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anyone have in-ground sprinklers for their lawn ?

rh71

rh71

No Lifer
I can't figure out why the damn things won't rise above and start sprinkling after I "program" it to. 🙂

UPDATE: Look for 7/25 post for updated problem.
 
I do, just replaced/move a few this weekend.

Make sure your days are set properly. You should be able to manually turn them on at any time. If they still won't pop up after doing that, then you might have a leak in one of the pipes or not enough pressure.

If you do get water when you trigger it manually, then your zone's cellunoid (works with the main timer unit to control the sprinkler zones) may have gone bad.
 
I think I know what your problem is. Usually when the system is shut down for the winter the water in the control box is shut off so the system doesn't have any water pressure. You just have to turn this back on.
 
Yeah I'm sure it was turned off for the winter (moved in late December) by the previous owners. Short of calling them,... I'd like to know where this switch is... typically where is it ? Control box (electronic timer, etc.) is hung up in the garage, but that's definitely not where any valve is.
 
Originally posted by: rh71
Yeah I'm sure it was turned off for the winter (moved in late December) by the previous owners. Short of calling them,... I'd like to know where this switch is... typically where is it ? Control box (electronic timer, etc.) is hung up in the garage, but that's definitely not where any valve is.
Click to expand...


It's usually a valve in the ground you need to turn on with a long "T" wrench type thing. Generally it's near the valve solenoid box.

amish
 
It's usually very close to the outside water hose outlet. Just look around the outside of your house and look for any water pipes sticking up from the ground 🙂 You usually will need a plyer or a flat screwdriver to turn those things. And depending how big of a lawn you have, there are usually one for each zone.
 
I have one, but mine's a manual system. I have valves taht I have to turn on for each set of sprinklers, so sorry 🙁
 
There should be an in ground valve with an access door somewhere close to your water line coming into the yard, look for access plates in the ground.

I'm trying Buffalograss in a patch of my yard, if it works I'm going to try to avoid the whole sprinkler thing...
 
Ok guys, in about 5 seconds, you will see just how desperate I really am at trying to figure this out.

Here's a pic of something unknown in the foreground with a water valve in the back ground
Here's the unknown object - is this supposed to be something? It's empty inside
Here's a closeup of the water valve with the right side going underground, but I cannot turn either of the little switches at all - left one works ok for hose
Front Yard lawn (angle 1)
Front Yard lawn (angle 2)

The control box is in the garage, but it's pointless linking that since it's just an electronic console with no levers or anything. So is pic2 the object in question ? I will call the company who installed this for the previous owner tomorrow, as they are closed for the day... hence the reason I'm here.
 
Originally posted by: rh71
Ok guys, in about 5 seconds, you will see just how desperate I really am at trying to figure this out. Here's a pic of something unknown in the foreground with a water valve in the back ground Here's the unknown object - is this supposed to be something? It's empty inside Here's a closeup of the water valve with the right side going underground, but I cannot turn either of the little switches at all - left one works ok for hose Front Yard lawn (angle 1) Front Yard lawn (angle 2) The control box is in the garage, but it's pointless linking that since it's just an electronic console with no levers or anything. So is pic2 the object in question ? I will call the company who installed this for the previous owner tomorrow, as they are closed for the day... hence the reason I'm here.
Click to expand...

The object inside is the part of the sprinkler that pops up, silly 😛
 
My parents just got one installed this weekend. In my township, you get a discount on water if your sprinkler system is hooked up to a separate water meter. Check the main water input for your house (ours is in the basement) and see if there's a shut-off valve there.

Ours is a blue handle that you can turn with your hand. Hope it works for you.
 
Originally posted by: rbloedow
Originally posted by: rh71
Ok guys, in about 5 seconds, you will see just how desperate I really am at trying to figure this out. Here's a pic of something unknown in the foreground with a water valve in the back ground Here's the unknown object - is this supposed to be something? It's empty inside Here's a closeup of the water valve with the right side going underground, but I cannot turn either of the little switches at all - left one works ok for hose Front Yard lawn (angle 1) Front Yard lawn (angle 2) The control box is in the garage, but it's pointless linking that since it's just an electronic console with no levers or anything. So is pic2 the object in question ? I will call the company who installed this for the previous owner tomorrow, as they are closed for the day... hence the reason I'm here.
Click to expand...

The object inside is the part of the sprinkler that pops up, silly 😛
Click to expand...
Interesting... this one is already in the up position... all the others are around the perimeter of the grass... thought this was a switch or something. 🙂

P.S. I don't have a basement... does the right valve of pic3 seem like it ? I'm afraid I'll break the little tab for it and it'll be a rough trip from there...

 
Originally posted by: rh71
Originally posted by: rbloedow
Originally posted by: rh71
Ok guys, in about 5 seconds, you will see just how desperate I really am at trying to figure this out. Here's a pic of something unknown in the foreground with a water valve in the back ground Here's the unknown object - is this supposed to be something? It's empty inside Here's a closeup of the water valve with the right side going underground, but I cannot turn either of the little switches at all - left one works ok for hose Front Yard lawn (angle 1) Front Yard lawn (angle 2) The control box is in the garage, but it's pointless linking that since it's just an electronic console with no levers or anything. So is pic2 the object in question ? I will call the company who installed this for the previous owner tomorrow, as they are closed for the day... hence the reason I'm here.
Click to expand...

The object inside is the part of the sprinkler that pops up, silly 😛
Click to expand...
Interesting... this one is already in the up position... all the others are around the perimeter of the grass... thought this was a switch or something. 🙂

P.S. I don't have a basement... does the right valve of pic3 seem like it ? I'm afraid I'll break the little tab for it and it'll be a rough trip from there...
Click to expand...

That one is a raised sprinkler valve. What you could do is trace the wires coming out of the main control panel (the console in your garage) and see where it leads to. It should lead you to a valve control unit that is used to control the water pressure for each zone. That's where you can manually turn on a certain zone, that's how mine are done. I have seen some setup where that valve control units are hidden away so no one would tinker with it. Since you are having such a difficult time finding it, I imagine it is so in your case.

Edit:
After taking a closer look at your first picture, I noticed a little round raised up cover next to your water hose valve. Have you looked inside to see what's in there???
 
I bit the bullet and emailed the previous owner ... she said it's the right smaller valve in this picture... which I don't recall to be turn-able... but at least I know where it is now. Thanks all for your help/concern.
 
Originally posted by: rh71
I bit the bullet and emailed the previous owner ... she said it's the right smaller valve in this picture... which I don't recall to be turn-able... but at least I know where it is now. Thanks all for your help/concern.
Click to expand...

that's a somewhat shady way of hooking that up. make sure the knob is also on.
 
So it turns out that was it... that little knob has since been replaced and the sprinkler has been working by program just fine... until this morning... when it got to zone 5 which is my backyard. It goes in sequence... zone 4 completed and I heard the water flow (within the walls of the house) slow down to a stop... this is normal. Zone 5 is supposed to kick the water noise back up again... and as it was doing that... BOOM. Then nothing.

I haven't been able to get this going again. I called the irrigation company and they said for coming down here, the first 15 minutes will cost $47! Subsequent 30 minutes are $57. That's absolutely ridiculous but what can ya do... I don't even know why the water isn't going to the backyard sprinklers... do any of you? Manual test of the other sprinklers are okay... and when it goes to zone 5... nothing again. Not even water sounds. HELP!
 
Originally posted by: rh71
So it turns out that was it... that little knob has since been replaced and the sprinkler has been working by program just fine... until this morning... when it got to zone 5 which is my backyard. It goes in sequence... zone 4 completed and I heard the water flow (within the walls of the house) slow down to a stop... this is normal. Zone 5 is supposed to kick the water noise back up again... and as it was doing that... BOOM. Then nothing.

I haven't been able to get this going again. I called the irrigation company and they said for coming down here, the first 15 minutes will cost $47! Subsequent 30 minutes are $57. That's absolutely ridiculous but what can ya do... I don't even know why the water isn't going to the backyard sprinklers... do any of you? Manual test of the other sprinklers are okay... and when it goes to zone 5... nothing again. Not even water sounds. HELP!
Click to expand...
This should be easy to troubleshoot.
Simply move one of the other valve control wires to Zone 5 on the Control box. We want to see if it does the same thing. If it does, it's the box. If the Zone on the box works fine, then try running the Valve for Zone 5 from another Zone output from the box. The valve may be dicey.
HTH

 
Good thinking... it was pretty simple to swap wires in the control box... swapped 4 & 5 and the backyard zone still didn't work (while the new "zone 5" did). Something's not kosher with the water getting to those sprinklers back there. Looks like I will have to let them come on Monday ... unless you guys have anymore ideas. How does the water get from the front yard water valve on/off knob to the backyard in-ground sprinklers (obviously down into the ground like in the pic, then under the house to the back)? How're they going to troubleshoot this without digging for pipes in my backyard ?
 
I found an old contract that supposedly gets sent to the house every year. Dated Sept.2002, it asked if we wanted to sign up for winterizing and summer-izing of the sprinkler system. Since I didn't see it till now, it wasn't done - they wanted $175 for it.

My question:: is winterizing/summerizing of an inground sprinkler system necessary ?! I live in NY if that matters.

BTW, I still haven't fixed my zone 5 problem. I wonder if I can call in another company if they can fix it for cheaper...
 
winterizing = blowing the water out w/ a big air compressor
winterizing is a must in freezing climates.
not sure what summerizing would be, besides turning it on for you.
 
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