for service north of Perth city call Andrew 0400044236
Normally when your bore starts up you hear a ‘clunk’ sound as the bore starter kicks in. If you can’t hear this then chances are your relay to the starter is faulty or the problem is in your control box.
If the control box looks ok then you will need to call an electrician to have a look at the relay switch.
This is the Brighton Reticulation Blog and our main site can be found here For service or advice with the issues in this post call Andrew on 0400044236, or email us here
Which sprinklers should you run from a bore?
You have a couple of things to consider:
a) Flow rate: often bores allow you to run much greater numbers of sprinklers than a standard mains pressure system. 80l/min is normal as opposed to 30 off the mains.
b) Pump run time: every minute your bore is running is costing you money in electricity and wear and tear on your pump.
That said you don’t want to simply be governed by the cheapest option. In my own backyard I have 3 different types of sprinklers running. We have 4 big heavy duty gear drives on the verge, regular pop ups in the garden beds and then MP rotators in the lawn areas. It means the pump runs for aprox 2 hours each time it comes on, but we have chosen sprinklers that will fit the areas and do the best job.
This is the Brighton Reticulation Blog and our main site can be found here For service or advice with the issues in this post call Andrew on 0400044236, or email us here
A lot of people ask me what the best sprinklers are, and the answer is that it depends on the job it needs to do.
Here are some pros and cons of various types of sprinklers:
Standard Toro/Rainbird pop-ups: are good sprinklers in that distribute a lot of water in a short space of time and they are cheap and easy to replace. If well maintained the sprinkler body and seals can easily last 5 years. Their negative is that their spray can mist and get easily blown by the wind.
Gear Drives – Gear drives are tough and are generally used over larger areas or where there may be traffic expected. You wouldn’t use gear drives in smaller lawn areas as they are really suited to areas 8m and larger. You can generally only get 3 gear drives/station off suburban pressure, but if you have a rectangular backyard then these could suit. They are more expensive than the standard pop-up, but you will use fewer of them.
MP Rotators – These are nozzles that slot inside regular sprinkler bodies. They distribute water slowly and allow better penetration. They can also span large areas and an entire front lawn can often be done on one station because of their low water requirements. Their negative is that they are expensive and if you have a bore they will result in your pump running for longer.
Impact Sprinklers – these are the classic old ‘machine gun’ types that pump out a heap of water over a very long distance and have an adjustable arc. These aren’t pretty because they need to sit above surface level but they can cover a huge area so if you are tight on $$ and want to do the job cheaply one of these in each corner might just get you by.
This is the Brighton Reticulation Blog and our main site can be found here For service or advice with the issues in this post call Andrew on 0400044236, or email us here
Not sure how to set your control box and lost the manual?
Then just check this page and you may well find your box listed and them manual that is required.
This is the Brighton Reticulation Blog and our main site can be found here For service or advice with the issues in this post call Andrew on 0400044236, or email us hereSeems the water authority have been sending out their inspectors pre dawn and in the evening so if you are watering when you shouldn’t be then you might want to think twice. Its a hefty fine…
If you aren’t sure how to set your control then just give me a call.
This is the Brighton Reticulation Blog and our main site can be found here For service or advice with the issues in this post call Andrew on 0400044236, or email us here
I got a call to look at this retic system where the control box was displaying the ‘off power’ water droplet symbol. (see the left side of the display)
I wasn’t sure what it meant or how it got there and the manual didn’t mention it. A brief google search suggested it may be the box blowing a fuse and protecting itself against a faulty solenoid coil.
I called Scott at Total Eden and then he put me on to the tech heads at HR who weren’t totally sure either.
So I began to test it and discovered there was no voltage coming from any of the terminals. The fuse was intact and the battery was ok but the box just would not operate.
I attached a new control box as a test and it worked first time. The problem was in the box and whatever the source of the problem was, it had fried the whole box.
When the new one was installed I ran it thru the stations and it worked well on 1 & 2 but blew the fuse on station 3. Obviously this was the source of the previous problems and the coil needed replacing. As it turned out the whole solenoid was cactus and had to be replaced.
I repowered the Orbit box to see if the symbol might disappear but it was definitely a throwaway. So if you happen to see that symbol and your retic won’t work then chances are you will be looking for a new control box
This is the Brighton Reticulation Blog and our main site can be found here For service or advice with the issues in this post call Andrew on 0400044236, or email us here
So what’s the deal when your retic box if switched to off and a solenoid is still receiving an electrical signal and is stuck open?
Honestly I have no idea…
But its happened to me 3 times now and today I was able to resolve it.
The first two times were with Hunter EC 2 station control boxes and I couldn’t find a solution and ended up changing the box over. It was a faulty box, but this time I had another 3 terminals to test before doing a swap. On terminals 4 & 5 the solenoid stuck open (there was negilible voltage coming from the terminals (4V) but when I switched the wires to terminal 6 the problem went away.
I have no idea what was going on but on each occasion it has been a Hunter control box that has been the problem. Today was a brand new X Core.
So if you find a solenoid stuck open despite there being no voltage going to it maybe you’re not crazy. Maybe its the control box doing some crazy stuff
This is the Brighton Reticulation Blog and our main site can be found here For service or advice with the issues in this post call Andrew on 0400044236, or email us here
Yeah… that’s one of those questions that you can’t answer quite so easily…
The things to consider are:
- what is your water flow rate?
- what type of nozzle are you using?
- what type of sprinkler?
In most suburbs I work on around 30l/min flow rate but in places like Yanchep it can be as low as 18l/m or The Green in Butler it is around 22L/M.
From there you work out how many regular pop-ups you can fit on a line. For example a 12ft Toro pop-up nozzle with a 180 degree spray uses 4l/m, a 90 degree spray 2l/m and a whole spray 8l/m. However a 15 ft nozzle with increase water usage and a 10ft will decrease.
Then if you use MP Rotators you decrease water usage again but increase your spray distance…
So if you want to get it right then talk to someone who understands these variables or get a specification chart that can guide you in your planning. I have been to plenty of homes where the sprinklers are functioning poorly because the wrong kinds of sprinklers have been used.
This is the Brighton Reticulation Blog and our main site can be found here For service or advice with the issues in this post call Andrew on 0400044236, or email us here
Hope you enjoy a great Christmas as we celebrate the birth of Christ and the change he brought to this world.
We will be working over the Christmas to New Year period so if you hit some problems give us a call and chances are we will be able to get there and sort it out for you.
This is the Brighton Reticulation Blog and our main site can be found here For service or advice with the issues in this post call Andrew on 0400044236, or email us here
This is not a question with a simple answer, because the response depends on the type of sprinklers you are using and how they apply water.
The goal is to get 10ml of water to your lawn/garden each time they operate so different nozzles will require different run times. For example regular pop-ups can be run for around 12 minutes to apply 10mls.
Toro precision nozzles need to be left on for around 25 mins to get the same result. Then there are the MP Rotators which need 45-50 mins to deliver 10mls.
There are specs for each type of sprinkler available from the manufacturers or your retic guy can help you make sense of it. Here’s an example of how to find the answer. The chart shows that PGP needs to be on for 60 mins to apply 10ml.
The important thing is to remember that not all sprinklers deliver water at the same rate.
This is the Brighton Reticulation Blog and our main site can be found here For service or advice with the issues in this post call Andrew on 0400044236, or email us here
