SPRINKLER TALK FORUM - You Got Questions, We've Got Answers

If no one has Irritrol adapters, you can do okay with a consumer version of their 623 (Richdel) adapter, that carries the Lawn Genie name

I'm not aware of any Superior valve looking identical to an Irritrol valve so I went to the Superior site.

www.superiorcontrolsco.com/product_main.html Click on automatic adapters then 600. If this is the valve you purchaced, I'd take it back. You will not be happy with it. I have a box of those in my garage I wont even install them for anyone. They'll leak and will stop working. It's a horrible product in my opinion.

P.S. go ahead and turn your pressure back up to 70.

Both the Irritrol models are reliable. They have more than one because of acquiring other companies.

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Getting really obscure here, but if the brass valves these are going into are not Champion brand, then the threads might not match up.

Went to Ferguson because the Irritrol web site says they carry the 300 valve, but of course they don't -- they only had Superior, which looked identical to the Irritrol -- no threaded plastic piece! So I put that on and it is working well. I also got a hose-bib pressure gauge and it looks like the pressure was more like 70 -- high, but the Orbit literature said no higher than 80 so I still don't get why it blew. I adjusted it down to 65, the sprinklers are a bit anemic now but the coverage is there. I'll post again if the Superior blows apart -- and thanks again to all the helpful advice, I remember the days before the Internet and help forums, you either spent an entire weekend (or week) doing trial-and-error or you paid a pro big $$$ to sort it out . . .

Thanks for the advice. I pulled off the Orbit converter today and the threads on the inside plastic portion were just shredded away. I can't figure out what would do it because the pressure is below what they recommend, but I'm DONE with these Orbit products. I'm going to Ferguson and will get an Irritrol 300 as suggested and report back if it fails too. Thanks again.

There was one problem I remember with the original converters made by Richdel for the Champion brass valves, and that was when someone tried to "align" the covers with each other, by rotating them. That act of rotating the top of the converter would weaken something inside, and the converter would later separate much as described here. Moral of the story is, don't worry if the converters don't all line up neatly. All they have to do is work.

I find it strange that those valves are coming apart with only 55 psi. If you've tightened the threads where it came apart with a wrench that could cause the problem. Once those plastic threads are damaged that's all she wrote. The valve is damaged beyond repair. You can screw it back together but it will come apart again. Irritrol had that problem with the 2623DPR series. www.irritrol.com/valves/valves_2623dprs.html They've since redesigned the threads making them bigger. Since then I haven't seen one blow apart.

Here's a valve that's very reliable. It doesn't have the threads to come apart. The bottom is one piece. This valve should make you happy. The Irritrol 300. www.irritrol.com/valves/valves_300s.html

Quoted from "Wet_Boots"

Buy better convertors. Do you know what your water pressure is?

OK, can you recommend a better converter? I had Champion brass ones and I had lots of trouble with them over the years.

The pressure is 55 psi.

Buy better convertors. Do you know what your water pressure is?

I replaced some old brass actuators with Orbit Automatic Converters (www.orbitonline.com/products/Valves/02/16/10/621/). They work great, except they keep blowing apart where the brass portion screws into the plastic body. The sprinklers won't turn off and I come out to find a fountain of water coming out from the bottom side of the converter. I screw it back together but then it just comes apart again when under pressure.

I installed a pressure regulator on the line, thinking it would solve the issue, but it's started happening again. At this point I am prepared to just go back to brass valves but if anyone has any solutions I would really appreciate it. i am tired of fiddling around with my sprinkler system!

Thank you.