OT: Sprinkler valve question

I think they pretty much all work like that. Rainbird, Toro, Orbit, and so on.

No, the water is rather clean out here. Even the evap cooler sees no scale build-up or anything dirty. But if it's anything in the valve I'll have to physically remove it and carrying it out crawling because it's impossible to service at its location. Removal and re-install is a bear of a job. Might as well install a new one in order not to risk a "Darn, that didn't fix it" situation.

Plus I don't want to risk meeting Miss Hiss the snake down there.

Solamente dos cables.

I wouldn't want one of those. Ours only have one solenoid each, two wires, 24VAC at about 150mA. They typically last forever out here. Well, obviously not this one.

Wow! I do my own taxes, but I'm a meticulous nut about records the same way I am about rigor in my circuit designs (some may have noticed :-) So doing taxes is generally just a few hours of work each year. I thought the past year was going to be troublesome... I had to file in NY as well as AZ... but it was a breeze.

Bwahahahahaha! Fundamental rule derived from 52+ years of marriage... I don't know how to do anything... I can't even cook (that'll make Larkin get mad again :-)

I have so little grass, mostly chipped granite, tree wells and planters... I may put in artificial grass ;-) ...Jim Thompson

If that was me, there would be a new access panel/door installed in the vicinity, it only takes once for me. :)

Jamie

Guess what I installed when the first one broke :-)

But ... from there to the valve it's a bit of crawling. Can;'t easily go through tile floor, 2" of concrete, board, Visqueen, plus 2*12" beams.

That must be to keep the snakes out.. :)

Jamie

I was thinking the same thing. Wikipedia has a diagram of a pilot type solenoid valve:

There are a few things that can make them buzz or oscillate. One is a restricted input. If the input pressure drops too low when the main valve opens, the main valve diaphragm will close (even if the pilot valve is open). The system pressure will recover and the diaphragm will open the main valve again. Rinse and repeat.

You're right it only takes my accountant about an hour, because I bring in all the data he needs to poke into his program. However, he knows what forms to pull up and what data to enter. I have enough to do adding up all the daily receipts for each month then the monthly's for the year. Putting all the electric, water/sewer/garbage, insurance, merchandise, phone, auto, office expenses, supplies, cartons, advertising... That reminds me, this is the fifth month and I haven't even added the daily paperwork to get the monthly total for January yet. Time to get started, I can usually get two months paper work done in one day while waiting for customers. I always get my paperwork done by January 31 and usually to the accountant the first week in February. This year I had them done on January 30, Then I received a 1099 on Mar 3, so had to to do a 1040x, oh, I also found where I transferred a a number wrong so that was also part of the 1040x. Or, to make a long story short, I go to the accountant and about an hour later the horror is over. Mikek

Do you have a sediment filter on the main supply line? Most likely a clogged valve, especially if it is a pilot operated valve.

I put one on the main line and it resulted in much fewer problems. I don't get a buildup in the water heater, the pressure reducer has been perfect, no sediment in the bottom of the toilet tanks, ice maker filter last years, etc. I change it every 6 months.

They're a nuisance, but they work... in Arizona the heat eats the diaphragms, so it's a 2-3 year maintenance cycle.

I use valve boxes to bury them out in the yard where I can work on them easily. ...Jim Thompson

Your anti-hammer stubs are full of water? You can try draining the system down to get the water out of them. It may take a while, though.

AFAIR the little channel to the solenoid plunger has a filter but we don't have sediment in the water. All the other valves (about 10) never clog. Many of them work flawlessly since the day we moved in over 15 years ago. Except after a wild animal tried playing electrician but that's easy to fix.

We don't have any anti-hammer stubs.

I have witnesses who will swear that you sustained the elbow injury in another manner entirely, just a few blocks from here.

Are you sure? They're often buried in walls.

Pretty sure. We have the complete drawing set for this house. Framing, finish, electrical, plumbing, the works.

This set of valves taps off from the main about 15ft after entering the house and I can see the whole stretch from there. No pipes branching off up into walls before that, it heads straight out to the meter.

They won't show up in there. Plumbers will put them in where they think they're needed. Screw the prints.

Where is it hammering?

But then why are two out of three valves of same type on the same manifold not hammering? They all have roughly the same kind of load.

The pipes on the input side start jumping, even ones 20ft or more before that valve. Sounds like the valve is permanently opening and closing. Anyhow, wrapped up one sim job, time to don the old clothes, gather the tools, some flashlight, and crawl. Dang, I hate that sort of job, especially since I am almost sure that the PVC union in there won't budge when I attempt to open it. And it has to come off.

Stop whining, Joerg, and just fix it ;-) ...Jim Thompson