need tip or help finding unseen leaks...

16 years ago

I'm a 70yr old tinkerer. My son bought a house across the street from us. He works most of the time, so I am working on yard stuff. The sprinkler system pump was a mess of slag heaped up. Don't know what happened, but whatever it was made it eat itself. This turned out to be why the neighbors quit watering their yard some years back. I bought a new pump and put it one.

Basically, it has two zones. One is the front yard, and two is backyard. I've got zone one going great! It has 8 sprinklers (yes---given time, I may make it three zones), and runs fine.

The backyard is a bit more problematical. It's a huge backyard, and is rimmed with tall azalea bushes, sometimes stacked several deep. Sprinklers tend to "get lost" inside tall bushes.

However, I think I've got 5 located. One was busted, so repaired it. There are two areas where sprinklers mightbe, but can't find any track of 'em.

When I run the zone two, the five known ones come on, and get pressured up nicely, then suddenly die. I think I have a leak somewhere. Problem is I can't find it. I would like to get a helper and I run the pump, and really see if we can find where the leak is.

Would appreciate any advice on how I can find where the water is going

When I run the pump, I act as a bleed valve for the pump. If I don't know where water is going, I use the primer valve to bleed it with. I don't want to be pumping for any length of time into something blocking it.

Would appreciate any tips or leads as to how I can find the problem.

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Comments (5)

lehua49
16 years ago
Real Big,

The big problem is I can't walk out and look at your yard. I probably could tell you right away what is what. With that said, you have two options; 1. the quick way,and the long way.

1. The quick way is to get an experienced irrigation installer to check out your system for you and fix what doesn't work or give recommendations. He also can check what is about to go out and replace it. This also includes warranty on any thing he installs or fixes.
2. the long way is to check all the controller wiring, all the valve wiring. Sounds like you have done that. So I have some questions. You are not clear if this irrigation system is fed from a pump which you just turn on and off or supplied by municipal water and turned on by an automatic controller. Does your neighbor share your pump water to feed his landscaping? Does you have a shut off valve to isolate his yard? Is your backyard predominantly grass with bushes around the edges. Does your pump go to a pressure tank before the irrigation system? If you have not irrigated in a while, the leaks show up as green areas or wet soggy areas. Also see if you can discern the pattern of the irrigation layout and spacing of the heads in straight lines. If the heads with shrub irrigation and lawn irrigation are on the same system this pattern may be harder to figure out. The mixing of type of plants in one zone creates over-watering or under-watering of plants and you should break the different plant types into separate zones because of their different water needs and differing water times. JMHO Aloha
rbigg
Original Author
16 years ago
Does your neighbor share your pump water to feed his landscaping? Does you have a shut off valve to isolate his yard? Is your backyard predominantly grass with bushes around the edges. Does your pump go to a pressure tank before the irrigation system?

1. This system is entirely our own

2. No valve to isolate with.

3. Yes. Grass surrounded by bushes

4. No. No pressure tanks in use.

It's a 2hp jet pump. The pump draws well water, and send it on to the sprinklers.
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lehua49
16 years ago
Real Big,

1. Do you control the pump and auto valves with a controller(pump relay switch) or a pump on and off switch?

2. Are the sprinklers mixed use. Some lawn and some bushes?

3. Do you know where the mainline runs? Are the heads on the laterals that you do know of in a straight line?

4. Is the grass currently dark green or light green stressed looking?

5. Do you know your pumps pressure(psi) and flow(gpm) rating. 2 hp pump is good size.

6. Thanks for answering. Better advice is getting closer. Aloha
rbigg
Original Author
16 years ago
1. Pump relay switch.

2. rainbird heads

3. Not at all sure. I can dig up, if I have to. It's a zig zag pattern which it follows.

4. green but not stressed

5. Very heavy pump. Took me awhile to wrestle it in place. I'll go over there later and find flow rating/pressure
lehua49
16 years ago
Mr. bigg,

Here the score card. Please find your pump pressure and rating. You never said if your well pump is a submersible or jet pump. The preferable pump is a submersible. A jet needs the intake lines to be air-tight and you might be sucking air which reduces your pressure and volume for the pump. It sounds like you have a jet pump because you said you could read the info and that is probably from a plate on the pump. Jet pumps are at the ground elevation. Lines are not zig-zap normally. The pattern is probably two laterals off a mainline that is perpendicular to them. You need to find the pvc lines by digging them in areas you suspect they might be. Eventually you will see how the system is piped. Follow the spacing for the lateral lines, probably every other one of your zigzag pattern and try digging or probing with piece of rebar for the missing head. If the missing heads are in the bushes forget about them. Reinstall the bush sprinklers at the edge of the lawn to shoot into the bushes. Make a separate zone for the bush heads. The bush heads would not be the same duration as the lawn. Connect the new heads lateral as far back as you can to a known spot on your lateral line to bypass any line leaks to the heads in the bushes. This is why you hire a landscape irrigation guy who does this for a living. It would be over in a couple of days and you would be under warranty. You did the expensive part and got the pump running. Good job. Sorry no magic wand, wait a minute there are the "water divining" rod(they do work). JMHO. Aloha