So I am learning on the go with underground sprinkling and I've got a situation that has confounded me. The system I am working with has Orbit components and as I recently tried to get things working I realized I had one zone that would not shut off. The valve is an in-line jar-top style which I took apart and cleaned the gaskets, 0-rings and the inside in general as best I could. When I put the valve back in it did the same thing (wouldn't shut off) no matter what I tried. If I try to manually open or close the valve I still get same results so I figured the valve was bad. Bought new valve (same brand and style) installed it today and I still get the same thing-valve won't close no matter what I do. The solenoid on top of the valve has two wires that go to a plug that plugs into an adaptor (sorry not sure exactly what it's called) that has a port for each valve in the manifold. I wondered if the port this particular valve was plugged into was bad but even if I switched the port that it was plugged into nothing changed. As I said at the beginning I am new to all this and trying to help a family member (and gaining invaluable knowledge/experience for when I set my own sprinkling system up) but I am not sure what to try next. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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- Thread starter vinnie2u
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Smooky
In the Trades
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Very informative video. Thank you very much. It seems like it has to be either dirt in the valve somehow or a wiring issue. I hope to have time Thurs. or Fri. to get back out there and work on it some more. Thanks again.
Okay I managed to fix this problem. Probably should have been more obvious to me that dirt in the line/valve was causing issues but once I took valve apart and flushed it it started working fine once I put it back together.
I don't know if I should start a new thread with my next question but here's my situation: the well I'm working with is in a pit. The pump (for sprinkling only) is also in the same pit. On the output side of the plumbing from the pump there is a T fitting that goes to a pressure tank (also right there in pit). If I start pump up it will build up pressure and shut off at 50psi. If I run sprinklers I get great pressure (pressure gauge reads close to 30psi) for a minute or two then it drops down to next to nothing. If I leave sprinklers running the pressure gauge on pump is only reading about 10psi. As soon as I shut off sprinklers the pressure will build and the pump will shut off when its supposed to(at 50psi on pressure gauge). It seems to me like it has something to do with the pressure tank but I don't fully understand exactly what the pressure tank is supposed to be doing. It seems like the sprinkler output is so good at first because of the pressure tank but as the pressure in the pressure tank drops with pump running the sprinkler output falls off. I guess my question is what exactly is the pressure tank for and is there a way to tell if it is working/doing in the correct manner? I'm definitely finding out there's more to sprinkler systems than just turning a pump on and watching your sprinklers work their magic. Thanks in advance for any help.
I don't know if I should start a new thread with my next question but here's my situation: the well I'm working with is in a pit. The pump (for sprinkling only) is also in the same pit. On the output side of the plumbing from the pump there is a T fitting that goes to a pressure tank (also right there in pit). If I start pump up it will build up pressure and shut off at 50psi. If I run sprinklers I get great pressure (pressure gauge reads close to 30psi) for a minute or two then it drops down to next to nothing. If I leave sprinklers running the pressure gauge on pump is only reading about 10psi. As soon as I shut off sprinklers the pressure will build and the pump will shut off when its supposed to(at 50psi on pressure gauge). It seems to me like it has something to do with the pressure tank but I don't fully understand exactly what the pressure tank is supposed to be doing. It seems like the sprinkler output is so good at first because of the pressure tank but as the pressure in the pressure tank drops with pump running the sprinkler output falls off. I guess my question is what exactly is the pressure tank for and is there a way to tell if it is working/doing in the correct manner? I'm definitely finding out there's more to sprinkler systems than just turning a pump on and watching your sprinklers work their magic. Thanks in advance for any help.
Smooky
In the Trades
The water level might be dropping faster than it can recover. Have you tried it with less sprinklers?
Each zone has no more than four sprinklers (I believe 3 of the 6 zones only have 3 sprinklers). I guess I haven't thought about trying less sprinklers although I have thought about looking into some low-pressure sprinkler heads. Thought I read somewhere they have sprinklers designed for low-pressure situations but I could be wrong.
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