Thanks for the reply, sorry for the long response time, been busy at work. I have a 1HP pump model PD2HE-L (http://www.sta-rite.com/resources/images/7093.pdf) Thats good to know its probably not the valves since the dirt they are buried in is hard as a rock! I did check the impeller last fall after blowing the system out for the winter and it was fine then, but the creek level did fall below the intake pipe and it ran with only some water for about 15 minutes before I noticed and shut it off and lowered the intake pipe back into the water. Could that have heated the impeller from lack of water cooling and damaged it enough to reduce performance? The sprinklers are running now and while zone 1 was running I went to the pump and it was making a surging noise of various pitch sounds coinciding with the pressure changes. (as pressure dropped it would get louder and as pressure went back up the noise got quieter and the pump sounded normal) The other 3 zones sound normal while running other than the air hissing from the heads in zone 2. Could it also be a crack or break in the line somewhere after the valve since the first zone is the main issue pressure wise? I hope not because the installer "lost" the pipe layout plans to our system and couldn't remember how he laid them so I would have no idea where to even look if there is a break unless a obvious puddle shows itself. Thanks again for the reply and i'll try to get some time here soon to check that impeller

Hi ptot, What were their suggestions and how much are they charging you? Is this a new constructed or remodeled house? Is this a new problem? How long have you lived in the house? It should be pretty clear that you are looking for pressurized water finding its way into your drain system which may be partly obstructed. Your also getting water hammer when your valves shut which means the water velocity is high because of a leak of some kind. That is all my crystal ball can tell me with out more info. Aloha.

a long winded description follows. Here is a summary: We have both low frequency (20 to 33 cycles per second ) and high frequency (50 to 60 cycles per second) vibrations. The mats cut down the higher frequencies (although they still let enough through to create noise) , but do nothing to block the lower frequency vibrations. The loudness of the noise is created by the rubber mat underneath my hvac unit which is covering the entire surface area of the bottom of the HVAC unit and the floor below - thus amplifying the vibration. The insulation we put in the walls and the ceiling below is working - but it is cutting down the acoustic noise (noise created by compressing air) - but batt or blown insulation does nothing to block or dampen noise caused by structure vibration. The problem can be solved by removing the rubber mats and replacing them with 4 vibration isolators - which are essentailly leg supports with springs - under the 4 corners of the unit. There was a recommendation to suspend the HVAC unit from above. This could be done but is probably not necessary. I will keep you posted on the progress. *************************detail In my quest to understand the physics of what is happening with the my hvac vibration on the second floor of my home under construction, I stumbled data sheet that has some interesting info in it. See http://www.b-line.com/product/PDFLibrary/pipehangers/index.htm. Click on Vibra-Trol and then the Introduction. Download the PDF data sheet. The table on the second page shows the amount of vibration reduction as a function of the deflection of the vibration cancellation device used. If you look at the left most column in the table - the 1/16th inch deflection corresponds to what you get with a rubber mat or neoprene pad. The N/R means not recommended. The HVAC unit we have on the second floor operates in the 1200 to 2000 RPM range (or 20 to 33 cycles per second). If you look at the table you can see that the vibration reduction by a mat/pad in that RPM range is not very good. The Econar units also have a Compliant Scroll compressor. I checked their specs and the unit runs in the 50 to 60 cycles per second range (or 3000 to 3600 RPM). You can see in the table that mats or pads are OK for these higher RPM rates - but not the best. They would still allow 10 to 12% of the vibration through the mats at these higher frequnecies. You also have to consider harmonics - which are additional frequencies generated at +/- 1/2, 1/3,1/4, 1/5 etc of the center frequency of the compressor. If the amplitude of the vibration of the center frequency is high, harmonics at lower frequencies will also be high. That means the harmonics at lower frequencies can also pass through the rubber mats. If you look on the right hand side of the table - you can see what the noise reduction is for spring mounts (you can see an example of one of these on the cover of the attachment - left hand side of the picture with yellow spring and bolt sticking up). A spring device with a 1" deflection provides 97 to 99 percent reduction in vibration for the lower RPM ranges of the fan, the higher RPM range for the compressor, and the harmonics at low frequency created by the compressor. At the bottom of the data sheet - they provide a calculation on how to size the springs based on the weight of the equipment. The corner load is 1.25 times the unit load divided by 4. The spring mounts are not terribly expensive, maybe 10 to 20 dollars each. The springs themselves (depending on the brand) are about 3.5 to 4.5 inches tall with no load, and about 2.5 to 3.5 inches tall when compressed with a load - assuming a 1 inch deflection - which should be adequate for our problem.

The biggest threat to homes from brush fires is not from direct contact with the primary flames, but from the embers they send up. Such is why in the aftermath of many brush fires, one can see burned homes at random hundreds of yards away from the blackened hillsides which actually came into contact with the fire. So while it may be tempting to think sprinklers turned outward might offer the home a protective barrier from encroaching fire contact, the odds are actually higher in the event of wildfire that your sprinklers would be spraying fire-less brush as your home behind the sprinklers burned. The brush clearance was the best thing to do (as the odds of embers reaching your home decline with the distance they must travel), but I also echo the advice of others regarding checking the vents (the weak spot of many San Diego homes that fell to wild fire in the 2000's) and that it would be more practical to turn your sprinklers inward toward your home rather than outward. Your neighbor with the sprinklers on his roof seems to be on the right track too with regard to dousing wind blown embers before they land on his/her roof or enter his/her vents.