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Some questions about installing / straightening Rainbird 5000 sprinklers

Some questions about installing / straightening Rainbird 5000 sprinklers


  #1  
Old 06-08-22, 03:20 PM
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Some questions about installing / straightening Rainbird 5000 sprinklers

I have a sprinkler system that was installed 9 years ago by others.

Some questions:

1) Where do you have the ground level on the sprinkler / how deep do you 'plant' the sprinkler? Most of mine are at A or even lower. When I turned ithem on for the season, there was clumps of dirt on top of some of the pop up part : )



2) How do you raise it? Dig down on 1 side, lift and fill in under it with some dirt? Overall, trying not to disturb too much? And I guess, set it a little high because it'll settle?

Several of them are missing the plastic tops. I see a couple that are loose.

3) Do you crazy glue (or some other glue) them in place?
4) If that's the only issue - there's no plastic top, do you keep using it?

Most have a bit of a tilt to them. I have a cute leveling gadget
https://store.rainbird.com/holduptoo...ith-level.html

5) How would you get them vertical again? Dig away on the 'high side' to make it vertical and put the removed dirt on the 'low' side", trying not to disturb too much dirt?

6) I put out some tuna cans and ran each zone for 30 minutes. How much variation in amount of water collected would you think is OK? I was getting 1/4" to 1/2" across different zones after 30 minute.

7) Last one! 1 of them doesn't turn when water's going through it. Any fixes / troubleshooting to try? Or just replace it? I can turn it by hand to the stop / the racheting still has me move it to the stop to be able to reverse direction.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
 
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Old 06-08-22, 03:33 PM
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1. I have anywhere between A and G and they all work. Much depends on how the soil is eroding or being deposited. I have a paver patio. Over time dirt washing off the patio has build up the ground right at the edge burying the sprinklers deeper. Elsewhere erosion over the years has slowly lowered the ground exposing more of the sprinkler housings.

2. I lay a tarp on the ground. Then dig up the sod around the sprinkler and place on the tarp. Then dig with a small garden trowel. You may need to dig more to expose enough pipe to have the flex needed to change the elevation. Then pack dirt hard underneath and around the sprinkler and reset the sod.

3. NEVER glue anything except glued PVC fittings. You want to be able to disassemble or replace as needed in the future.

4. Don't know what you're asking.

5. It's not rocket science. Move dirt as needed to get the sprinkler bodies mostly vertical. They don't have to be perfect but you don't want them grossly crooked.

6. I would like more uniform distribution but it's far from a perfect system. Trying different emitters and adjusting will probably get you closer to even distribution.

7. Clean it. If that doesn't work replace the emitter head.
 
  #3  
Old 06-08-22, 08:01 PM
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Some of the answers somewhat depend on what type of fittings they used. And since we can't dig it up and look, you're going to have to do that. Once you do, post a photo of what you find and we can give a more intelligent reply to your questions. If the heads are on funny pipe you might just be able to reset them at the right height and then bury them again. If they are on risers you will need to replace the risers and cut them at an appropriate length.

In your illustration, A or B is an appropriate height. C is okay. Wouldn't want them sticking up higher than that. You don't want them too high or you put too much pressure on them when you step on or drive over them.

When working on heads, I will usually just use a hand spade, and cut around the head about 4-6" around each side, then cut that sod off and save it. Then excavate the hole with the hand spade, have a Rubbermaid tub or something to put all the soil in. Dig all around, being careful not to cut into your pipe as you get deeper. Don't even knick it if you can help it. Dig a couple inches deeper than your main supply pipe so that dirt can't fall into the pipe if you remove the head.

When you bury the head, you need to pack the soil as you backfill, tamping it down every few inches. I often backfill with clean sand, or a mixture of sand and soil to make it easier to dig up the next time. The soil also drains better.
 
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Old 06-08-22, 09:38 PM
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You use a shovel and dig out a big cone of dirt around the sprinkler down below the connection at the bottom of the sprinkler. You want to take out a pretty good amount of dirt so that when you unscrew the sprinkler head from the pipe dirt will not fall back into the pipe.

Then using a cut off riser you remove the existing riser and replace with a longer section (that you took a measurement from before digging) and replace.

They you take that cone of dirt and sod and re-insert back around the sprinkler making an adjustments to straighten. After a week you wont see the area that was repaired.

As noted there are various ways that sprinkler head could be installed so you will need to verify your specific application.

 
 

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