Turned on my sprinkler system the other day. Last zone seems to have a problem. Not getting correct water pressure and when I watch my pressure gauge near the well pump it bounces around between 50-80. This only happens in this particular zone.
Any ideas? Guessing a leak or something in that zone?
Could be a valve not fully opening. Happened to me, and was worried about my water pump. Replaced the valve and all was good. Hopefully it could work for you too.
I’d check the valve first. May be a bad electrical connection. Could be a bad solenoid.
I’d check the valve first. May be a bad electrical connection. Could be a bad solenoid.
I am betting on age/gunk/debris of the solenoid in the valve. You may just need to clean it and put back together. I had to change one out this weekend as even when it was cleaned it still leaked. easy job though.
If it isn’t the solenoid turn it on and walk the lawn if u have any idea where your mainline is. You will find the leak in the matter of a few minutes. Pretty easy fix just make sure you don’t get any dirt in the line while splicing
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>munchy wrote:</div>
I’d check the valve first. May be a bad electrical connection. Could be a bad solenoid.I am betting on age/gunk/debris of the solenoid in the valve. You may just need to clean it and put back together. I had to change one out this weekend as even when it was cleaned it still leaked. easy job though.
Possibly. However the pressure surging he is experiencing is typical of a loose/corroded wire or aging solenoid.
I am betting on age/gunk/debris of the solenoid in the valve. You may just need to clean it and put back together. I had to change one out this weekend as even when it was cleaned it still leaked. easy job though.
I had a pebble in one of mine last year that was causing me all kinds of grief. Unscrewed the top and cleaned it up, all was good again. And seems like the cheapest place to start for trouble shooting.
Possible to give any more guidance on how to locate the valve / celeniod? Does each zone have one? I know very little about this
Otherwise I may have to call an irrigation company. Thanks for the info so far
Look for green lids in your lawn. Hopefully your installer used valve boxes. Each zone will have a valve. Good luck should be easy fix
Look for a round or rectangular ground box somewhere in your yard. There may be just one, there may be a few.
Open it up and turn on the zone that is causing the issue. You’ll possibly hear some noise coming from the one that is running. If you hear a bunch of clicking from the valve its the solenoid turning on and off.
The solenoid is the part on top of the valve with wires coming out.
Play with the wires a bit to see if it’s a loose/bad connection.
Possible to give any more guidance on how to locate the valve / celeniod? Does each zone have one? I know very little about this
Otherwise I may have to call an irrigation company. Thanks for the info so far
Each zone does have its own valve. Typically, all the valves are part of a manifold where the main feeds each of the zones. If you turn the knob on top of the valve, one of the zones should come on manually.
Look for a round or rectangular ground box somewhere in your yard. There may be just one, there may be a few.
Open it up and turn on the zone that is causing the issue. You’ll possibly hear some noise coming from the one that is running. If you hear a bunch of clicking from the valve its the solenoid turning on and off.
The solenoid is the part on top of the valve with wires coming out.
Play with the wires a bit to see if it’s a loose/bad connection.
So I followed this. I have two boxes outside…. 5 little heads in one and 3 in the other. Which does make sense because I have 8 zones.
I think I found the valve? that is for zone 8, which is the zone I am having problems with. I don’t really hear any clicking, but I can feel a little tiny vibration in thAt one and really can’t in the others while zone 8 is running.
Only other observation is that all of the 8 valves have a tiny amount of vertical movement that seem to correspond with the pulsing water pressure
Couple pics for reference. I circled the one that I think is for zone 8
8623FC61-98BD-41FD-B9C0-AED51F22F748.jpeg
01E474C6-419D-4212-838F-A47B236087E5.jpeg
If you are saying you have low pressure on zone 8 and your pump is cycling between the cut in of 50psi and the cutout of 80psi, then you have a constriction in the pipe after the valve. Most common being a tree root.
It is possible that it is a valve issue, but not likely the selonoid. If the zone turns on at all feom the controller, then rule out the selenoid.
It could however be a blockage in the selenoid ports of the valve. Small passages that feed water to and from the selenoid.
Again, this is all based on the heads of zone 8 having low pressure.
Couple pics for reference. I circled the one that I think is for zone 8
I’ve never seen the valves buried quite like that. The valve body is under the knob you circled.
Shut the water off, pull a lot of that dirt out and you will find the valve body, there is 4 screws one at each corner. Take the top off and watch out for a spring, make sure to clean out any foreign objects or debris.
Youtube how to clean a sprinkler valve.
Thanks guys. I appreciate it.
Holy buckets that was a PITA. I scooped out a full 5 gal bucket with my fingers. Plenty of little roots. Guessing they are not supposed to be buried?!
Anyways…. here is how it looks cleaned up. Only reason it’s wet is I sprayed it quick with water so I could see what I was looking at.
I did a you tube video…. but mine apparently don’t have the 4 screws as crappie suggested and the video showed
E8CD5BA9-0CE1-4730-BC6F-F58E550A3521.jpeg
Turn the large plastic ring with a large pair of channel locks and the whole top will come off.
Thanks Super Dave. Did some more searching and figured out they were called jar-top valves. Got the valve open and everything looks fine.
During the process I found that I can hear water running, in the ground, between the valve box and zone 8. This leads me to believe there is a leak in the ground… 
This is only when zone 8 is on? There should not be any water to zone 8 until the valve opens. I had a leak on the main line that always has water pressure, and that’s easy to find because the mudhole it creates. I had a gopher eat a hole on one of my zones in the back yard, Maybe that’s what you have?
T
During the process I found that I can hear water running, in the ground, between the valve box and zone 8.
Thanks Super Dave. Did some more searching and figured out they were called jar-top valves. Got the valve open and everything looks fine.
During the process I found that I can hear water running, in the ground, between the valve box and zone 8. This leads me to believe there is a leak in the ground…
If you can hear water flowing underground away from the valve…you have a kink/constriction.
This is only when zone 8 is on? There should not be any water to zone 8 until the valve opens. I had a leak on the main line that always has water pressure, and that’s easy to find because the mudhole it creates. I had a gopher eat a hole on one of my zones in the back yard, Maybe that’s what you have?
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>lindyrig79 wrote:</div>
T
During the process I found that I can hear water running, in the ground, between the valve box and zone 8.
Yes, only when zone 8 is on.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>lindyrig79 wrote:</div>
Thanks Super Dave. Did some more searching and figured out they were called jar-top valves. Got the valve open and everything looks fine.During the process I found that I can hear water running, in the ground, between the valve box and zone 8. This leads me to believe there is a leak in the ground…
If you can hear water flowing underground away from the valve…you have a kink/constriction.
Looks like you may be right Gixxer. There are a couple big oaks near that area… maybe some roots are the problem. Or maybe the guys we hired to blow the lines last fall left some water in that zone and a pipe burst?
Time to dig up that area I guess.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>gixxer01 wrote:</div>
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>lindyrig79 wrote:</div>
Thanks Super Dave. Did some more searching and figured out they were called jar-top valves. Got the valve open and everything looks fine.During the process I found that I can hear water running, in the ground, between the valve box and zone 8. This leads me to believe there is a leak in the ground…
If you can hear water flowing underground away from the valve…you have a kink/constriction.
Looks like you may be right Gixxer. There are a couple big oaks near that area… maybe some roots are the problem. Or maybe the guys we hired to blow the lines last fall left some water in that zone and a pipe burst?
Time to dig up that area I guess.
You’d know if you had a leak!
Dig as gingerly as possible until you visibly see the pipe and the direction it is traveling. Then get crazy with an axe or sawzall.
Piece of advice…the sound generally emits after the kink. So dig as close to the sound as you can and towards the valve. Don’t bury anything until you are sure you’ve fixed all kinks. It’s not uncommon for their to be multiple constrictions in a short area.
You’ll need couplers, clamps, and a section of pipe. Bypass the tree roots as best as possible to insure a lasting repair.
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