Can anyone identify this irrigation valve for me?

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archaeoguy

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Hi everyone,

This is a great site for information that has helped me out in the past. I'm hoping that ya'll will be able to help me again.

Can someone please identify the fittings/valves in the picture attached to this message and tell me what they are and their function? The valves shown are 2 of four coming off the main irrigation line in our backyard. This irrigation system is 10+ years old and the prior owners of the house tied into two of these four lines for the current sprinkler irrigation lines.

Our main water feed is 1" pvc and these four right angle branches are located near our back patio, each having this funny valve/limiter and 1" piping out. The valves and piping are currently buried, but there are remnants of a deteriorated subterranean control box so they must have been accessible at some time. The black tubing on top of the valves made me think that these were control valves at first, but the black tubing is hollow and it snaps onto a zirk on top of the valve so I surmise it is either for pressure relief or possibly even vacuum control? There is no wiring at all that I have been able to find and the black tubing is laid adjacent to the main water line so I do not know where it ends.

Are these some kind of backflow valves? I have searched high and low on the internet and I can't find anything comparable.

What I am trying to figure out is if there is a reason to keep these valves or if I can remove them and simplify our irrigation plumbing. I'd like to simplify the system to minimize the risk of leaks in the future by removing this complicated 4-line manifold and then tie the 1" main directly into our 3/4" irrigation lattice with a step-down t-coupler. I'd then cap off the remaining three 1" lines, which would be rendered unnecessary.

If anyone could please clue me in to the purpose of those valves or whatever they are then I would be very appreciative.

Thanks,

Erich
 

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Valveman

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Looks like some kind of hydraulically controlled sprinkler valve. The tubes usually go to a little pump system that pressurizes the tubes to open the valves for irrigation. With no water coming to them they should just be open like a piece of pipe.
 

BCG

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Those are Toro hydraulic valves. If you have an electric controller, and those zones are still be ing used, you should replace them with electric valves. With no pressure to them, hydraulic valves stay closed so it's possible those zones were long ago abandoned and you can remove them and cap the pipe.
 
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