Drip irrigation system keeps springing leaks?!
 

Hey guys, starting about 4 months ago, I have been constantly battling leaks
in my 1/2 inch drip lines. After I fix one, a couple days later another
point in the line has cracked and starts spraying water. My house is about
9 yrs old (also live in the Phoenix area where it gets a bit warm) - is it
possible the line is just so old that the whole darn thing needs replacing?
Do pressure regulators go bad - if so, could increased pressure cause this?
Any ideas?

Thanks,

Bob

Drip irrigation system keeps springing leaks?!
 

Bob Robertson wrote:
Hey guys, starting about 4 months ago, I have been constantly battling leaks
in my 1/2 inch drip lines. After I fix one, a couple days later another
point in the line has cracked and starts spraying water. My house is about
9 yrs old (also live in the Phoenix area where it gets a bit warm) - is it
possible the line is just so old that the whole darn thing needs replacing?
Do pressure regulators go bad - if so, could increased pressure cause this?
Any ideas?

Thanks,

Bob

No responses yet? Ok Bob, I'll give it a shot. These regulators do
go bad- I had one in the house do that, allowing excess pressure into
the system. You might try just adjusting it first. Is there (should
be) some place to attach pressure tester? eg, near backflow preventer?
Next, replacing it. Be a drag if you have to replace lines, though it
may come to that.

Drip irrigation system keeps springing leaks?!
 

"Bob Robertson" wrote in message
...
Hey guys, starting about 4 months ago, I have been constantly battling leaks
in my 1/2 inch drip lines. After I fix one, a couple days later another
point in the line has cracked and starts spraying water. My house is about
9 yrs old (also live in the Phoenix area where it gets a bit warm) - is it
possible the line is just so old that the whole darn thing needs replacing?
Do pressure regulators go bad - if so, could increased pressure cause this?
Any ideas?

If you mean the pressure regulator that regulates house pressure to
the 15 psi or so the drip system wants, I'm sure they do go bad.
But more likely is that the problem lines have been exposed to the sun
for too many years. Plastic exposed to the sun tends to get brittle.

You should be able to tell something about the
pressure in the system be how hard you need to press over a leak to
stop water flow. 15 psi will stop easily. Unregulated pressure will
not.

Bob

Drip irrigation system keeps springing leaks?!
 

I have had an ongoing issue with leaks in my 1/2 inch pipe due to
squirrels. During dry spells here in NC, they puncture the lines to get
water.

jim

Bob wrote:

"Bob Robertson" wrote in message
...


Hey guys, starting about 4 months ago, I have been constantly battling leaks
in my 1/2 inch drip lines. After I fix one, a couple days later another
point in the line has cracked and starts spraying water. My house is about
9 yrs old (also live in the Phoenix area where it gets a bit warm) - is it
possible the line is just so old that the whole darn thing needs replacing?
Do pressure regulators go bad - if so, could increased pressure cause this?
Any ideas?



If you mean the pressure regulator that regulates house pressure to
the 15 psi or so the drip system wants, I'm sure they do go bad.
But more likely is that the problem lines have been exposed to the sun
for too many years. Plastic exposed to the sun tends to get brittle.

You should be able to tell something about the
pressure in the system be how hard you need to press over a leak to
stop water flow. 15 psi will stop easily. Unregulated pressure will
not.

Bob

Drip irrigation system keeps springing leaks?!
 

Bob wrote:

But more likely is that the problem lines have been exposed to the sun
for too many years. Plastic exposed to the sun tends to get brittle.


Ditto that, lived in AZ since 1980, and the UV just kills
plastic, all of my drip lines are buried.

Jerry

Drip irrigation system keeps springing leaks?!
 

Hey Jerry - Mine are buried also - In your opinion, would buried drip lines
fail after ~10 yrs in AZ?

Bob

Hello ,

Bob wrote:

But more likely is that the problem lines have been exposed to the
sun for too many years. Plastic exposed to the sun tends to get
brittle.

Ditto that, lived in AZ since 1980, and the UV just kills plastic, all
of my drip lines are buried.

Jerry

Drip irrigation system keeps springing leaks?!
 

Bob Robertson wrote:
Hey Jerry - Mine are buried also - In your opinion, would buried drip lines
fail after ~10 yrs in AZ?


My house is 8 years old, let you know in 2 years ;-).

Seriously, this is the first house in AZ that I have had
drip. Builder did the front landscaping, I did the back,
no problem with either so far, be interesting to see
which lasts longer. I would think, if the pressure isn't
too high, that buried drip lines should last quite a
while.

Jerry

Drip irrigation system keeps springing leaks?!
 

Bob Robertson wrote:
Hey guys, starting about 4 months ago, I have been constantly battling leaks
in my 1/2 inch drip lines. After I fix one, a couple days later another
point in the line has cracked and starts spraying water. My house is about
9 yrs old (also live in the Phoenix area where it gets a bit warm) - is it
possible the line is just so old that the whole darn thing needs replacing?
Do pressure regulators go bad - if so, could increased pressure cause this?
Any ideas?

Thanks,

Bob

Perhaps this would be a good time to consider going back to a
conventional irrigation system. Plant leaves need to have the dust
washed off of them for optimal photosynthesis anyway.