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Sprinkler system not running and clinking noise coming from water heater/pipes!

Sprinkler system not running and clinking noise coming from water heater/pipes!


  #1  
Old 09-12-13, 06:56 AM
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Sprinkler system not running and clinking noise coming from water heater/pipes!

Hello all,

The last couple of times my sprinkler system is set to go off, I've been hearing a rhythmic clinking noise coming from my water heater. You can also hear the clinking through the walls. When I used the sink or shower, the flow was restricted every few seconds, at the same pace of the clinking. It does it the entire time the sprinkler system is set to be on. I went outside this morning to see if the sprinklers were affected and sure enough, they weren't running. I've never really worked with a sprinkler system before so I'm not sure where to start. Any help is much appreciated!



TAGS: SPRINKLER, SYSTEM, WATER, HEATER, CLINKING, NOISE, FLOW
 
  #2  
Old 09-12-13, 07:23 AM
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Are you on a well or city water ?

If well.... does your system have a pressure gauge ?

If city.... does your system have a pressure reducing valve near the water meter or where the main comes in the house ?
 
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Old 09-12-13, 07:34 AM
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I am on city water. Do you mean another valve other than the main shut off valve? I think that might be the only valve I've seen. I will have to double check tonight.
 
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Old 09-12-13, 01:55 PM
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A pressure reducing valve (PRV) is now required with most municipal water systems. It limits the water pressure that can enter your home. It's probably located where your water main enters your house which could be in the crawl space or basement. Since it's a mechanical device it can fail and all the water for your house should be flowing through it so it's one thing that can screw-up the water flow for everything in the house.
 
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Old 09-12-13, 02:04 PM
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I want to add that the flow to everything else in the house is only interrupted when the sprinklers are running (or supposed to be running). When they're not running, the flow is normal and I have no problems. I think it's something specifically wrong with the sprinkler system that's affecting everything else. I don't know much about them though so I could be wrong.
 
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Old 09-12-13, 08:15 PM
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In order for the sprinkler system to affect (reduce) the water supply in the house....it must be active and either sprinkling or dumping it underground.

If the water pressure is low in the house then you need to find out what the sprinkler system is doing with the water.
 
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Old 09-15-13, 05:38 PM
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I took a picture of the valves i found outside my house. I circled a few spots in the photo that are kind of hard to see. I'm not sure what they are, but they're coming out of the larger center piece and one of the valves i believe. I'm still not sure what the problem is. I did find a couple of sprinkler heads that were busted and spraying straight up, so i replaced those. That helped the flow coming out of the other heads noticeably but the original problem persists...

I tried to upload a sound file of the noise from the water heater, but it wasn't an acceptable file extension...
 
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Old 09-15-13, 09:11 PM
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In your original post you said the sprinklers were not working. In the last post you said the heads were broken and the water was shooting straight up.

If the heads are missing or broken then the sprinkler system is dumping all the water outside and you will see a reduction of inside water pressure.
 
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Old 09-16-13, 06:22 AM
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Sorry if I'm not being clear, but I'm kind of giving a progression of symptoms as I run across them. The sprinklers weren't working the first time I went out to check on them, you were correct there. The next time I went to check on them a few days later, they were spraying but with the rhythmic pattern I described before. It's at the same pace of the noise I hear inside the house. The sprinkler heads move up and down as the flow pressure fluctuates. Also, they spray fine when I first turn them on but only for about 15-20 seconds. After that they start to run in the pattern I described.
 
 

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