I work as an irrigation service tech,we use Hunter in general.the clocks are easy for the homeowner to operate,the heads can last upwards of 20 years. Weathermatic is nothing bad either,their valves are better than hunter by far.a valve is a valve as long as it lasts,you wont do much with the valves. but weathermatic have a little tab as a bleeder rather than a screw type on hunter. RAIN BIRD is another GREAT NAME. they are always on the cutting edge of technology. if you have any questions,just post them. i love answering peoples questions about my line of work lol. i cant get the knowledge out fast enough.

I have 10 gpm flow (measured at a peak time...8am on a hot day). Any recommendations on using 1/2" vs 3/4" (option #1 or #3 above)? I like 1/2" because my hose bib and sprinkler heads are 1/2" and it's simple. Yet I like 3/4" since it gives room for expansion (though now unforeseen) and small extra cost. I just wonder if there are any potential disadvantages to using 3/4" in this application?

Hi cid, Wow a real mystery story. Not seeing things first hand, it is kind of like guessing what's in the shoebox without opening the lid. Here are my suggestions: 1. Is there any obvious sources of water that you can see connected to the pipes visible in the irrigation box? If the box is close to the house start digging and following the pipes toward the house. You would probably run into more buried boxes with valves in them. If you reach the house check for wiring along the pipe going to the controller. The main idea is to find water connection point to the system and how it is wired to the controller. 2. Is your lawns very thick with grass? Scalp the grass low and probe around the edges of the lawn for any obvious hard spots then dig. With three zones there are plenty of heads out there. They heads would be about 15 feet apart. 3. Follow the electrical lines from the controller by digging away from the house. The valves are usually close by but not always. Good Luck. Aloha.

Here is my thought on it...It is very warm and yes very dry, and things are moving out of dormancy rather quickly. But I think that if you throw a bunch of water on it all now you will really spur the growth process along and that is fine if the weather remains as it is. I don't, however, think that this will be the case and a return to normal could possibly damage all that new growth. I myself am hoping for rain and cooler temps to ease things in, but I have watered spring bulbs as they are supposed to be awake now and some pansies that have returned as they can weather the storm as well. My thoughts...as one who usually takes a cautious approach, Helen.