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

Up here in Canada, these large Hunter PGP heads are like $20 (or more) each, and I'm sick and tired of replacing them when they work perfectly except they stop rotating on the clock-wise portion of their sweep pattern.

The system was installed 10 to 15 years ago and I don't even know what model these heads are. The top rubber piece has "Hunter PGP" stamped into them - no model number. The inner pop-up part (from the gear at the bottom to the top of the rotating head part) is 7" long and 1.75" diameter, and is all black plastic. The rotating head part is about 1.25" high. What model would this be?

I've got about 6 of these that stop turning at the extreme clock-wise portion of their rotation pattern. If I give it a nudge with my hand, they will resume rotating and go through a complete cycle and then get stuck at the same point. There doesn't seem to be any friction or "sticky-ness" at that point. I can sometimes here a faint clicking inside the unit when it's stuck at that point.

I want to take these things apart and see if there's some gear or cog that can be fixed that is causing this problem, but I can't find any video's or diagrams on the web showing this.

I've also had the same problem with a smaller version of these heads that were installed at the same time. They also stop rotating at the same point of their pattern. Because those are used to irrigate smaller patches of grass, I've replaced those with different heads that just give a set semi-circular spray pattern (they don't rotate).

Yea, I knew that the first response was going to be "buy new". But like I said, they're not cheap here in Canada, and there are simply too many of these things that I need to replace.

I'm going to cut one open with a band saw and see how exactly these things work on the inside and how they are assembled so I can take them apart.

Replacing them at $25 each is crazy when they are almost fully functional.

Quoted from "mrfixit"

The PGP's are on sale right now.

Shipping stuff to Canada sucks, because by the time you add customs/duty/GST/brokerage charges, you end up paying about what it costs here at retail. That's why Canadians who are close enough to the US border either drive across and buy the stuff at Home Despot or take out PO boxes and have stuff shipped to the US PO-box.

Quoted from "mrfixit"

There must be a lot of crime in Canada. If stuff's so expensive, people must be stealing their neighbors PGP's.

Actually, there's more stealing of copper and metal stuff in the US than in Canada. Stuff like air conditioners and even street and highway lights. Home lawn irrigation is not common in the South-Western-Ontario city where I live. More common for commercial properties.

Another reason why I'd rather repair my existing heads is because I know they will drop right back in the same cups. I don't want to have to buy new ones that won't fit into the old cups (meaning I'll have to dig out around the old cups so they can be unscrewed without getting dirt in the line).