Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Dec 15, 2009 3:45 pm We inherited an irrigation system at our current place which has been "drippified"....all operating off an electronic controller. The solenoids that control the dripper irrigation are simple electronic actuated on/off with no adjustments, knobs, etc. The solenoid that is for the lawn sprinklers which is larger and runs into a 19 mm hose looks very much like this... Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ My questions are: - what does the tap like think on the top of the bonnet do...it has a plus/minus indicator on it - what does the little lever on the actuator (on the right of the picture) do...it can be vertical or it can rotate through 90 degrees to the horizontal I'm assuming that the jigger on the bonnet is a pressure regulator, and the whozit on the actuator is an override. But as I said I'm assuming and that's like to make an *** out of U and ME. And no I don't have a manual...and fundamentally it operates well...I just like to know what I've got...must be the gingerbeer brain...! Cheers, Mike mmm....donuts Homer Simpson 1956- Links: Site Costs Ready Reckoner | H1 Addiction Medical Advice | Château TDL: The Backyard Re: Irrigation Solenoid Valves - How do they work? 2Dec 15, 2009 10:22 pm I love your technical names for parts Better than mine are going to be thats for sure Your will make more sense to everyone OK the "jigger" on the side is used to manually turn the valve on and off. You can also twist the coil (the thingy on the top with wires hanging off) and let air in and open the valve that way The tap thing on top is just that. It adjusts the flow of the water going through. I don't find much use for these. I prefer to have the tap open full or not use those flow adjustable valves and use a pressure reducer instead. The tap thing doesn't change pressure, just the flow of the water The work like this. A rubber diaphragm is inside it. It needs air to get in and break the vacuum and open it up. The coil on the top is an electromagnet that has a little pin thing in it with a spring. That seals up a hole. When the electrical current runs through it the pin is lifted, letting in air and opening the valve You can test it with out it being connected to the wires with 3 nine volt batteries joined together and the wires connected or touched to the outer terminals of the batteries. (two nine volt batteries side by side, a third turned upside down and pluged into the other two) If the pin goes up, the coil is fine Re: Irrigation Solenoid Valves - How do they work? 3Dec 15, 2009 10:24 pm The one pictured os a sealed unit and can't be repaired other than replacing the coil. These make finding what is wrong with them very hard. Always use the ones that have a screw on ring that holds the top down, they are interchangeable with at least three other brands I know of. Very handy No screws, easy to fix Re: Irrigation Solenoid Valves - How do they work? 4Dec 16, 2009 7:22 am Thanks FuMan for the info...mine's actually a screw on type so I'm OK there. Understood the solenoid function just not what the knobs did. Cheers, Mike mmm....donuts Homer Simpson 1956- Links: Site Costs Ready Reckoner | H1 Addiction Medical Advice | Château TDL: The Backyard Re: Irrigation Solenoid Valves - How do they work? 5Dec 20, 2009 10:50 pm Hey Fu Manchu, I'm interested in your tip regarding the 3 x 9v batteries! I've bought a block where the previous house (and it's controller) burnt down. I've found a bunch of fine wires (pink and white) running to solenoids all over the garden and was wondering if I could activate the various solenoids from these wires - effectively a manual battery powered remote control for me to water the garden with until I get the power on and a new controller? Will each solenoid have two wires running to it from the controller? Cheers, Julian Re: Irrigation Solenoid Valves - How do they work? 6Dec 20, 2009 11:22 pm No there will be two wires from the coil on the valve but they common (black wire) will be wired in series to the other valves so only one black wire goes back to the controller. (as well as the coloured wire for the valve. What you would be best doing is locating the valves and just open them manually. To do this you'd be best to use a valve finder or "chatter box" which needs to be wired onto the coloured wire for each valve. The method I am going to suggest is one that in theory should work but I have never tried. Get a chatter box from your nearest retic shop. It will cost between $20-30. Have a bit of wire run from the batteries on the positive terminal to the chatter box. From the chatter box to the chosen station wire. That should be enough volts to make the valves pulse underground and you will hear them, unless they are faulty (in theory) Once you have found them, to open them manually, just turn the coil and let air in. Re: Irrigation Solenoid Valves - How do they work? 8Dec 20, 2009 11:57 pm black goes to negative, coloured wire to positive. Hi all I am looking to run a water line under my concrete footpath which is directly next to my home, was seeing if this is possible without cutting the entire section… 0 20164 Hi Brainstrust, I had a go at creating my own irrigation plan, keen to get some feedback. It will be run from one 750-800W pump, off 2* 5000L rain tanks. Each zone… 0 21908 Ask the council if there is a chance of getting build over easement exemption. Sometimes easements are unused and 24cm is not all that much. Good luck. And yes any builder… 2 13745 |