You are not logged in.

Valve problem

Dear visitor, welcome to SPRINKLER TALK FORUM - You Got Questions, We've Got Answers. If this is your first visit here, please read the Help. It explains how this page works. You must be registered before you can use all the page's features. Please use the registration form, to register here or read more information about the registration process. If you are already registered, please login here.

elbee

Senior Member

Posts: 17

1

Thursday, February 15th 2007, 2:30pm

Valve problem

Hi everyone,
I have 6 sprinkler valves. Valves 1-4 are working normally. Valves 5 and 6 are not working. These are Champion valves. I called Champion and their tech support told me to open the bleed screw at the top of the actuator. He said if you open this screw, the water will flow automatically. I opened the bleed screw on valve 5 and 6 and water came out of the screw, but not the sprinklers. Just to compare, I opened the bleed screw on valve 4 and the water flowed through the sprinklers as I was told it should.

I called back tech support and told them that the water came out of the bleed screw, but not out of the sprinklers. He said that he didn't know what was wrong. He said that if water is coming out of the bleed screw then the water is getting to the valve and in turn it should get to the sprinklers.

Any ideas as to what the problem could be?

Wet_Boots

Supreme Member

Posts: 4,102

Location: Metro NYC

2

Thursday, February 15th 2007, 11:13pm

You might need new diaphragm assemblies.

BSME

Advanced Member

Posts: 67

3

Sunday, February 18th 2007, 3:53am

probably the diaphragm... might be tree roots pinching off a line

jmduke7

Advanced Member

Posts: 158

Location: FT. Walton Beach, Florida

4

Sunday, February 18th 2007, 10:10am

of coarse the real question is if the valve is a forward flow or a reverse flow. Knowing this will give you the true answer to what is wrong (the will both fail differently). My guess would be a diaphragm. You could just purchase a new valve and just swap the internals. If that was the problem the valve should work. Good luck!
Josh
Irrigation /Landscape Lighting / Pump and Well Specialist

elbee

Senior Member

Posts: 17

5

Monday, February 19th 2007, 9:41am

Hi everyone,
I purchased a new valve (not just the actuator, but the entire valve) and still nothing! I opened the bleed screw and got nothing out of the sprinklers, just the valve. What should I check on next to troubleshoot this? Any advice is much appreciated!
Thanks!

jmduke7

Advanced Member

Posts: 158

Location: FT. Walton Beach, Florida

6

Monday, February 19th 2007, 12:50pm

At this point, since you have replaced the valve, I would now look at a major line break or a pinched line. Do you have any trees in your yard? Are there any trees in the area of concern? I am leaning more toward (also mentioned by BSME) the line pinch. I have seen it many times in my area especially with pine trees and with the older systems.

If this is the case, your best bet (if it is a small area or system) is to redo the zone in question, or you could try and follow the lateral line by digging up areas to test for a pinch. You would just dig up about two feet (to expose the pipe) and cut into it to see if you have water. If you do go further away from the valve about ten feet and try again, if not, go back toward the valve.

Best of luck!
Josh
Irrigation /Landscape Lighting / Pump and Well Specialist

BSME

Advanced Member

Posts: 67

7

Monday, February 19th 2007, 1:52pm

If you have some steel fish tape you can start fishing it through the pipe right after the valve and see if gets stuck before it gets to the first sprinkler head. but yea... check for a major break first. open the valve and if you cant find anything leaking from walking around check the water meter to see if it's flowing nicely.

make sure you put that valve on the right way... there's an arrow for the direction the water needs to flow

elbee

Senior Member

Posts: 17

8

Monday, February 19th 2007, 2:29pm

The valve is definitely on the correct way. Would it be possible that PVC glue dislodged and clogged up the pipe? I recently replaced all the pipes leading up to the valves because about 3 of them were leaking at the T joint. I didn't think of this before, but could I have used too much PVC glue that affected the system in some way? I was really careful to make sure that no dirt was introduced into the pipes when I was making the repair.

We do have a lot of trees.

I am going to open the valve and check the water meter. That is a good place to start then I guess I will start cutting. I don't know the exact layout of the pipes, but I guess I will figure it out once I start digging.

Unfortunately the backyard is pretty big, so this is going to be a tough job.

The thing that strikes me as odd is that it is 2 zones that are supplied by 2 different valves that are affected. Just from what is dug up so far, it doesn't look like these lines run together, they seem to go off in different directions. What are the chances that two lines are pinched if the lines are not next to each other. Of course this is just me brainstorming. For all I know the lines come together at some point.

elbee

Senior Member

Posts: 17

9

Monday, February 19th 2007, 3:42pm

I had another thought. What about snaking the line? Would I potentially damage the pipe?

I'm just thinking if I can get a snake in the pipes and hit an obstruction at least I will know about where to cut.

Wet_Boots

Supreme Member

Posts: 4,102

Location: Metro NYC

10

Monday, February 19th 2007, 4:27pm

Yes, sloppy glue work will prevent a valve from opening, since the waterway used by valve to open and close it with the solenoid (and maybe the manual operator, depending on build) will be blocked.
Rate this thread