FAQ
We here at BVS have spent a lot of time answering questions
about what will be required to maintain one of our sprinkler systems or other
sprinklers systems that were orphaned by companies no longer in business.
So I put together a short list of frequently asked questions
about maintenance for your convenience.
11- Will I have to blow out
my system out with an air compressor in the winter time?
This is without a doubt the most common question we get
asked. And it’s a good one.
The short answer is: NO.
You will never have to blow out a Blue Valley Sod installed sprinkler system.
The long answer is: Unless you have a MASSIVE industrial
system that would require an oversized PVC main line… in that case you will
have to blow your system out at the end of the year with compressed air.
(If that is the case, you will have a maintenance man or
crew to do that sort of thing and you have nothing to worry about!)
22-
Does Blue Valley Sod use
PVC pipe or some other kind of pipe?
No, we install
Polyethylene irrigation tubing also known as “poly pipe” throughout your yard .
33-
Is that as good as PVC
pipe?
Poly pipe is superior to PVC in EVERY
way except one: Internal friction.
And that will not affect
an average sized residential system in any way. It is only when are
designing a massive industrial system that requires huge amounts of water over
long distances that PVC becomes a necessity.
44-
What happens if I have a
sprinkler system installed by somebody else and it has PVC pipe?
In that case your PVC sprinkler system will fall into one of
two categories:
Type 1- A PVC system
WITHOUT automatic drains installed
Type 2- A PVC system WITH automatic drains installed
If you have automatic drains in
your system, then you WILL NOT have
to blow out your system with compressed air.
If you do not have drains, then
you will need to blow it out every winter before it gets too cold.
Beside this , the other main
difference between your PVC sprinkler system and one installed with Poly pipe
is that it will be much slower to repair when it breaks and cost more to
service it because it will require more labor and parts to do so.
55-
But, I have heard that
you still have to “winterize” your sprinklers systems, what is that all about
if it doesn’t involve blowing out my lines with compressed air?
Another good question:
The law requires that all sprinkler systems have a safety device on them
that stops any water in your sprinkler system from coming back into your house
and mixing with your drinking water. That device is called a BACKFLOW PREVENTOR
or VACUM BREAKER.
This device is the
only thing that can freeze up or be damaged by the cold on a Blue Valley Sod
installed sprinkler system.
In order to “winterize” one of our sprinkler systems, all
you need to do is:
a-
shut the
water to the sprinkler system off
b-
Drain the water out of the Vacuum breaker by
opening a drain valve (usually located in the basement of your home and usually
this drains no more than ½- 1 gallon of water. )
c-
Going through a short procedure of opening the
small drain valves on the vacuum breaker itself, and then opening and closing
the vales on the vacuum breaker to make sure that the few ounces of water still
in the vacuum breaker are worked out of the unit.
And that’s it.
All Blue Valley Sod sprinkler
systems are designed to function with the minimum of fuss and maintenance and
the winterizing process is designed to be simple and fast. No compressed air needed, no lengthy or
difficult shutdown or draining procedure, no buckets of water or draining hoses
to contend with. A few minutes and you
are done.
66- But what if I forget and
I have water in my system when the ground freezes? I have heard I will have to
replace all the lines in my yard because they will be frozen and destroyed!
That only happens if
you have a system with PVC pipes in it that don’t get drained or blown out
properly.
One of the most
important reasons we use only poly tubing in our systems is because poly pipe
CANNOT FREEZE AND BREAK!
Yes, as impossible as
that sounds the poly tubing we use is guaranteed for the life of the owner to
NEVER FREEZE AND BREAK!!!
And that is not just some idle promise… in the 49 years that we have been in business we have NEVER… seen a
single poly line break from freezing.
Sure, many times poly lines get frozen with water inside of
them, BUT UNLIKE PVC PIPE… POLYETHELENE WILL FLEX! IT WILL NOT REMAIN RIGID AND
SPLINTER OR SHATTER LIKE PVC DOES WHEN FROZEN!
The poly lines will stretch, and expand but NOT BREAK… and
then when the ice melts in the spring time… the lines contract back to their
original size and continue to operate just as before.
So… even if you do forget and there is water in your lines…
you will not shatter your lines.
77-
But I have heard of
people “freezing up” a Blue Valley Sod sprinkler system before? What’s that all
about?
What those people are referring to is only damage that
freezing can do to one of our sprinkler systems.
And that is when the Vacuum Breaker is not shut down or drained properly (See question # 5 above) so that there is still some water inside it when the temperature drops below 28 degrees, and then that unit freezes and cracks. To repair that damage we replace the frozen parts on the vacuum breaker and you are ready to go the next season!
Simple as that! No lines needing to be replace, or massive
overhaul… just a few parts and you are back up and running!
88- I like those older type
of sprinklers I see… the ones that make noise… these new ones with just one
stream of water don’t look they are working at all… why would anyone use those?
I hear this one multiple times a day, and it’s also a very
valid question. The “single stream”
sprinklers that people are seeing are the most common type of sprinkler in the
market and they are called “rotors”.
They are an enclosed, gear driven, sealed sprinkler that are
silent, and shoot out a single stream of water.
The “older” style of sprinkler that most people think of is
called an “impact” sprinkler. They are an open style, non sealed sprinkler that
uses an impact of a swinging arm into the water stream to drive the head around
its path. They make a very distinct
noise, and while ALSO shooting out a single stream of water, the method of
distributing the water looks radically different than a rotor style head.
We here at Blue Valley Sod have repaired and worked with them
all. Every brand, make, model, type and style of sprinkler. And here are the facts:
a-
Impact
sprinklers can be fantastic. Very good at watering evenly, and lasting well
over 30 years at times.
•They
are very easy to clean and maintain.
• They cost the same price as a rotor.
The
disadvantages are
•that
they get contaminates in them easily (since they are open style sprinklers and
not sealed like the rotors) are more fragile if they get stuck up from being
full of contaminates,
•They
can stop operating when the pressure drops very low.
•
They are limited in their adjustment abilities and their nozzle options.
•They are also not as efficient as a
Rotor style head. (they waste water)
•They are loud
•They are more venerable to vandalism
b-
Rotor sprinklers can also be very fantastic. They offer some pretty big advantages over
the impact sprinkler and that is why they are the most commonly used sprinkler
in the world today.
--I MUST NOTE HERE
THAT I AM TALKING ABOUT HIGH QUALITY ROTORS HERE. A LOWER QUALITY ROTOR CAN BE
A NIGHTMARE AND NOT FUNCTION AT ANYWHERE NEAR THE CAPACITY OF A GOOD QUALITY
PRODUCT!
First and foremost
• Rotors are sealed. They are enclosed.
They have tight seals and keep out dirt, gravel, sand, leaves, twigs, and
insects. Rotor sprinklers REQUIRE this
level of cleanliness because of the tight tolerances between the gears inside
of them that make them turn. Rotor
sprinklers require ZERO MAINTENANCE because they are so reliable and operate so
cleanly.
•A high quality Rotor like the Rain Bird
models that we use at Blue Valley Sod can keep turning at EXTREMELY low water
pressure and should never stop turning.
•Just like so many things in the world
today the rotor sprinkler is replaceable… not repairable.
If a rotor sprinkler quits working, it has
to be replaced. There is no “servicing” or cleaning a rotor sprinkler.
HOWEVER…and this is
very important to note… Blue Valley Sod is VERY comfortable with this fact
because of the huge savings the rotor sprinkler offers a customer in
maintenance!
A rotor sprinkler
NEVER has to be cleaned out!
And cleaning out impact heads is THE SINGLE MOST COMMON MAINTENANCE ITEM I
DO WHEN CALLED OUT TO A CUSTOMERS HOME!! BAR NONE!
By the time something has happened to the
rotor sprinkler and I need to replace one… that customer has saved so much
money on maintenance costs that it is a non issue. That customer is already ahead.
•They have an incredible amount of
flexibility for adjustment and precision.
•They have a wide range of nozzle
possibilities that allow for tremendous flexibility both in uses, areas they
cover, flow rates, future changes/expansion of both the yard and coverage they
offer.
•HIGH QUALITY rotors offer unprecedented
efficiency that allow you to get the most water down on your yard and allows
every dollar you spend on water to go as far as possible towards keeping your
yard alive and looking great.
99-
You make it sound like
the rotor sprinkler is indestructible. If they are so great, why do you have to
replace them at all?
There is only 2 reasons to EVER change out a rotor
sprinkler:
a-
The rotor has been physically broken by an
outside force: Snow blowers, cars, lawnmowers, ect. (obviously not a fault of
the design of the sprinkler)
b-
The rotor has gotten contamination inside of it
regardless of the sealing and the gears inside are either jammed up, or broken.
Modern rotor sprinklers are SO RELIABLE and dependable that
I have yet to replace one because it “wore out”.
ALL of the rotors I have replaced have become damaged or
contaminated.
