Did you try bleeding the valve by removing that little screw and running it (and getting sprayed...)? When you take out that screw -- solenoid on or off -- it should definitely run and stay running. You can try to just not tighten it too much and see if that works. But, it might dribble a bit. Sounds like something might be wrong with the valve. They usually have good warranties. If you can remove the valve completely and take it to a good irrigation shop, they'll figure it out for you. Also, when you start it and then it shuts off after a minute, do you hear it shutting off at the valve? For whatever it's worth, I've not personally had consistent longevity out of Home D's stuff (the green Orbit ones). I since replaced with Champion and Superior and they just keep chugging along. Some of those have lifetime warranties. I think it's on the brass ones.

hi numerich, I am not familiar with systems that have auto drain valves, but I would assume they are at the low end of the system. The system usually drains to the lowest irrigation head. You can check for any fitting coming out of the mainline lower than the lowest sprinkler. If you have a system that has sprinklers at the same elevation, look for a low area that a pipe can drain to and would be wet after you use the system. I am not a fan of a system that empties after each use, so you may need to apply air pressure anyway to make the drain operated. Hope this helps with some possibilities. GL. Aloha

Ceresone, I buried a main 3/4" pvc line connected to the faucet that went to the automatic valves. From the valves, I connected 1/2" irrigation line that goes to the differnet gardens. I buried some of the line, but since I placed the valves close to my raised bed gardens, most of the lines are covered by a think layer of pine needles, I purposely kept most of the lines above ground so I could easily drain them in the fall before freezing. I added couplings to the valves so they can easily be removed as well. The irrigation lines connect to soaker hoses in my raised beds that can easily be moved. I do have a timer. I got a lot of my ideas and help from dripworks.com, dirpirrigation.com and mrdrip.com. Except for taking a lot of time trying to plan and optimize the system, I don't think it was too difficult. James

There shouldn't be any water coming from the pipes or the valves. You likely have a leak somewhere and what klem1 is suggesting is see where the water is coming from when the valves are turned on.