This is a sprinkler system that came with my house bought in 2012 and I recently decided to test it out. It is now a big project for me and I wish I never turned it on to test it because I am absorbed by it and becoming frustrated.
I have 3 sprinkler zones running off a 3/4 HP well pump and it is separate from the home well system. The pump has a flow of 10 GPM and I confirmed this with the 5-gallon bucket test multiple times. The pump kicks on at 30 PSI and off at 50 PSI.
Zone 3 is the backyard which has just 3 rotors throwing about 50 feet that work fine and maintain a constant 40 PSI at the pump. I am happy with this zone.
Zone 2 is the front yard with 4 rotors that are supposed to throw around 25 feet each but only throw about 10 feet each. The pressure gauge (which is right off the pump) reads 0 and slowly creeps up to 10 or 15 PSI for this zone. It never goes higher. Capping off heads will result in more flow to the uncapped heads and further throws, but the PSI gauge behaves the same.
Zone 1 is the most problematic. It is both side yards and there are 9 spray heads total. These heads won't even pop up at all. The water trickles out of them. If I start capping off heads, they will get stronger and begin popping up. 3 heads seems to be the most I can have with full performance (15 foot sprays). The PSI gauge behaves the same as zone 2. It starts at 0 and creeps up to 10. It simply won't go higher.
Money is an issue for me so hiring a professional is out of the question. I have run the zones both manually with bleed screws and also with the control box. There is no difference in performance. I have determined that the valves are 100% good. Solenoids work, ports are clean, diaphragms work, flow controls are fully open.
I have searched and searched for leaks but there is nothing visible. I have capped every single head and run the zones for long periods of time with no sign of leakage. Even with every single head capped the PSI remains below 10. Why would it not build pressure at this point? I am baffled.
The control box is a Rain Bird, the valves are all Toro 254, the original spray heads were all Toro 570s and the rotors were K-Rain K1s (I've tried various heads).
I hope someone can give me some advice because I am stumped and desperate to get my lawn back in shape. It's all dug up from inspecting lines and removing heads and I don't want to mow because of all the holes and trenches I've dug so it's all overgrown and ugly and it's depressing me to be honest. I have to finish the sprinkler project so I can re-bury everything again and get it mowed.
Help appreciated!