Lawn Sprinkler Tips

As you may already know, I love and always use Rain Bird products for all of my new sprinkler systems and for repair. The Rain Bird company has great engineers, sales reps, and everyone in between. From time to time a new product may have some slight design flaw or just something that may need to be improved after extensive testing by contractors using the actual products out int the field.

Sometime last year we started using the Rain Bird ESP Modular timers for systems 13 zones and under. This helped consolidate stock because then we didn’t have to keep inventory of numerous different timers, (Rain Bird ESP 4, ESP 6, ESP 8, ESP-12LX, etc…). Now we just have to keep the ESP Modular Timer and extra 3-station modules. These are great timers, with a large, easy-to-read digital display and pretty simple programming. But a certain batch had a design flaw that has been very irritating for myself and our service techs!

These timers “flip out” and go haywire displaying an “MV error”, “Err 1″, etc… This normally indicates a bad solenoid or shorted wire at the master valve (pump start relay or actual electric valve) or at an individual valve. This message had my techs automatically re-setting the times with the reset button on the inside panel and also checking our system wiring. It would seem that we had it figured out and then we’d get another call-back at the same residence for a similar problem! The second visits we would normally end up replacing the timer and this would solve the problem, but for a few I would have another negative call-back about the timer doing the same thing again!

After talking with the Manager of our Irrigation Wholesale and Rain bird Distributor it turns out the Rain bird has been made aware of the problem and the engineers were right on it. Actually they had already pin-pointed the problem as well as coming up with an implementing a solution! It turns out that the ribbon that connected the Rain bird ESP timer control panel/digital display to the main circuit board was getting shorted out in the bend. The newer timers now have a ribbon that disconnects from both sides, thus reducing the bend and eliminating the short causing the MV and other errors.

The company has not pinpointed an exact dates that these timer went out because it has been hit and miss. There are some with the same date codes that have no issues at all, which is also what we have noticed.

So, if you own a Rain Bird ESP Modular Timer and keep getting a repeated “MV error, Zone 1 error, zone 2 error, zone 3 error, zone 4 error, ect… Then you need to warranty your timer (if it is within the 3 year warranty period.

Scott Young
http://www.autolawnsprinklers.com

Owning and caring for an irrigation system is very similar to maintaining a car or other vehicle. The are numerous working parts that work very hard and frequently. These parts do wear down and break due to normal wear & tear and basic maintenance can help extend the life of certain components for both cars and irrigation systems! I am no mechanic, but I am an irrigation specialist and I know how to design, build, manage, and care for irrigation systems

Because of human advancement and modern technology, many things such as cars and sprinkler systems are just too complex for an average person who does not specialize in that field. Fortunately just as with a car, there are a few basic things that many people can do themselves to help maintain and upkeep their automatic lawn sprinkler system. Below I have listed a few things you can do yourself to help maintain, preserve, and use your sprinkler system for maximum efficiency.

1. Routinely do a “walk-through” or detailed inspection of each zone on your system
2. During this inspection make adjustments to heads that are out of alignment.
3. Using a type of small flag (found at irrigation or home improvement stores), mark-out clogged nozzles, breaks, or other problems with the system.
4. Repair PVC and or PE pipe breaks
5. Replace bad heads
6. Flush out the clogged spray heads and then replace the bad nozzles and/or add new nozzles
*7. Check your timer/controller program and set for maximum efficiency.

*A general rule of thumb is to run your system once every three days, but there are many other factors such as soil condition, type of landscape, climate, irrigation layout, and weather conditions that go into figuring your proper timer programming schedule. Common sense comes into play here. No matter what your soil, weather or other conditions, your lawn DOES NOT need to be watered everyday! I see this mistake often in the field. If you step of your grass and it springs back up, then it does not need water. Water early in the morning if possible. Mid day is not good because you loose too much due to evaporation and running in the middle of the night will leave the lawn moist for longer causing potential other problems.

Your lawn needs a dry-out period to help become healthy! Water as long as you can based on your soil so the water will travel deep which will encourage the roots to go deep in the search for water. Water less frequently. Short, frequent watering will cause your roots to stay shallow and make for a weak lawn that is more susceptible to pests and fungus. A common mistake I see is that a customer will believe that there is a lack of water problem when really it is a combination of over-watering plus bug or fungus problems.

You should check your irrigation system at least once every three months. I reccomend even more frequent during the spring & summer months. A little bit of adjusting, repairing, and applying a proper water schedule can make a big differnce in your landscape and your water bill! Have a fun summer and enjoy your yards!

Scott Young
http://www.autolawnsprinklers.com

At our company, we receive and respond to many service calls for people calling because of an unusually high city water bill. The most common explanation that most people believe is that this is due to a leak or break on their lawn / landscape irrigation system. While many times it is very possible to have a leak or break causing the excess water usage, this is not always the case.

About 40% the time we find that the reason for the excess water use is due to improper programming of the automatic timer. People that may not understand what they are doing try and re-program their timer, but they usually do more harm then good. Setting your system to run everyday and two or three times a day is not smart. Unless you are applying extra water to new sod or seed, your lawn and landscape needs a dry-out period.

A good rule of thumb is to water once every three days. Depending your your irrigation system, climate, soil conditions, and type of grass this watering program could vary slightly. The key is to water longer and less frequently to encourage the roots to go deep instead of staying shallow.

Okay, that was off the point. The main point here is that I have seen extraordinarily high water bills due to improper programming of the automatic lawn sprinkler timer. If you have experienced a power surge or temporary power outage, your timer may have lost its’ program and went back to default, which is usually about 10 minutes per zone, once every day. There is a back-up battery that is supposed to keep the program for up to 24 hours, but I’ve found that by the time we are called in, most people have dead batteries!

If there is a leak on the mainline of your system, you should be able to observe this by watching your water meter. The little triangle or other device will be spinning anywhere from slightly to very fast, but if it is moving then water is moving somewhere. Make sure there is no water being used in the house or leak toilets so that you know you are for sure dealing with the sprinkler system. Within a minute or two you can usually tell for a decent size leak. If you are unsure. then log the numbers located on the meter and come back in 30 minutes to 1 hour and observe the meter numbers. If there is no leak on the mainline, then the leak or break may be located on one of the sprinkler zones after the valves.

With a little patience and keen observation any problem can be properly diagnosed and solved.

Scott.