Hi Ike, I will ask you questions that should narrow down the problem a bit. First the automatic valves are independent from the controller except for the connecting wiring and each can be any product brand. If you can not find the exact origin of the leak it is best to ask a landscape contractor to have a look at what is wrong. It is hard to really know what is happening without actually seeing it in real life. Okay here are the questions: 1. Do you know how to turn on each zone(section)from the controller and manually from the valve? 2. How many zones in the system? Two ways to check this, first count the valves to each zone or second open the controller and look at the electrical hookups and count the wire connections but don't count the common wire connection. 3. Can you see water coming out of your lawn in one particular spot? 4. Does the sprinklers continue to pour out water after you shut off the valve from the controller? 5.. Can you see which zone work with which valve? Keep track as you test the system's zones. 6. What de-threaded itself? If you have more than one zone, you have more than one valve. It is very unusual to have a valve unthread itself being in line with buried pipe. Was the fitting above ground, in a valve box or buried? 7. Do you know how to work with cutting and connecting PVC pipe and threading parts together with teflon pipe tape? Yes, you do not have to buy an entire system again, but you might think about replacing the very old valves and controller. You can take this opportunity to reconfigure these main system items in places more to your liking. If you aren't comfortable with doing this yourself ask an akamai friend or landscape contractor. It is inexpensive if you do it yourself. Aloha

Well, the solenoids (shown lying on the ground outside the valve box) should be threaded into the fairly obvious locations on the valves. The knobs in the center of the valves are called flow controls and will regulate the amount of water that passes through valve when it is open; more than likely these could be left where they are. The screws indicated in your picture are manual bleed screws these can be used to manually actuate your valve (turn it on/off). As for why there are both a ball valve and a gate valve, who knows perhaps whimsy on the part of the installer or some situation where an additional valve was necessary; maybe the gate valve leaks? I would recommend you thread the solenoids into the valves and fire the system up, it should work. The only issue I see is that the valves may not correspond correctly with the indicated position within the clock; some trial and error may be necessary to get the solenoids back where they belong.

I believe lehua13 is steering you in the right direction. To really determine if there is a leak from the head and not something else (like ground water drainage), dig down as much as needed and remove the sprinkler head (this shouldn't require much digging as the TOP should most likely be able to unscrew allowing the "guts" of the head to be serviced without digging the whole head up out of the ground and disconnecting it from the pipes). If there IS water comming up into the sprinkler head with both of ya'll systems shut down and no water meaters turning, then about the only thing that makes any sense to me is that he has a broken pipe that is somehow allowing water back-into the system after a blowout. After all, it is possible that a broken line has created a little cave underground that fills with water when he runs the irrigation system. When he then blows out the system, that little cave can still be filled with water. Then, with the system shut down, water from the little storage cave could be flowing back into the broken pipe and out the leaking head.

You may have a bad solenoid. This is the device that sits on top of your valve and electronically opens and closes the valve. Sometimes they don't allow the valve to shut all the way and so water will continue to move through the lines. They are easy to replace. Just check at your local irrigation supply store like Ewing, Sprinkler World, Horizon, etc. There could also be sand or debris in the diaphram of the valve. This will also interfere with the opening and shutting of the valve. There are generally 8 or so screws that hold the valve together. Remove the screws taking care that the spring inside the valve doesn't pop out. You can clean the diaphram or replace it. They cost about $5 - $6. Good luck.