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Control Valve Won't Open

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lvdavidson

New Member

Posts: 3

1

Saturday, May 26th 2012, 9:18am

Control Valve Won't Open

Very rookie irrigation guy here. I teach at a local high school and coach football. I know very little about the irrigation system we have installed but apparently got nominated to try to get it working right.
Last August we installed an irrigation system at the football field. On start up this spring we have found a problem with one control valve. It is a Toro 252 series. I can turn it on with the bleeder valve and it will run perfectly. When I close the bleeder valve it runs for about another 5-10 seconds and then sounds like it is shuddering in valve, then it shuts off. When I try to turn it on with Control Box, nothing comes on. I have turned it on in the control box and then opened up the bleeder valve to get it to run but when I close the bleeder it still shuts off. I have checked the solenoid and it is working fine. I took the valve apart and cleaned everything including the ports leading to the solenoid. Still nothing. Traded solenoids with one that works. Still nothing. What do I need to do now? Thanks in advance.

Wet_Boots

Supreme Member

Posts: 4,102

Location: Metro NYC

2

Saturday, May 26th 2012, 12:00pm

Is the pin that passes through the diaphragm assembly still in place? Examine the seat area, and look for cracks in the body.

lvdavidson

New Member

Posts: 3

3

Saturday, May 26th 2012, 3:46pm

What pin? The pin that screws out the top (bleeder valve) is there and has been cleaned. Is there another one that I don't know about? The body looks fine. There is a very small leak, a drip every 2 or 3 seconds where the water line attaches to the valve. It only drips if none of the control valves are open. If any one of the 10 open and use water then the leak goes away. It only drips when nothing is running.

pass1

Active Member

Posts: 34

Location: east coast

4

Saturday, May 26th 2012, 8:06pm

control valve

Ensure that the small passageway from the solenoid area is open both in the upper valve bonnet and also the lower body of the valve. It must be open all the way through so that the water exhausts out. If not,it will not open.

lvdavidson

New Member

Posts: 3

5

Sunday, May 27th 2012, 3:15pm

I don't know if I am lucky or if this fixed the problem but here goes my solution. While retroubleshooting, I took valve apart and clean all the little ports, removed all pieces, cleaned and reassembled. It still would only turn on with the bleeder valve. I then tightened the bleeder back down and thought maybe I should loosen the solenoid and see if I can create the flow that way as well. After maybe an 1/8 of a turn the valve kicked on. I tightened the solenoid back up, it shut off again. So I backed it off a little and left it. Nothing is leaking and the valve is working like it is supposed to now. I wonder if my "O" ring inside the solenoid is getting smashed too much when I tightened the solenoid and covering the port that is next to the edge of the solenoid housing.

Thanks for the help. Hope to not see you soon. :)

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