leaking valve and wet spot woes

15 years ago

Hello,

I just moved into a 20yr old house with an irrigation system that may be just as old. The previous owner never turned it on, bit I did. There are a few heads that seem to be damaged (i.e. lawn mower) and I think the control panel needs to be replaced (I can only get it to manually cycle through the zones at 5 minutes a piece, it will not functiuon any other way) There are 2 problems that I am clueless on, however. The first is a missing head - I get a large wet spot in the center of my front yard after turning it on and cannot find the tube despite digging a large hole, and the second is a valve that leaks from around the cap ?just under the solenoid? - any suggestions would be greatly appreciated - thx - Roy123

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Comments (3)

lehua49
15 years ago
Hi Roy,

I see there has been no response from the more experienced members of the forum, so I will have a go at it.
The wet spot you will find by continued digging and turning the zone on to force the active appearance of the leaking water.
On the valve, I would replace it and not try to do any maintenance unless you want to find out how valves work. Then google the valve name or just "how to fix an automatic irrigation valve" and take it apart, clean parts and reassemble. Actually good fun. GL & Aloha
ted123
15 years ago
I agree I have 16 yrs experience and I would also replace the valve. As for the wet spot I think you might have a leaky valve, allowing water threw the diaphragm or a break in the line. Is their a sprinkler near by the whet spot? Did the wet spot show up after you turned on the sprinklers? if not you might have a break or leak in the main water supply. Hope this helps.

Here is a link that might be useful: leaking_valve
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ted123
15 years ago
Do some digging with the valve on.
Try locating the pipe at around the sprinklers that are located near the wet spot. This can give you an idea were the pipe is going and coming from.

As for the valve I would just replace it.

Here is a link that might be useful: do it your self site