On Tue, 6 Mar 2012 08:48:13 -0500, "dadiOH"
wrote:

alpha male wrote:
I bought a house that had a bunch of broken sprinklers, as evidenced
by puddles of water. When I dig down more than a foot for each one, I
find they all have this horribly complicated plumbing arrangement.
http://picturepush.com/public/7728890

It's easy enough to repair, as I can simply match parts at Home Depot,
but I was wondering WHY there are six or seven couplings where just
two or three would work just fine (seems to me).

Maybe I'm missing something important.

Is it normal for typical lawn sprinklers to look like this?
http://picturepush.com/public/7728891

Why?

To provide the possibility of rotation in case the upper part gets whacked.
The original can rotate in two planes; your repair can rotate in only one
plane.

If the soil is clay and gets rock hard, the ability to move won't mean much;
if the soil is sandy, it can mean the difference between broken and
unbroken.

Called a _Swing Pipe Assembly_

• Primary Application: Residential Installation

• Allows to minimize overall system depth underground

• Swing motion allows for easy and accurate depth setting of the
sprinkler head

• Allows easy parallel connection of sprinkler heads to main
irrigation line.

http://www.rainbird.com/homeowner/products/accessories/SwingPipeAssembly.htm

They also allow for some stress relief in case you step on the
sprinkler head. You can even buy them in metal, that flexes.