Sprinklers Leaking? Purging? Help.

16 years ago

Zone 1 of our sprinkler system has been leaking massive amounts of water all day. The system is shut down, even unplugged. The first 4 pop-up heads in Zone 1 are just releasing tons of water.

I have no idea where the manifold is. We built this house and the system came installed.

The box where the water meter is underground is full of water, but I can see the meter and it is spinning like crazy. The system uses reclaimed water and I have no way of shutting it off.

This happens a lot in the neighborhood, but not all day. Usually it stops after an hour or so. I assumed it was the City purging pressure or something, but they wouldn't do that all day I don't think.

Any ideas of what it is and how I can get it to stop? I googled with no success. Thanks!!!

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Comments (4)

ronalawn82
16 years ago
perrisquirrel, first of all, I am quite sure that there is a shut off device for the whole system, necessary when work has to be done on it. Such a device would be located on the street side of the meter; call the municipality for help.
You have unplugged the system; therefore the problem is not electrical; perhaps plumbing. Valves are not always located in manifolds; they may be individually spotted throughout the system. The installer may have preferred to run wire than pipe. Valves have electrical and mechanical components and I suspect that the valve which operates this zone may have a mechanical problem. When you locate it, check that the solenoid is operating. You should hear a click each time current is switched on or off. If you hear a humming or buzzing sound, it could mean that the solenoid is stuck in the open position. Other problems may be that debris may be caught in the valve body. Some valves have a 'scrubber' which permits you to vent the valve and hopefully, the debris with the vented water. There are a couple of tiny ports in the valve body which might be blocked and then there is the diaphragm which may be leaking. If valve replacement is somewhere in your future, it is quite easy, if you purchase the EXACT replacement and then replace only the parts. This way you will not have to replace the valve body which can be a pain in more than one places of the body. If you need hands on experience, disassemble an old valve and you will see its construction. All brands are similar. If you do tackle the task, make sure that there is no debris inside the valve body or the ports.
popupholdup
16 years ago
With help for holding up pop-up sprinklers, try using the POPUPHOLDUP. You can go to www.POPUPHOLDUP.com for more information on usage. The POPUPHOLDUPÂ clips onto the nozzle stems of all major brands of fixed head pop-up sprinklers. The stems stay up even when the water is turned off! ItÂs a system designed to hold up multiple sprinkler nozzles at the same time to make routine maintenance of filters, nozzles and flushing a quick, easy, hands free job.

Here is a link that might be useful: www.POPUPHOLDUP.com
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whitey13
13 years ago
I am having a similar problem. I have 5 zones in my yard and one of the zones is constantly leaking. I have replaced the valve for that zone 3 times and each time it continues to leak through. It is in a valve box with another valve (the other 3 are on the other side of the yard) and I have no problems with any of the others. I have run it with power and manually. I have to shut the water on and off at the sprinkler shut off each night I water. Inevitably, I forget to shut it off sometimes and wake up the next day with puddles along the sidewalk.

I also find it hard to believe there is trapped debris from each of the times I have tried to repair it. Any suggestions?? Please help!!

Steve
lehua49
13 years ago
whitey,

We would have to know more about your system to give meaningful troubleshooting. It is odd that only one valve has the problem several times. Describe what is unique about that zone. Is the valve higher or lower than the rest of the system and in comparison to the heads.? Is your water pressure high? What is the water line's diameter? Does the valve just leak at the valve or does the leak occur at the sprinkler head? Explain leak through in more detail? Is the problem involve not being able to turn on the valve/zone manually from the controller? These are the examples of additional info needed since we can't visit your yard. Aloha

Sprinklers Leaking? Purging? Help.

Comments (4)

ronalawn82

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