You are not logged in.

Valve doesn't open fully?

hadaX

Unregistered

1

Saturday, March 31st 2012, 11:46am

Valve doesn't open fully?

Hi, thanks for your time!
I had a zone that didnt work after i replace some sprinkler heads. I found the box and flipped the manual bleed for the valve in question, and i could hear water moving in the valve, but it didnt make that tell tale "squeak" that the valve usually makes when it opens. My best guess is that it isnt opening all the way? I swapped the valve cover, solenoid and diaphram with it's neighbor, but the problem stayed in same zone. Am I correct thinking i need a new valve, or can i clean it some how?
It's a weathermatic valve, the writing on it says 1" 150psi 10,3
Any help would be appriciated!

mrfixit

Moderator

Posts: 1,510

Location: USA

2

Saturday, March 31st 2012, 3:01pm

Changing the sprinkler heads didn't have any affect on the valves at all.
I don't see Weathermatic valves on the west coast so I can't give exact specifics.
Look inside the valve and see if something's blocking a port in the body of valve.
Did you turn down the flow controls on the valves?
Maybe the valve is working and there's a break in the line.
A squeek isn't necessarily a good thing. A squeek to me means the diaphram is going bad.

hadaX

Unregistered

3

Saturday, March 31st 2012, 5:26pm

looked

Quoted from "mrfixit"

Look inside the valve and see if something's blocking a port in the body of valve.
Did you turn down the flow controls on the valves?
Maybe the valve is working and there's a break in the line.
A squeek isn't necessarily a good thing. A squeek to me means the diaphram is going bad.
I looked inside, the bottom half of the valve had an in and an out, not much to clean, but i did rinse it out really well. I did not initially adjust the flow control valve, but i tried turning it all over, but it didnt remedy my situation.
If there was a break in the line, would i see water seeping out some where?
For some reason, all of the valve sqeal as they shut, hopefully it's normal :D
Thanks for your help


:D

mrfixit

Moderator

Posts: 1,510

Location: USA

4

Saturday, March 31st 2012, 8:17pm

Sometimes a break in the pipe wont surface right away or at all. Sometimes you have to help it surface by turning off the nozzle.
Look at the heads when the valve is on. Do some of them pop up? Can you see a drop in pressure between two heads? The break would be between those two.
You could try letting it run for 20 minutes. Look around for a puddle while it's running.
If the breaks under cement or next to a sidewalk the water could be running under there and may not surface.

GatorGuy

Moderator

Posts: 458

5

Monday, April 2nd 2012, 9:32am

Sounds like you don't have enough pressure to open the valve, which hints at a blocked or broken line.
You "...swapped the valve cover, solenoid and diaphragm with it's neighbor" and rinsed it out so you have basically rebuilt the valve. You tried the flow control and that didn't fix it. Still sounds like low pressure.

On this info I'd be looking for a leak, as mrfixit suggests. Do you have a lot of elevation changes? In one case I had a leak that only showed at the bottom of a slope about 30' away. If it's under a slab you are in real trouble.

If you want to try something that may/may not be useful, remove the top and all internals of the valve. Now turn on water. You should get a real rush of water. If not, or if it comes out dirty/muddy, you have a break.
Understand, you could do this and still not tell anything. If you don't work with the system much your idea of a "rush" of water might be different than mine.

Finally I do hear valves squeaking from time to time. Generally it means something is wrong in the system or it is just wearing out.

Similar threads

Rate this thread