3 of 6 sprinklers not coming on from zone 1

boozwaa

New Member

Posts: 3

Sunday, March 21st 2010, 10:00pm

3 of 6 sprinklers not coming on from zone 1

Hi,
Having a problem where in one zone, where I have 6 sprinklers, only three are coming on. The other three are just dead. I took off the head and the cap from the dead sprinklers and not a drop of water is coming out. Any ideas as to what is going on? Would appreciate any help on this. I have never had this happen before.

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boozwaa

New Member

Posts: 3

Sunday, March 21st 2010, 10:11pm

I should also add that all the sprinklers are rotors and the other three that are working are coming on full blast. I have searched for soggy areas where there might be a broken pipe but had not found any.

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mrfixit

Moderator

Posts: 1,510

Location: USA

Sunday, March 21st 2010, 11:45pm

It's a possibility that you normally have two valves running at the same time. 3 sprinklers on each valve.
One of the valves might have a problem.
There's a possibility that the line itself is clogged up. Seen it happen. A sprinkler breaks off and the line gets full of dirt. The pipe breaks, the line is repaired but the line is full of dirt. I even found a plastic baggie inside a pipe once keeping half the sprinklers from working.
Could be a check valve in the line not operating anymore for whatever reason.

Let us know how it goes.

Good luck!

This post has been edited 1 times, last edit by "mrfixit" (Mar 21st 2010, 11:52pm)

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Wet_Boots

Supreme Member

Posts: 4,102

Location: Metro NYC

Monday, March 22nd 2010, 6:00am

Tree roots can also be a problem, if they encircle and strangle a zone pipe. Much more common in poly pipe territory, and usually showing itself as a low-flow problem first, rather than a complete blockage.

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boozwaa

New Member

Posts: 3

Monday, March 22nd 2010, 2:04pm

Thanks for the help here. I appreciate it.
It was a blockage in the pipes. What happened was that I had a broken pipe
that I waited a day to fix after I had cut it. After digging up the area and
cutting the pipe to see where the clog was I looked in and saw a snake dead
inside the pipe. A good size rattle snake. The snake apparently slithered
its way into the pipe and after I had fixed the pipe, it must have drowned after I turned on
the sprinklers to test it out.

I am glad it was a dead snake. At any rate, now I have a story to tell others about. Thanks again.