So I will start off with my inground system is not working right. I think over the last year the pressure has gone down. When I turn my sprinklers on they just don't have the pressure to pop up. If I pick one up and hold if for a min then the rest will come up. I have two zones one has 8 rotors and the other has 6 sprays. The sprays pop up with no problem its the rotors that I am having issues with.

Out of the 8 rotors the 4 outside ones have a 1.5 spray in them and the 4 inners have a 2.5 (I think) I had rainbird design the system for me and that's what they said to do.

If I change out the 2.5 for a 1.5 like the rest will that give me extra pressure? I could switch them all out to 1.25 or 1 if that helps any.

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Did your city/town/hamlet/village recently expand their water service without upgrading their system? That can sometimes do it.

If you have a pressure gauge, measure it. If not, try the switch-out, it may be a flow issue instead. Dropping flow raises pressure--the pressure in a fully open line is exactly zero (theoretically, it never works out that way due to turbulence). In a fully closed line, it's maximum.

So if you can reduce the flow a little bit, you'll raise the pressure through the line. You'll have to water longer at lower flow, but at least you'll actually be watering instead of spewing water out of the head area.

Any chance of a leak?

I'm assuming since you aren't complaining of an abnormally high water bill, and the other zone works, that any potential leak is not in the mainline, but could be in the lateral the rotors are on.

Turn that zone on and check your meter. What kind of water flow does your meter say is going on then?

I don't think its a leak but who knows. If it was a leak you would think the sprinklers would never come up. Or you should see water puddles

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Walk the lines and look for wet spots--it's a good week to do it as the grass will fade fast!

I have already probed where I thought the lines were according to my measurements. I ran the sprinklers for 20 mins or so and nothing felt out of place.

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I would still check my meter when I had the problem zone running.

Compare the results to the total GPM of the heads. Any discrepancies would show up there.

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I will check it out. I should be about 16 gallons per min. I really don't remember but I think that is more then I can put out. That would make since.

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I've had the same issue and its always turned out to be a leak. My property is so convoluted that the break was 75 feet away from the zone in one case. I never saw water but had a weird 6" soil depression. One day there was dribble of water in that hole while the zone was running that didn't work right; it was pure luck that I found it.

Andy yes some days the pressure of the house is down as well. That is what made me think of a pressure problem. I will have to get a pressure meter to test it again. All of the valves are fully open. I closed them the reopened to make sure. I did not check the meter tonight while they were running but will do it tomorrow for sure.

andy10917 wrote:
It doesn't sound like it could be a bad zone valve if both zones behave the same way......Since both zones behave the same way, it has to be a problem above the point where they split off.

Andy, I think it is only one zone.

The rotor zone is messing up while the spray zone is operational. Right, Simpson?

On a related note, don't spray heads have a lower operating pressure? Which could go along with the cause simply being an overall pressure change. Doesn't fix the problem, though. Just an observation.

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simpson wrote: If I pick one up and hold if for a min then the rest will come up.

Do they function properly after you do this?

Does it matter which head you pick up, or will lifting and holding any head make the others pop up?

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Yes its just the rotor zone that is not working right. I can pick anyone of the rotors up to make it work right and once up they work fine. Sometimes they do pop right up but most of the time lately they have not.

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Sprays tend to be a lot less pressure-sensitive with respect to popping up, and operate better on less pressure than rotors anyway (higher pressure equals more misting with a sprayer). One of my garden sprayers does fine on 20 PSI, which is a little on the low side. A rotor would object violently.

You can see if the pressure's low for them by observing the patterns. If it's still head-to-head, they're fine. If falling short, it's too low. In this case, the pressure drop might be an advantage.

If you're noticing it in the house, I'm betting system pressure has dropped somewhere. Ask the neighbors if they notice the same, and maybe call the water company to see what they say. I'd still check for a leak (I had one once), though.

Another thing to consider is switching to gear driven heads if you're using impact driven heads now. I had trouble with some impact heads due to low pressure and they worked fine with gear drive. The gear drive heads are also a lot quieter and provide better coverage.

I love the sound of impact sprinklers!

HanLawn wrote:I love the sound of impact sprinklers!

Me too!
It's one of the sounds of summer from when we were kids.

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