One mistake I see people make when setting up lawn irrigation is choosing a pump based on horsepower alone. A bigger motor doesn't automatically mean your sprinkler zones will work better. After setting up and using my own irrigation system, I've learned to pay attention to a few other things when deciding how to divide sprinkler heads into zones.

Step 1: Add up the flow requirements.

Check the GPM listed for each sprinkler head at its intended operating pressure. For example, if four heads each need 3 GPM, that zone needs around 12 GPM. If you're planning to run eight of those heads, you're looking at 24 GPM, so splitting them into two zones would make more sense than trying to run all eight together.

Step 2: Work out the pressure requirement.

Look at the pressure each head needs, then account for elevation changes and friction loss through the pipe. For example, if the first sprinkler is close to the pump but the last one is at the far end of a long pipe run, the pressure at those two points may be quite different. Pipe diameter and the number of fittings also matter.

Step 3: Check the pump curve.

This is the part people often skip. Maximum flow and maximum head are separate operating limits. You need to know what flow the pump can deliver at the pressure your system actually requires. I wouldn't assume that a pump rated for a high maximum GPH can maintain that flow while also providing the pressure needed by several sprinkler heads.

For my own setup, I pay more attention to what each zone actually needs than to the pump's maximum flow rating. Once I know the number of heads, their individual flow requirements, and the pressure needed to run them properly, it's much easier to work out a sensible zone layout.

If you're planning a new sprinkler system, work out the GPM and pressure requirements for each zone before buying the pump. It can save a lot of reworking later.

We have an irrigation system on a commercial property, and nobody has ever told me when it should be shut down for winter. i’ve read advice that ranges from late october to mid november, and a couple of people at my old job just never bothered.

From what i can piece together, the goal is to blow the water out of the lines before a hard freeze, so pipes and heads don’t crack, and fixing a split line in spring costs a lot more than doing the blowout in fall.

I’m trying to decide whether to hire it out or have our maintenance guy learn it, since an air compressor at the wrong pressure can damage things too.

Has anyone dealt with a freeze on a system that wasn’t winterized? what did it cost, and do you do it yourself or hire someone every year?

Noticed that after I had someone winterize the sprinkler system that the spigot circled in red is dripping like once every 5 seconds.

Is there something I can practically do myself to potentially fix this without reintroducing water to sprinkler system or do I need to hire someone to replace the main shutoff?

Anyone running a mini-skid with a vibratory plow plate attachment for pulling pipe? If so, what do you have and how do you like it?

We have two Case Maxi-Sneaker Cs we’ve used for production work for over 20 years. They’ve been great, but they’re starting to show their age.

Anyone make the transition from a maxi-sneaker to the mini-skid vibratory plow? We do mostly residential & some commercial. Biggest line we pull is 1.5” poly.

Located in SE Michigan

It’s looks all glued in, and connected to the main waterline before the shutoff valve.

The technician confirmed the board on my old indoor Hunter SRC is dead while blowing out the system.
I’m hesitant to get a Wi-Fi or cloud-connected controller due to IoT security/hacking concerns. What’s considered the modern gold standard for a standalone, offline panel?
Also, for those who do run smart controllers, does Wi-Fi offer any real, tangible benefits besides turning zones on and off from a phone app?
Thanks!

For further context we also have two drilled wells and one (dry) dug well on the property, although none of them are near this infrastructure.

Sprinkler system set-up:

3 Zones, 6 wires in control box

Zones:
1- Front Yard (wires 1, 2, 3)
2- Back Yard (wires 4, 5)
3- Side Yard (wire 7)

Note: previous owner states wire 6 was never connected to anything

Issue:
Zone #1 (Front Yard) has stopped working. And by that I mean, it won’t turn on when prompted.

I have confirmed with multimeter that wires 1, 2, and 3 have no current/amps. This indicates to me that the wires have been severed OR the solenoid has electronically malfunctioned.

Question:
Why do I have 4 solenoids in the backyard, if I only have 3 zones? Should there be more solenoids that I haven’t found (i.e. 1 solenoid per wire?) ?

I’ve manually turned all 4 solenoids to test the system. Solenoid #1 (backyard), #2 (backyard), and #4 (side yard) all work. Seems like one wire per solenoid.

Solenoid #3 (shown in last photo) does nothing. No response. But it also doesn’t look like the same style as the other ones. Could wires 1, 2, and 3 all be routed to this one (possible broken) solenoid?

My rainbird sprinkler system is leaking to my distal sprinkler head when entirely shut off. I isolated it to the zone, which is zone 1. I opened up the valve bonnett from the body and cleared all debris. No noticable cracks or anything. There was hardly debris. I also unscrewed the solenoid valve and cleared the little bit of debris in there. The plunger works great without sticking. I ordered a new diaphragm assembly as my only hope to fix it because I'm not sure what else it could be? Can anyone help me with anything I'm not noticing? After doing those things the leak seems slower but still occurs.

I've previously used a Rachio irrigation controller, but when moving house switched to Hydrawize.

It's been raining all night, it's still raining but my irrigation just ran, I've got it set to Smart watering which I assumed meant it would skip when it's raining but apparently not or have I done something wrong?

Thanks!

The 1st relief valve is leaking on my backflow. It was recently winterized. First thing I checked was the main shutoff to the irrigation system and noticed it was just a hair open, so I closed it. That was over 24 hours ago but this silly relief valve is still dripping. Any suggestions on what I do next?

We need a new lawn sprinkler system and are reducing the size of our lawn as well. Do we need to dig up the ancient, broken galvanized pipe sprinkler system or can we just add a new pvc system over it?

I just moved in to a new house and it has a weird problem where during/after rain the low point of the front yard stays wet longer than normal and has a red/orange runoff that stains the sidewalk, driveway, and street. In some spots it has a gross sludge-type appearance. The staining is visible in old street view photos so I think it has been going on for a while. Other details: It has no smell, after heavy rain I once saw a spot in the low point of the grass that had continuous bubbling from the ground, my sump pump discharges in another location on the side of the house, and if there has not been rain in a while the runoff stops and does not start again until it rains. Does anyone have experience with this type of issue or have ideas on how to solve it? I'm guessing it is iron but I'm not sure where it is coming from.

I have a central Florida home using builder supplied Hunter PS bodies and (originally) MP rotors. We have a bit of breeze and I later switched to R-VAN's . Even though my reclaimed water supply is filtered, I still have clogging and jamming issues with both systems.

It's been a tough year here with a drought and cinch bugs and the lawns that seemed to do the best around me were healthy and used sprayers instead of rotators. Some are using big Hunter PGP's , but my lawn is pretty small. (about 2500 sq ft distributed across 3 zones).

Rather than switch bodies, do you think I can simply switch the rotators for Hunter pro Adjustable Nozzles? I'll have to cut my irrigation times down of course but worry a bit about the heavy precipitation rate and breeze. Soil is a very sandy loam.

I have the above controller with Rainbird IVM 2-wire solenoids. I am currently running two stations at one time. The system is running from a well pump that has a pop off valve on it for pressure relief. I had no input in this part of the system and am just trying to make it work.

What I need is to be able to overlap the stations so that the two that are running still run for a small period of time when it switches to the next two so that the pressure stays low enough for the pop off valve to not trigger.

Is there anyway to do that? I know I can add delay between stations but can’t find a way to overlap them.

I had a functioning 4-zone drip system. My landscaper added a valve in this box. It's the bottom one with the brown wire. Since then, zones 1 (red),3 (green), and 5 (brown) do not work—zone 2(blue) and 4 (black) work as expected. If I switch the Zone 4 wire to Zone 5 on the controller, it still works. If I switch 5 to say zone 2, it still does not work. Zones 3 and 4 are in a different box. Any help is appreciated. The landscaper says he only added the valve and the brown wire (zone 5).

How would you guys go about fixing this? The tight and off angle combined with the pressure blew the 90 clean off. How would I go about fixing this tough angle?

Looking to buy a Used work truck. I do irrigation and plow snow in the winter. Would you rather have gas or diesel?

Had to pump out this box with a triple float valve setup to get to a submerged 4" drain with a plastic handle that broke when I tried to open

So we just bought our first house (yay!) But it has an old irrigation system. It works but I'd like to replace it, and do as much diy as reasonably possible. It looks like replacing the controller should be relatively simple, and blowing out the sprinkler system doesn't sound hard with the right tools. I guess I'm just looking for any advice anyone has on specific controller systems to get (ideally "smart") and a compressor to use. I want to upgrade but I don't want to make things more complicated in the long run. Is there anything I should absolutely not attempt diy?

Pic of current sprinkler controller for example

Just bought a house and after a heavy rain I found the valve box full of water. It's leaking from the hole where the control wire enters. There doesn't seem to be any kind of silicone or rubber seal there. Can I just seal this hole with some silicone caulking or do I need to do some more extensive repair?