Mansfield Sprinkler Repair
When you’re in need of sprinkler repair, it’s hard to know where to go or what to do exactly. Many repairs are not as involved as one would think, and some repairs should never come down to it had the proper maintenance and care been given in months past. Mansfield sprinkler repair starts with routine maintenance and proper care for your system to avoid costly repairs. So we have gone through and gathered several tips from different professionals in the field and compiled the following list.
One thing we will mention is that there are lots of DIY videos and information on the internet, but many videos leave out the fact that a basic level of understanding needs to be in place for the information to be useful or practical. Never mess with electrical wiring or water systems unless you at least have some idea of what you’re doing, otherwise, you could be in for a much higher cost to have your system professionally repaired. There are plenty of experts out there, but there’s no need to incur additional expenses because you tried to save a penny.
Sprinkler Maintenance Tips:
- Five or so wraps of Teflon tape goes a long way on threaded fittings. You can make connections hand tight and they will not leak, and you can also rotate heads for adjustments.
- Poly pipe is a good idea in areas where frozen ground penetrates several inches in. PVC pipe is bad to break in frozen conditions, even if you don’t have a drop of water in your system.
- If your system has rotors, it’s highly recommended to not use more than 40 PSI of air or for longer than a couple of minutes. Since the water serves as lube to the gear drives, drying them
out will cause unnecessary damage to them. - Use pipe cutters instead of a saw. Using a saw will leave little shavings that can clog your system and cause premature damage that is otherwise unnecessary. Pipe cutters will create a clean cut to the pipe allowing for a cleaner and better install.
- Always use more heads than you think you need. They are considerably cheap and very easy to remove if you absolutely do not need them. It’s better to have too much and reduce than have
too few and need to increase. - Blow out your system in the fall if you live in an area that predominately sees frozen temperatures. Install a simple tee inside of the supply pipe where it leaves the home and before
the PVB (Pressure Vacuum Breaker) with a cap on the extra leg. The air connection will go here for easy insertion to the system. - Use bigger piping. Small pipes create fast-flowing water, which creates friction. This will cause you to lose pressure. Larger pipes have the opposite effect.
- Utilize a big valve box when using in ground valves. This makes the install less difficult when the need arises to service a valve.
- Make sure pipes are close to a foot deep, but at least 10 or so inches deep. This way you won’t have to worry about aeration systems and will place the lines below the sprinkler body.
- 811. Call before you dig. Even if you think you know where everything is, do you really want to risk hitting power and damaging a neutral if everything is underground? A broken neutral kills
the grounding of your home and can cause your appliances to burn up inside the home and literally burn your house down. It’s highly unlikely you’ll hit power if you aren’t even going a foot in the ground, but you’re definitely at risk of hitting the gas, phone, cable, satellite, dog fences, septic lines, and many other things that shouldn’t be hit. - Leave more wire than needed at the timer and valve box. This way, if you ever need to make repairs, you’ll have plenty of slack to work with.
- If you want to bore under a sidewalk, you can take PVC pipe with a hose on one end. Then you can use the power of the water with the strength of the pipe to bore under the concrete. Otherwise, you’ll need bore equipment which could get pricy.
Hopefully, these tips come in helpful the next time you’re dealing with an irrigation system. Otherwise, you can give a certified professional sprinkler repair company a call and they’ll likely be more than happy
to assist you and your needs in your lawn.