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

Hello all,

I just moved into a house with an existing irrigation system and I am trying to work out some issues. I have a sprinkler head which does not pop up and has low pressure. In addition, after the anti-siphon valve turns off, about 5-10 secs later, water will start pumping out of the vacuum breaker of the anti-siphon valve. I have removed the sprinkler head, and ran the zone to pump any debris out, then replaced the sprinkler head. I bought a new Rain-Bird jar top anti-siphon valve and replaced the old valve. Now I still have low pressure at the sprinkler head (will not pop-up), and have water coming out of the vacuum breaker at the valve; after the valve is turned off. Any ideas? I have really been putting a lot of time into this and cannot figure out what it could be. Is it possible there is a clog somewhere down the pipe to the sprinkler head?

Thanks in advance for any help / advice !

Cheers,
Greg

I can see how there should be some water coming back out of the valve, but this is a large amount of water, it goes for maybe 1-3 mins after being shutoff, and it's around 1 Gallon of water that comes out. To be fair, I do currently have that particular sprinkler head temporarily up on a 1ft high riser (was using this to drain water up and away from the hole, so I wasn't dealing with a mud pit every time I troubleshoot). So that may account for the extra water coming back up.
As far as a break, I do still get a decent amount of water flow, just not enough to raise the sprinkler head. Could it also be possible I have a clog, maybe something I could get with a pipe snake? One last question, if I do have a break in the line like you said, what is the best way going about finding and fixing that?
Thanks so much for your help, its much appreciated.

-Greg

That's a good idea about a spring loaded check valve, if this is an ongoing thing I will do that. I assume I could then redirect the back flow water to somewhere preferable.

No, the valve does not leak when they are running, it is only after I turn it off that water comes back up.

And yes, I believe I turned the water back on all the way, never hurts to double check though.

I have tried a few sprinkler heads, one of them was brand new.

At the moment there is only one sprinkler head on this line (one of the large rain bird maxi rotor canister types). I am guess there are more connections, they were just covered up. I have a large bed of gravel covering where I think the rest of the line is.

I like your idea to cap off the sprinkler head, and turn the water on, then wait for a complete break. I bet I could then uncap the line, and see a total loss of preassure, indicating a complete break. Then I could know for sure and start digging up the gravel and then dig up the line. Does anyone want 1-2 tons of free gravel