Limited flow on First zone of Irrigation system

[Rfsmith48]

Hey,
I have a Rainbird system that is about 15 years old.
No big problems until this year.
The First zone which is mostly pop up heads is not flowing well. It worked fine last year.
It behaves like there is a (new) flow restriction somewhere in the zone.
Has anyone else seen this sort of problem. How did you diagnose it?
Thanks in advance.
Rog Smith
720 326 7296

 

[WorthFlorida]

Pop up sprinklers have a filter screen under the changeable spray head. Sometimes mold will grow inside the irrigation pipe and each screen becomes partial block. Sometimes after a pipe repair dirt can get inside the pipe. What you need to do is at every pop up remove the head and clean and check the filter. With the spray heads removed turn on the water to flush out any debris. With all of the spray heads removed and the zone is on, if a few seem to spray sky high and the next one on line doesn't, the blockage could be between the two.

Notice the cup shaped of the filter, it prevents the filter from falling inside the pop up but more importantly, the screw used to adjust the spray distance, as the screw is turned from the top, the bottom part of the screw head is round (Philips) and it closes off the water flow.

If none of this helps it is possible the valve is not fully functioning or there is debris inside the pipe blocking flow. More common at 90 degree elbows where large stones cannot get past the elbow.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Rfsmith48]

Hey,
Thanks for the response. Two of the blocked spray heads had loaded up the screens. Cleaned them up and everything works well.
Thanks again!
Rog