Month: November 2012

Do-it-yourself repair on irrigation valves

Having a home irrigation system for your landscaping is a great thing. No more dragging heavy hoses through your yard and struggling to water those hard to reach spots.

There are times where you will run into problems with your irrigation system, so here is a guide to troubleshoot some common problems with irrigation valves.

Valve Does Not Open: Check the irrigation controller to ensure that it is sending a 24 volt output to the valve. If there is not a 24 volt signal going to the valve then you have a controller problem. If the controller is sending a 24 volt signal, then go to the valve in question and check the voltage across the two wires connected to the valve solenoid. Most irrigation valve will open with as little as a 21 volt signal. If you are not getting power at the valve, then you probably have a cut wire somewhere between the valve and controller. If you have at least a 21 volt signal at the valve and it does not open then the most likely problem is the valve solenoid. Solenoids are easily replaced.

Valve Does Not Close: The first thing to check is to make sure that the valve has not been opened manually. Next you will want to check for leaks around the solenoid or between the valve body and valve bonnet. If there are no leaks then turn off the water supply at the source and remove the solenoid and check for debris around the base. Also remove the valve cover (or bonnet) and inspect the diaphragm for damage from debris.

Water Continues to Seep Out of Sprinkler Head After System is Off: This may not be a valve problem. Take a look at the elevation changes in your yard. If the water is seeping out of the lowest sprinkler head on a zone, then it is most likely low head drainage. This problem can be fixed by installing a Seal-A-Matic (SAM) head at the lowest point on the zone. SAM heads have a built-in check valve that prevents low head drainage. If you have water seeping out of other sprinklers as well then there is probably debris under the valve diaphragm or the valve diaphragm is damaged.

Troubleshooting an irrigation valve problem can be a tedious task, but with a few basic tools and a little patience the problem can be detected and the repair easily made.

W.P. Law, Inc. carries top quality irrigation systems and supplies. For a more complete valve troubleshooting guide visit our Troubleshooting Page.

Sprinkler System Maintenance and Winterization

 When the air becomes cool, and the leaves take on their fall colors, our southern grasses begin entering into their dormant stage. Time to turn off our irrigation systems, but before you do let’s look at a few things that might make our spring start up a little less adventurous. Many of us set our timers (start times and run times) to water when we are asleep or not at home and we never see the irrigation actually operate. Often sprinkler heads are misaligned, broken or even missing and we have no idea that anything is wrong.

Before you lock it all up for the winter, start each zone and check to see if a head needs adjusting (watering buildings and pavement provide no real benefits and actually waste water and money). Replace broken and missing heads. If you have a drip system, check and clean your filters. All irrigation heads have a screen type strainer, if a heads seems to be performing poorly, check its screen to see if it might be clogged. Also a nozzle may be stopped up.

This would be a great time to add a rain check device to your controller in order to save money next year. A rain check would allow you to prevent watering when rainfall is available without rescheduling your timer. Some of us may have made some changes to our landscaping, and now our irrigation needs to be updated in order to better conform to the new or rearranged plant material and hardscaping. Contractors are often overwhelmed during the spring with new installations and repairs, so fall and winter are excellent times to get these renovations done.

Exposed pipes should be wrapped with some sort of insulation or drained. Irrigation pumps and their suction and discharge lines should also be drained. The correct way to accomplish this is to remove the drain plug (lowest plug on the pump housing) and the fill plug (where you prime the pump), turn off the breaker to the pump and start the irrigation controller so that it runs all the stations (you can shorten the length of time for each station or manually run through the stations allowing a couple of minutes per zone). By using this method we assure that the drainage of water from the system is more complete.

The suction lines of the pump are harder to drain due to the foot valve (a check valve with an intake screen). You could remove the foot valve (difficult to do), unhook the suction piping from the pump and pull it all up on shore and dump out the water or separate the suction from the pump and wrap it with an insulation. Be sure to prevent any insects or small animals from crawling into exposed openings. After taking care of the suction loosely replace both plugs and turn your controller to the off position. Your spring startup should be a lot less stressful next year.

David Park
W.P. Law Inc.

A list of irrigation tools for do-it-yourself installation.

Installing an irrigation system yourself will require specific irrigation tools to do the job right.

Here is a list of the most common irrigation tools you’ll need to install an irrigation system, and how to use them.

Trenching Shovel: A trenching shovel will be needed to dig holes and clean-out machine-dug trenches for the irrigation pipes and valves. Its narrow blade makes this the ideal tool for this tedious job.

Mattock: A mattock is used to dig short trenches, and the pick end works great for breaking and removing rocks.

Tamper: A tamper bar is used to compact the soil after it is replaced over the piping.

PVC Pipe Cutter: The PVC pipe cutter is used to cut the PVC pipe leaving clean edges.

Hack Saw: A hack saw can be used to cut PVC pipe, as well as metal pipe.

Wire Cutter/stripper: A combination wire cutter and stripper is used for cutting and stripping wires.

Screw Drivers: You will need a flat screwdriver and a Phillips head screwdriver to connect the wires to the controller.

Visit the irrigation specialists at W.P. Law, Inc. for quality irrigation supplies.

Landscape products enhance your home’s beauty.

Finding the right landscape products to enhance your landscaping will bring value and beauty to your home. Locating quality products is important; not only do you need products that are made to last, you need to stay within your budget.

To locate quality products, start with recommendations from family, neighbors, and friends. The internet is also a great place not only to research where to buy the products, but you can research the products, as well.

Educating yourself on the many products that are available is a great way to begin any landscaping project. There are so many brands available today for every product imaginable it can sometimes be hard to choose.

Working with professionals who know the best products to use on your landscaping projects will ensure you get quality products and service.

Improve your home’s value by using quality landscaping products that will improve the curb appeal of your home, and make it the envy of the neighborhood.

W.P. Law, Inc. carries top quality landscape products to enhance your homes beauty; from irrigation systems and supplies to water features, they carry quality name brands that bring added value to your landscape. Visit W.P. Law, Inc. today.