Stuck Valve
The electric valves in your automatic lawn sprinkler system have to open and close each time they are turned on and off by either the timer or manually. There is a mechanical, rubber part called a diaphragm that stops or allows the flow of water to go through a particular zone. This part does eventually wear out over time and has to be replaced.
The average life span of an electric valve's diaphragm is 7 - 10 years. Now this time frame may vary based on a few different factors. If your irrigation system's water source is a well then you may have more dirt and debris compared to systems hooked up to a city or municipal water supply. The dirt and debris will cause the diaphragm the wear out sooner.
When this part goes bad, your valve will normally do one of three things: It will stick in the full open position and run the whole time that the system is activated no matter which zone is supposed to be on, or constantly run if it is on a pressurized system like city water or a well system that utilizes a pressure tank and pressure switch.
Secondly the valve could stick completely shut, so that when the zone is supposed to come on, nothing happens. This shouldn't be confused with a bad solenoid or a bad wire that just will not activate the valve at all. You can confirm that it is indeed the diaphragm that is bad and not the wire or solenoid by attempting to activate (turn on) the valve manually. If you cannot turn it on manually, then you have a bad diaphragm.
Third, the valve could stick partially open. When the zone comes on, the diaphragm only opens part of the way. If this happens your zone will have lower pressure than normal and you can actually here restriction of water moving through the valve.
The solution for this problem is to either replace the diaphragm or replace the entire valve. If your electric valve is a modern and widely used valve it will be easy to find a valve repair kit for it. You just need to identify the make and model of the valve and go to the hardware store or to an irrigation wholesale supplier.
If the valve is an older model or less common brand it may be very hard to find a repair kit or replacement diaphragm. If this is the case you will need to replace the whole valve. This can be done by digging a pit around the existing valve and cutting the PVC where you can replace the valve. If you think you have this problem and are not comfortable doing it yourself, please feel free to call or email me. I can explain more detail to you or I can come out and do the job for you if you live in my service area of Northwest Florida.
My email address and phone number are on the bottom of the home page of my website listed below.
Thanks and have a great day!
Scott
http://www.autolawnsprinklers.com
The average life span of an electric valve's diaphragm is 7 - 10 years. Now this time frame may vary based on a few different factors. If your irrigation system's water source is a well then you may have more dirt and debris compared to systems hooked up to a city or municipal water supply. The dirt and debris will cause the diaphragm the wear out sooner.
When this part goes bad, your valve will normally do one of three things: It will stick in the full open position and run the whole time that the system is activated no matter which zone is supposed to be on, or constantly run if it is on a pressurized system like city water or a well system that utilizes a pressure tank and pressure switch.
Secondly the valve could stick completely shut, so that when the zone is supposed to come on, nothing happens. This shouldn't be confused with a bad solenoid or a bad wire that just will not activate the valve at all. You can confirm that it is indeed the diaphragm that is bad and not the wire or solenoid by attempting to activate (turn on) the valve manually. If you cannot turn it on manually, then you have a bad diaphragm.
Third, the valve could stick partially open. When the zone comes on, the diaphragm only opens part of the way. If this happens your zone will have lower pressure than normal and you can actually here restriction of water moving through the valve.
The solution for this problem is to either replace the diaphragm or replace the entire valve. If your electric valve is a modern and widely used valve it will be easy to find a valve repair kit for it. You just need to identify the make and model of the valve and go to the hardware store or to an irrigation wholesale supplier.
If the valve is an older model or less common brand it may be very hard to find a repair kit or replacement diaphragm. If this is the case you will need to replace the whole valve. This can be done by digging a pit around the existing valve and cutting the PVC where you can replace the valve. If you think you have this problem and are not comfortable doing it yourself, please feel free to call or email me. I can explain more detail to you or I can come out and do the job for you if you live in my service area of Northwest Florida.
My email address and phone number are on the bottom of the home page of my website listed below.
Thanks and have a great day!
Scott
http://www.autolawnsprinklers.com
posted by Irrigationman at
8:12 AM
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