tm, Hardie Controller(how old?) and Hunter heads are respectable brands. Heads can be any brand. Hunter have a very good reputation but less expensive ones will do. Check what the model # of head is and check on the internet for the flow rate for that model. You will need to know your water pressure(zone operating pressure. Are these rotor heads or regular pop ups? The head in the down position should be low enough in the lawn not to be hit from the lowest setting of your mower. Mine are about flush or a little lower than the earth. I don't want the dirt coming back in the line when the irrigation goes off and the lines start to empty. Aloha

TGG, Just touch one test-lead to the colored wire from the controller that goes to the the non-working solenoid and the other test lead to the common white wire from the controller and from the controller manually turn on that zone from the controller. Your meter should read 24 volts. Yes if all fails replace valve and solenoid which is probably underground in most systems but may not be in some systems. Connect one black lead to the original colored wire going to the controller and the other to the common white wire that goes to the common terminal in controller. good luck. Aloha

Hope this is still active. I have my sprinkler system controller in my garage. I have valves for the front yard sprinklers and valves for the back. My controller will still turn on front yard sprinklers, but not the backyard. It usedan to wor fine. The connections seem tight at the controller. Don't see any loose connections by the valves though it is somewhat complex looking at there. The valves will turn on the sprinklers if turned manually. How can I check for loose connections versus wire shortages. Not sure if relevant, but we (gardener) did change front yard sprinkler stations prior to the backyard issue started. But I can't remember if the backyard sprinklers were working after that for a short period of time or not. Thanks for any help.

PVC is very easy if you follow the rules but it can be very unforgiving if you attempt shortcuts. When cutting PVC pipe you must be sure to cut the ends square across the pipe, then both the ID and the OD of the cut should be deburred with a deburring tool or a knife to remove any burrs or rough edges. PVC can be cut with a PVC snap cutter, a hacksaw, a PVC saw, a wire saw and in a tight spot it can be cut with a piece of Nylon Masons twine. While PVC pipe is somewhat flexible you should never rely upon that to make a change of direction. PVC pipe should always be run as straight as possible and use the appropriate fittings to make any changes in direction. While we commonly think of PVC joints as being glued technically speaking that is a misnomer. Glueing is the action of attaching two pieces together by means of a chemical which adheres to the surface but such is not the case with PVC. Technically speaking the act of glueing a PVC joint should properly be called "Chemical Welding" because the PVC glue softens both the pipe and the fitting and fuses them together in the same manner as we use heat to fuse to pieces of metal together. Per ASTM specifications you MUST apply PVC solvent/primer to all joints prior to applying glue. The purpose of the solvent primer is to clean the surface and remove the glaze from the pipe and fitting wall, thereby exposing the interior material to the glue for the chemical fusion process. PVC solvent/primer is made in both a clear formula and a purple dye formula. While both types of primer are the same many local codes require that all joints in new construction must be made with the purple dye type primer. The purple color is required so that an inspector can be sure that primer was used prior to glueing. If you have a bad joint the only solution is to cut the bad section out and use a coupling to glue in a new section.