How to know which zone on valve goes to which sprinklers

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kittyfranklin

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Hi,

My husband and I just bought this house and we're trying to figure out which zone goes to which sprinklers because some of the sprinklers are fine, and other ones we need to fix/replace the entire zone's pipes/sprinklers.

The valve we have is the FIMCO Hydro-indexing valve.

This is pretty much the indexing valve stem we have: http://www.homedepot.com/p/FIMCO-1-in-or-1-1-4-in-Mini-Indexing-Valve-Stem-and-Disc-9237/202524334?cm_mmc=Shopping|THD|G|0|G-BASE-PLA-D26P-Plumbing|&gclid=CjwKEAiAoaXFBRCNhautiPvnqzoSJABzHd6hpvY8RADxHZiJRWMRxMVosxR5UuAcDUr2UqDrrdCxQhoCUTzw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

How are we supposed to know which zone is getting watered? Which zone's pipe has water going through it?

We can't figure it out by just turning it on. When we turn the water on, we're not sure if what's being watered is zone 1, 2, 3 or 4. And we tried feeling to see if one pipe was getting more vibration than the others (just coming out from the valve) to see if we could tell which pipe the water was going through, but all the pipes are vibrating equally because all the pipes vibrate equally when just one zone is being watered.

How do we know which zone is being watered?

We'd like to be able to find out without having to take the whole thing apart, and also we'd like to know so we don't have to dig up our entire yard or replace the wrong pipes (since some of the zones work just fine).

We are planning on changing the route of the bad sprinklers because we don't like the location, so working our way backward (from sprinkler to valve) will pretty much be a waste of time as well. Not to mention the fact that some zones work so poorly we can't even tell where the sprinklers are or where the pipe pathways are.

Thanks for any help you can give!
 

Gary Swart

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You can turn each zone on manually in the control box. I'm not familiar with the brand you mention, but I think all brands can be operated manually.
 

WorthFlorida

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There is no way to tell with a zone (indexing) valve system. They come in two, three, four, five or six zone configurations. A three zone valve will still have four pipes from it going into the ground but one of them is only there for anchoring or there s only three pipes, but the housing (body) will have what looks like four zones. It is all controlled by the cam at the very top. To get to the zone you want you'll need to shut the water off with the timer, (either pump or city water) Each off/on cycle advances to the next zone. Therefore, with a four zone system, you'll need to turn off the water three times and on the forth you'll be at the same zone as your started. There is no zone one, two, etc.

If you are on city water the anti siphon valve could be worn out that may be causing low water flow or pressure. They do come apart so the diaphragm can be replaced but it is sometimes more trouble than just replacing the entire valve. Another cause is there is a filter screen inside the sprinklers and they do get clogged up. For spray heads they are under the very top spray head.

3bea46b5-a11c-4b8b-8d07-83466f095910_300.jpg


3/4 in. 150 psi RJ Anti-Siphon Valve with Flow Control
bd39fcf9-bbc9-444e-86da-98997f314419_145.jpg


I had a five zone system on my house and it got very tiring to cycle through every zone to work on sprinklers and test each zone. Sometimes the valve did not index to the next zone so it just became a nuisance since there is no way to know what zone your on other than look at the sprinkler heads. I eventually replaced it with four irrigation valves.

3-Valve Inline Manifold Assembly
Model# 57253
d264e0da-5771-41a2-bf28-3f483b64f21c_145.jpg

This pic below from HD. The cam is the round capon top.

FIMCO 1 in. 10 psi 4 Outlet Indexing Valve with 2, 3 and 4 Zone Cams
Model# 9254

13d536ec-c538-4aba-a8a1-c906feecb23a_400_compressed.jpg
 
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