APOD Firearms

Lawn sprinkler guy. Need help or a reference. (Navarre)

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  • The Pitt

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    I messed with it a little bit but it's not moving enough water or building enough pressure to pop the sprinkler heads up. I don't have much time because I'm moving in less than 2 weeks.

    I'm in Navarre.

    Anybody use a good company?
     

    War-Buff

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    First Choice Irrigation (from Pensacola I think) replaced my well pump and fixed some of my sprimklers a few years ago. He was timely and did a good job.
     

    bohica793

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    If it is not building enough pressure to pop the heads, you probably have a fairly major leak somewhere. Look for the wet spot!

    (Have had this issue recently after construction crews broke my lines in 4 different places.)
     

    The Pitt

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    I have a spigot on top of the PVC out of the pump that I opened to check flow and it is low from there. So it's between the well and pump. Idk if pumps get weak with age or typically just go out. The only other thing is the check valve to keep the pump primed and the well itself.

    I'm mostly afraid the piping got hit with a mower and broke or cracked the line down to the well somewhere. I dug about 4-5' down and didn't see any sign of a break or crack. I figured if it had a hole that it might be trying to suck in air and that would cause thew low flow. Unless it's deeper than what I dug thats hopefully not. I don't imagine it breaking off too far down though because the dirt should prevent it from moving that much.
     

    MarkS

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    A broken line will cause you to have low pressure at a spigot due to the water flowing out at the break
    You would need to have a valve that could be closed right after the spigot to see the actual pressure at the spigot


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     

    The Pitt

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    Mark the spigot is on top of the pump before the rest of the sprinkler system and the water is not flowing out of it as well as it used too. It used to blast the side of my neighbors house with water when open, now it barely sprays 6'.
     

    The Pitt

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    The pump is also louder than before. It does sound normal If i have the hose hooked up to it to supply extra water.
     

    kidsoncoffee

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    My brother is licensed and insured and an irrigation specialist. He trained with guys that covered huge jobs and equipment on golf courses. Matt @ 850-261-8387 His company is Southern Breeze and he's located in Midway area and works all over.
     

    nitro

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    The reason your pump is noisy is because you have air sucking in the suction side. You said it gets quieter when you add water thru the tap. How deep is your well? How old is your well? These could all be factors with your pump. If it is a Starite pump and you have water there (no suction leak) it will pump like a scalded dog. I would bet that you have a bad check valve blocking water flow. It will have nothing to do with the motor.
     
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    The Pitt

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    Thanks guys.

    The well is as old as the house as far as I know, 2004. Couldnt tell you depth. I replaced a cracked cast pump with a plastic one from Lowes in 2014.
     

    Zeroed in

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    Okay, hopefully yours will look like mine since you did not specify you have a deep or shallow well, submersible or jet pump or above ground pump.

    It's really hard to tell you a fix without knowing what your pressure gauge reads before and during running the sprinklers. Could be clogged or busted check valves, water lines.

    But from your 2nd post, I'd say you need to replace the pressure gauge.

    Here is what I do to test/trouble shoot my well pump problems. Which recently was the first time in easy 12 yrs. Luckily, I did not have to replace the pump, only the pressure switch and pressure valve.

    1st thing to do is turn power off at the breaker.

    Next, look at Pressure Gauge (pic1 ), see what pressure (psi) is.

    Next, Locate the Pressure Switch (pic2 ), remove the small silver nut on top and pull that cover off. Look on the inside of it, there is a paper label with the UL rating. You should see either 30/50 or 40/60 printed on the label. This tells you what the Pressure Switch is set at to kick on either at 30 (psi) and off at 50psi or on 40/60 off.

    Look at the Contacts of the pressure switch, are they clean? If they're blackened, corroded, burnt or oxidized, you may need to replace it. If bad, they usually trip the pump reset or trips a breaker, but Not always. So keep testing....
    You really don't need to touch anything the cover is protecting and Please Don't, you can be electrocuted. As you can see, it is wired either 120v or 220 volts. Mine is 220v for reference.

    Now, (you might need 2 people to do this, if so, use cell phones to communicate with each other), turn the Breaker (power) back On and turn the sprinklers on. Watch the Contacts and see if they Both are being pulled Closed when the pump kicks On and fully open apart when pump kicks Off. If only 1 side is closing shut, and the other side is open (short-cycling), you'll now need to replace the pressure switch. But keep testing just in case it's working good....

    At this point, If you are uncomfortable with live 120/220 volt bare connections, and since you should already have the info on the pressure values (30/50 - 40/60) from underneath that grey cover, and have now checked the contacts, you can put the cover back on and the nut.

    With sprinklers and a spigot On, Watch the pressure gauge and make note of how low the needle goes down before the pump kicks on, then watch the needle and make a note of how high it goes when the motor shuts off.

    Is it still within the limits of your 30/50 or 40/60? If it is, you "may" have a busted water line, but to help narrow it down....

    Is the pressure gauge needle dropping pressure with all water shut off (leaking air)? If so, It can be more than just a in-ground sprinkler line. Try this....

    With power on, all water off (sprinklers/spigots). Look at the pressure switch, there should be a small silver lever (shut-off lever), it's "L" shaped, coming out the bottom side of it.

    Now turn on a spigot and let the water run. As soon as the pump kicks on, shut off the spigot (pump is running, All water is Off). Then when the pump kicks Off, Flip the shut-off lever up (it blocks the contacts from energizing when pressure lowers) so pump doesn't start.

    Using a little liquid dish soap and water, mixed in a spray bottle, spray around the bottom of the pressure gauge, look for bubbling. If it is leaking air there, open a spigot, then using either a 1/2" or 9/16" open-end wrench, remove the pressure gauge (it's not going to blow air like crazy).
    Look into the tube for debris/dirt, anything that could be clogging it. If it is clogged or got junk in it, turn the spigot off and replace gauge now.
    Replacing the gauge with a new one, or using the original one, Wrap the male threads with teflon tape, before re-installing it. Spray and re-check gauge at the threads for leaks. Wrap the teflon in a clockwise direction while holding the gauge tube/threads pointing upwards, then install. Re-pressurize tank and test for air leak there again. If none, open all water-out t-valves (pic3) and turn sprinklers on. If the sprinkler pressure is still low, continue tests.

    Now, if the pressure gauge is not leaking, tank has been re-pressurized (run water until the pump kicks on, turn off all water/spigots, wait for pump to shut off, it's now pressurized). Now flip the cut-off lever up (located on the pressure switch) so pump does not come on during testing.

    Shut off all water and all water out t-valves. Make a mental/written note of the pressure reading on the pressure gauge. You can now walk away and do something else or go somewhere for a few hours, over-nite is best for slow leaks. After the time has passed, go back and look at the pressure gauge. Did the pressure reading drop?

    If No, then you have no leaks between the t-valves, tank, pump or check valve.
    Now open all the sprinkler water-out t-valves only. Keep spigot valves closed. Make mental/written note of pressure reading and walk away for a few hours or so, again, over-nite is best for slow leaks. After time has passed, check pressure. If it dropped, then you have a leak in your sprinkler lines somewhere.

    If the pressure has not dropped, open the spigot water-out t-valves and repeat test. You can leave the sprinkler t-valves open if you want since we know they aren't leaking.
    If pressure did not drop after the time limits you're pressure gauge may be malfunctioning, reading incorrect pressures in the tank, still may be clogged.
    But if it did lose pressure, then of course the problem is in your spigot water line somewhere.

    If all this checks out, I'd say your tank may be causing the problem, but could be a worn impeller inside the pump or could be as simple as a dirt/rust clogged pressure gauge? They only cost about 10-15$.

    Let me know what you find out with these tests.

    May need to test the tank now, before going further, since it's way cheaper testing it than to pull a submersible pump.

    Does the motor run awhile before it reaches the cut-off pressure, either 50psi or 60psi depending on what pressure switch you're running? It shouldn't take but a minute or there about to reach the cut-off point.

    While running the sprinklers, does the pump run continuously or does it shut off periodically?

    Again, this is how I check my well, and my well may not be the same as yours, but the basic tests are mostly the same. g/l
     

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    The Pitt

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    Thanks guys I got it figured out. Once I took a little time to run it through its paces I realized one of the zone switches was stuck open so it was trying to pump to more than one zone at a time.
     
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