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If you live in a geographical zone where your ground freeze seed winter , and you have an inground sprinkler for your garden andgrass , then you need to consider winterizing the system to keep any remain water from freezing and do likely tube and sprinkler drumhead terms . Since underground systems can be rather pricy to put in – repairing and replacing them does n’t come cheap either . Winterizing is the one reason why we miss our oldpulsating and rotating above ground sprinkler head .
I inherited my reflex Hunter organisation upon leverage of my home , and basically gave myself a crash course on it ’s role through a lot of net entanglement searches . As the first winter twine in , I did n’t have a clue about what sort of inhuman weather condition fear it needed and simply plugged in aheat tapearound my overground pipes . fortunately it was a mild winter , but by the following yr I had find out how simple and straightaway it was to winterize my organization with an air compressor without having to have the contribute cost of an extra electric automobile pull each calendar month .
I used an air compressor to realise my sprinkler zone and excuse those stairs below , but there are a few different way to attain this effect no matter whether you have an Orbit , Rain Bird , or Toro organisation that I will excuse as well . translate on to find out how to efficiently winterise a lawn sprinkler system below !
ALL YOU NEED IS:
Actually , you really do n’t require whole lot to be successful at this . If you do n’t have an tune compressor that is unattackable enough for this , and you ca n’t borrow one , buying one is n’t a spoilt option since paying a company to do this will on mean price four times the amount the price of a compressor . Or , you could usually rent one fairly cheap too from a local hardware computer storage .
You ’ll need at least a 10 cfm strength to ply enough power to run air through most systems in short enough bursts to keep from overheating the piping .
HOW TO BLOW OUT YOUR SPRINKLER SYSTEM USING AN AIR COMPRESSOR
The simple , speedy , and most in effect way to winterize your scheme is to shoot a line it out with an air compressor . This secure that the line is clear and dry disregardless whether it is a white PVC word of mouth or a black polyethylene piping . Be sure to mention what type of piping you do have , and if you are timid , presume it is dark polythene to avoid damage the line of merchandise .
STEP 1: SET AIR PRESSURE REGULATOR
aura compressor regulatorscontrol the amount of atmosphere that flows through an strain compressor , and is especially significant to take note of when using in conjunction with materials that might be sensitive to insistency . Be sure to use a compressor that is fitted with one , like this commercial-grade grade system I show . The pipe that is used inyour sprinkler arrangement linecan only handle so much pressure and you ’ll want to keep the pressure at 80 psi ( pounds per straight inch ) or below for PVC , and 50 psi or lower for polythene to avoid undesirable scathe and replacement of the short letter .
STEP 2: TURN OFF WATER SUPPLY
Underground system have a main shut off point that are ordinarily pretty gentle to settle . They will be site near the initial water system source and are typically equipped with two clump valve , “ T ” mold lever located on the backflowing preventer for gentle shut off . These flex off the water without turn off H2O to the sign , and you ’ll want to make trusted both are turned vertical ( shut ) to the main lines .
In some system you may have a gate valve ( as bear witness ) , which looks just like a even body of water home spigot . These can attract a lot of dirt and debris into the thread over clock time , so be certain to plough carefully and do not force the channel . WD-40 can be helpful if your valve is sticking .
Depending on the system your water control off of , you may not have a backflow twist , and if this is the case , then you may skip to tread 3 and start draining your system of rules .
STEP 3: SET SYSTEM TO OPEN ONE ZONE ONLY
On your control panel , set your organisation to have only one zone open at a time for flush each out in a controlled manner . My Hunter system allows me to manually choose a undivided station at a fourth dimension . begin with the zone farthest from the organisation and work in .
This allows the residuary pressure to release and keep it from being pushed into the compressor . You ’ll finally botch up out each line twice , and since you do n’t require to extend the compressor through each for too long of a meter to deflect overheat , this will ensure you have crystalise it out totally .
STEP 4: CONNECT AIRLINE TO BLOWOUT PORT
The line that connects to your inground zones should have ablowout portattached , and if you remove the chew , you’re able to screw in a prompt connect hose adaptor . just bust on your air hosiery to this full stop and run it back to the compressor .
If you dwell in an area where the flat coat does n’t freeze very abstruse , or often , then you may not have this access . If you want one you’re able to hire a company to come in to instal it . But hazard are you have a sprinkler organisation that can manually or automatically drain on it ’s own . You ’ll find instructions on how this works below .
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STEP 5: CONNECT HOSE TO COMPRESSOR AND TURN ON
Double check that your airwave compressor governor is set for the correct pipage , and then crochet up your air hosiery to run . When you turn on your compressor the sprinkler heads should pop up and spray out the water in the line . Disconnect your hose immediately as they run juiceless to keep from build up unneeded oestrus . This should take about two moment each depending on sizing and distance from the air source .
STEP 6: DISCONNECT HOSE AS LINE RUNS DRY
I ’m repeating this part of the above whole step on use to stress the grandness of disconnecting the line as soon as you see your lines are running dry . If you have a zona that is far forth from where you have clear sight , have a dependable individual keep lookout for you . melodic phrase compressors built up estrus which can easy damage your piping and result in fade plastic gears in less than a minute without the pee present to provide cooling .
STEP 7:REPEAT FOR EACH ZONE
Repeat steps 5 and 6 for each geographical zone , and then iterate the process for a total of two time for each zone . This will assure that you have either cleared , or removed enough of the H2O to avoid any freezing and damage that will come over the wintertime . A small amount of weewee depart in a line will seldom have any price since it will have room to spread out as it freezes . But if water has settled into any of the drumhead gear without any kind of drainage this can possible make next problems , hence the importance providing some form of winterization .
MANUAL DRAIN METHODS
Some systems are apparatus to drain without an air compressor . If your system has a manual drain valve at the ends and low points of an irrigation system , you may plainly open all these valves after shutting off the H2O supply . To make trusted this has been effective , unfold the drain valve ( or pileus ) on the stop and thriftlessness valve and enfeeble all the remaining water between the backflowing and shut off valve .
If your sprinklers havecheck valvesyou’ll need to pull up the sprinklers to allow water to drain out the bottom . Be sure to leave get to the manual valve until you know the water has drained .
AUTOMATIC DRAIN METHOD
Automatic waste pipe valve are locate at the ends and low item of the irrigation piping like manual valves are , however these clear automatically when insistence drops below 10 pounds per square inch . you’re able to activate these by turning off the water system supply and trigger a station to release pressure .
As with the manual drains , you ’ll need to drain stay on piss , and also rend your heads if check valves are present to let water to run out .
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READY TO BEGIN?!
If you live in an area where your dry land will suspend , you ’ll emphatically want to winterize your system to keep from inground organ pipe damagefrom occurring . Be certain to know what variety of inground system you own , and what materials your piping is made of to head off issues with the tune compressor if you expend this proficiency .
There are a few things to keep in judgment , namely that you should never go past the recommended pounds per square inch for your pipes , and you should never stand up over parts , or leave the compressor unattended .
