[FlyMike]

For starters I'm not very knowledgeable about in-ground sprinkler systems, but I'm handy and can learn. I moved into our house a few years ago, and it has/had a in-ground system installed who knows how long ago. I have tried to turn it on from the controller, but either it doesn't work or I'm not doing something right.
I have walked the yard and found a few of the sprinkler heads, some broken and some intact, that are on the drawing from when it was installed, and a couple valve/wire boxes in the ground. It appears that a lot of the heads have been removed or covered up.

This box is near the street, not sure if it's a separate water line in, or if it T's off to the sprinklers that are supposed to be along the stret edge of the lawn.




This box is up closer to the house


This box is right next to the house and I think it goes straight to the controller


My super awesome controller


I've had the idea of starting at some known point on the sprinkler system and just digging up the dirt and following the lines and repairing/replacing what needs to be fixed, but I'm not sure if that's the best way to go about it or if I should just start from scratch.
All of this to basically ask what do I need to do to have a working sprinkler system?

 

[Colonel K0rn]

I'm not an irrigation specialist, so take this with a grain of salt. By the looks of that controller, I would go ahead and update it! I'm sure that was installed before the internet was active. Manuals aren't available online either.

The solenoid is not able to be turned on the valve body if they're Toro valves, which I'd be willing to bet they are. Check this video out to see if you can identify the type of valve that you have. See if you can get water to the valve, by opening the one at the street, and then the bleeder (if it's a Toro valve) by the solenoid. See if you can get the water going there, and then see if you can open the valve with the controller. There should be a "TEST" or 'MANUAL' function on the controller. Once you can get the water going to the valve, have someone turn it to either the test or manual setting, and see if you can hear the valve click while you're outside.

Once you can get water to the valve, see if you can turn it on, and see which heads you need to replace. At a minimum, you should look into replacing the valves and the controller if they're not working. No sense in replacing the whole system, unless everything is shot.

 

[Ware]

Tough call, and a lot depends on your budget and expectations. I agree with CK that I would plan on replacing some of the key components.

If you are able to manually activate the zones, I would get some good measurements on the head spacing and try to map everything out and assess what you have (including pipe sizes where possible). Whether or not the original system was a good design would influence my decision heavily.

 

[Ware]

There is a lot of good information about irrigation system design at https://www.irrigationtutorials.com.

 

[Colonel K0rn]

I also found a really helpful video here!

 

[Movingshrub]

The top photo looks like a Rainbird DV 100 valve with flow control. The hexagon part sticking up, with the two wires going into it, can be turned manually. If you turn it counter-clockwise about 1/4th of a turn, if should allow water to flow. You could also turn that smallest screw, which is a water bleed screw to see if there is any water pressure on the valve.

Can anyone tell if the valve in the other photo is a Rain Bird PGA valve ?

Keep in mind, one valve may be a shutoff to allow the water to even make it to the other valves.

I'd try manually turning the rainbird valve in the first photo and see if you get any water flow. If not, leave it open, and then try turning on the second valve (closest to the house) and see if you get any water.

Do you know if there is a separate water meter or any kind of shutoff water valve for the irrigation system itself?

 

[FlyMike]

@Colonel K0rn thanks for the videos. I went out to the valve by the street and tried to open/turn it on with no luck. I think I need to do a little research to figure it what kind of valve it is. I'm going to try the electrical tests mentioned on the second video later on tonight to see what happens.

@Ware thanks for the link, I'll be reading through that to gain a little knowledge on what goes on with a sprinkler system.

 

[FlyMike]

@Movingshrub The Rainbird DV-100 does look very similar to what's out there. I'll take a better look at it this evening/tomorrow and see if that's it. I tried turning the one on by the street with no luck. I'll try turning them both on and see what happens.

I haven't been able to find any other shut-off valves or meters around the property. That was my first thought when I first started messing around with it, but I don't think there is one.

 

[Movingshrub]

Do you have any kind of visible anti-backflow device?

Mine is buried in the ground right after the meter, and then I have the water line going to my house.
At first I thought, well, they could have teed into that water line, for your irrigation system, but generally, that's not a good practice cause the sprinkler valves aren't considered effective at preventing backflow and whatever gets into the irrigation supply line could also get into your home's drinking water.

Where I'm going with this this is, if you've got two anti-backflow devices, that might give you some indication of the way the lines are routed.

With that being said, I'm assuming your sprinkler system is being fed via city/municipal water versus non-potable water.

 

[FlyMike]

It would be supplied by city water. I'll move some dirt around by the main water meter and see if I find anything buried over there. If I had to guess, I would say this system was put in shortly after the house was built in '89, so around the early '90s if that makes any difference.

 

[Colonel K0rn]

@FlyMike One thing you could do is check with the city to see the number of water bills the house had in the history of ownership. If there were two, then you'll know that the owners were billed for house and irrigation usage.

 

[FlyMike]

A separate water line was one of the first things I thought about. Called the water company and found out there has never been a second line. I tested my controller with my multimeter and it appears to be getting power to all zones. The ohm test is intermittent on my multimeter and not very reliable, but it looks like every zone has good continuity as well.

I have tried to manually turn on both valves with no luck getting any water to them. I have a feeling there is another box somewhere that I can't find. In the drawing it shows 2 flower/ivy areas, but sometime before I bought the hose the 2 ivy areas have grown into one big area. I'm thinking there is something buried in the ivy somewhere that will give me a better idea of whats going on.

I think I will end up installing a new system, but following the old lines and adjusting where I need to. That way I can reuse some of the old stuff, get rid of the broken stuff, and find where everything is at. This probably won't happen for a few seasons, and I'll just continue to use my timed hose sprinklers until I get tired of it.

Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[J_nick]

Do you have a basement or crawl space? There might be a valve somewhere in there before the line runs into the yard.

 

[FlyMike]

The controller is in the basement. I have followed the electrical lines out, and looked at every water line that comes in or goes out of the house with no luck.

 

[Colonel K0rn]

Sounds like you just need to see where the water supply is to the solenoid and you should be in business