LESLIE: Brandy in California is calling in about a sprinkler issue. Tell us what’s going on.
BRANDY: Yeah, we have this issue with our sprinklers when they go on and when they switch from the front sprinklers to the back sprinklers. It makes a loud knocking sound; so loud that it wakes us up in the middle of the night. And we just want to figure out how to fix it.
TOM: What does it sound like?
BRANDY: What does it sound like? Just like if you hit the wall; a loud – just one loud knock.
TOM: OK. Well, it’s probably the valves.
BRANDY: OK. That’s what we thought.
TOM: Yeah, there’s a valve that basically, because of a timer, basically takes one – you know, one zone goes on and then the valve shuts that one off and another one comes on. So I’m sure it’s the valve that’s clanking on and clanking off. What you could do is you could manually turn on the zones and see if you can replicate that sound and certainly could identify which valve is making the noise and replace it. It shouldn’t be a big deal.
BRANDY: Oh, OK. So just replace the valve?
TOM: Yeah, replace that part of the control.
BRANDY: OK.
TOM: It should be a minor repair for a sprinkler contractor.
BRANDY: OK. Huh, OK. So we’ll look into that. Is there anything else that could be causing it?
TOM: No, I think that’s it. I mean you’re saying it’s switching from front to back. It’s basically going from one zone to the next; that’s when you hear the sound and that’s obviously when the valve is opening up.
BRANDY: OK. And aside from it just waking us up, is there any other problem it could cause if it …?
TOM: No. Nope. Just a lack of sleep.
BRANDY: OK.
LESLIE: Which is a problem enough, itself.
BRANDY: Alright. So nothing to worry about; we don’t have to worry about any pipes bursting or anything.
TOM: If you had a burst pipe, you would know it because there’d be water everywhere.
BRANDY: OK.
Irrigation system in my community is out of whack. I am getting woken when system is on all hours at night. Has been a sleep problem for years. No one seems to be able to fix it or should I say they don’t want to. I hear it at 12 midnight and sometimes 4 am, 5am and 6 am. It is not always in my zone. Humming and sounds like an engine going a steady speed then slowing down and starting up again. Please help.
All of a sudden when my sprinklers go on they make a loud whooshing noise the whole time there on. When the back goes on it’s even louder. Nothing is leaking that we can see. Can you think of anything it could be?
My lawn looks very dry, Found out my neighbor turned the key off on my sprinkler system
Because of a loud noise that keeps them awake. My son Took the key away, now I didn’t knowmy neighbor Pulled the plug, out and my lawn looks terrible. How could I fix this problem?
To start off, your neighbor shouldn’t be trespassing to your property. Next, from what I read, your sprinkler system has a separate shut off valve, turning that back on should help get your lawn back on track. If your controller has a lock and you don’t have the key, I guess replacing the controller should be the best solution.