On Jul 14, 10:33 am, "Bob F" wrote:
"Senin" wrote in message

ups.com...





On Jul 13, 8:56 pm, RicodJour wrote:
On Jul 13, 8:58 pm, Senin wrote:

My automatic outdoor water sprinkler system suddenly has low to
no
water pressure. It just came on. Some times it works fine,
others it
has low pressure. Any ideas on what could cause that?

Sprinkler systems need both sufficient pressure and sufficient flow
volume. One or the other might not be up to the task.

It's entirely possible that it is a neighborhood problem (assuming
you
don't run the sprinkler off of a well) - ask around. It is also
possible that you have a leak or diminished capacity water main.
If
your house is older and the water main is galvanized, the inside
may
be partially blocked - galvanizing doesn't last forever and it
rusts
from the inside out. That would lower your flow volume
considerably.
Test it by filling a 2 1/2 gallon bucket at different times of the
day
and night. Time how long it takes to fill the bucket.

You need to get a water pressure gauge, ~$10, and hook it up to a
hose
bib and take repeated reading throughout the day and night. Check
the
pressure with nothing at all running, then turn on the sprinkler
zones
one at a time and see what the water pressure is at the hose bib.
You
should see the pressure drop as you turn on each zone, then the
pressure should build back up as the heads pop up. It should
stabilize at a pressure of at least 30 PSI - that's a fairly
typical
minimum pressure for correct operation. If you see one zone has
lower
pressure, you may have a leak.

I suspect it is a combination of problems.

R

Thanks. Where it stands now, the third, farthest away station works
great. The other two closer stations drip. Does this sound like an
electrical thing or a plumbing thing?

If the problem zones have automatic drain valves, it could be that the
pressure is not getting high enough to close the valves, so the valves
leak large amounts of water, so the pressure can't get high enough to
close the valves. A master valve that is not all the way open could
cause this problem.

Bob- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thanks.

Another strange development. I turned on a hose/faucet near the
sprinkler system. Amazingly, then I tested the sprinkler system and
all the 3 sprinkler zones worked perfectly.