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Newbie with Issues!

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Tack77

New Member

Posts: 2

1

Sunday, August 14th 2011, 7:45pm

Newbie with Issues!

I just bought a house with a sprinkler system, never had one before, so I know absolutely nothing about them. As you can see in the pictures, the shutoff directly above the water hose spout is busted. Can anyone tell me what this is? Where can I get a replacement? and maybe how I can fix it? ANy help appreciated greatly. Thank you

seansy59

Advanced Member

Posts: 97

Location: NJ, USA

2

Sunday, August 14th 2011, 9:37pm

That is a PVB (Pressure Vacuum Breaker). This protects "crap" from your lawn (pesticides, chemicals, animal waste) from going back into your water supply.

Obviously the system was not winterized properly if not at all. There may be more damage that you can't see yet.

You may be able to replace the one part (the valve). The PVB is the most EXPENSIVE part.

If it was not blown out properly before freezing, you can have damgaged and cracked sprinklers, laterals, valves, etc.

Wait till the other pros chime in.
I'm no expert..........YET! :D I just like to suggest things and learn... :thumbsup: See what the pro's have to say first.

Tack77

New Member

Posts: 2

3

Monday, August 15th 2011, 6:49am

Thank you Seansy. I have two water meters, one for the outside that I don't have to pay sewage on my water bill. I would love to pinpoint all the problems with this system in the near future, but for now, I really need to be able to use my water hose for outside cleaning and power washing. I had an idea to just cap the copper line for now, but my father-in-law said that would be a big no-no. Can I buy just the valve that is busted for now? if so, where could i get a hold of one of these?





Thanks again

Wet_Boots

Supreme Member

Posts: 4,102

Location: Metro NYC

4

Monday, August 15th 2011, 7:23am

It's just a ball valve - replacements available wherever plumbing parts are sold

Central Irrigation

Supreme Member

Posts: 364

Location: Central Minnesota

5

Tuesday, August 16th 2011, 8:51pm

We deal with cracked ball valves alot here in Minnesota. It's a spring start-up ritual. Has nothing to do with a bad blow-out. A few common causes are a leaky shut off valve in the basement, that leaks water over the winter. Usually the pipe will split after the backflow if that's the cause. Another cause is water that gets trapped between the ball valve "packing" and the brass shell of the ball valve, it will freeze and split. A way to prevent it is to open and close the ball valve during the blow-out to evacuate the water that could get trapped. Never leave a ball valve completely closed over winter, or you'll be doing a replacement again and again.
Make sure to leave the spigot open over the winter to allow any condesation or water to drip out.


You can find a 1" ball valve at any big chain hardware store.

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