Sprinkler System: Only working at 50% to 75%. Can you help me understand why?

Question

When my sprinkler system comes on, it seems to be working at the 50% to 75% level. I was watching one zone for about 5 minutes spray water moderately, and then the zone started to "sputter" a little. After the "sputter", the system quickly started spraying farther out and much more water thereafter. This has happened in other zones, too. I checked another zone tonight for 10 minutes, but it never "sputtered" or sprayed more water and thus only worked at 50% to 75%. Can you tell me why this is happening and how to fix it?

Answer 1

it depends how many heads (sprayers) are connected to each solenoid. I have one solenoid with three sprayers, and another solenoid with seven which one you think has more pressure? ofcoarse is the one with less sprayers. Look into that too. Otherwise if you have the same amount of sprayers on each solenoid. then you have a water leak in the system.

Answer 2

Could there be some debris in the lines? If dirt got into the pipes it could clog them making them less effective. You can try flushing the system. Identify the terminal sprinkler on each zone. Remove the spray nozzle and run the zone. This should help evacuate any dirt or clog. Make sure you run the zones in from closest to furthest from the water source (water main).

It might also be worth checking each nozzle to make sure the filters aren't clogged.

Worst case scenario is that you have a leak somewhere. This can happen as the pipes age. The PVC becomes more brittle as time goes by and can eventually wear lose or develop a leak, especially at the connections. Watch for water pooling in your yard or a section of your yard becoming overly saturated when the sprinkler system runs.