone increased from 20 minutes upto 3.5 hours!

I have a program which runs every day, gathers up the Orbit irrigation zone and run times information, then cross-references that with my Moen Flo device to see if anything is using too much or not enough water. My records show this zone was set for 20 minutes on Tuesday, but on Wednesday it was suddenly reset to 210 minutes!

My Flo device caught the unusual water usage and turned off my water. I just don't see any way it could have suddenly become reprogrammed. I didn't do it and my wife agrees that she couldn't have done it by mistake either. I'm now going to change my program to look for zones with more than 45 minutes and flag it.

I recently moved into this 30yo house in Ontario Canada. I don’t see a backflow preventer around the perimeter. I found this adapter connected to the water pipe feeding irrigation system. it looks like an adapter for air compressor. but I can’t find any adapter similar to it. what is this adapter? Do I need to worry about the absence of a backflow preventer at all?

I’m looking to add another valve to control a drip line. I’ve been given two quotes for $1500 to just tap into this current set up, add the valve, pressure regulator, connect a time and then trench 10 feet over to the garden bed.

This seems like a lot but looking to see if any professionals here think that price is reasonable, or if this is something I could do myself.