Reticulation & Turf in Perth

Posted on 30th March 2012 in General, Installations

I regularly get calls from all over the city – often south of the river.

As a rule we will not work south of the river as it gets too difficult to honour our warranties when a job is too far away. Recently I have returned to several jobs where the problem was apparently my worksmanship, but in reality it has been user error or another issue altogether. When its a local job I’m happy to come back and make sure all is well, but that becomes problematic and costly with greater distance.

At Brighton Retic and Turf we take our warranties seriously and know that service once the job is completed is as important as doing a good job the first time round. For that reason we prefer to work in the far northern suburbs of Perth, but we will work as far south as Trigg/Scarborough.

 

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
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Orbit Controllers ‘Off Power’ symbol

Posted on 15th January 2012 in Controllers, solenoids, wiring

 

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
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A Shared Bore?

Posted on 1st October 2011 in bore, Never Seen That One Before

So you’re considering getting a bore…

Personally I think that’s a great idea as it reduces the amount of scheme water spread across lawns and gardens, will save you money in water bills and is also a capital investment.

If you’re going that route then you may like to consider a shared bore. This is an arrangement by which 2 or 3 neighbours on adjacent properties access the same bore, but pay for their own running costs.

I haven’t seen too many of these around to know how successful they are, but my guess is they would need to be undergirded by a fairly concrete written agreement as to what happened when the thing broke down. I can see the potential for the equivalent of a fence dispute to arise with this issue.

However if everyone is amicable it could also be a good cost saving way of watering the garden for all parties.

By the way if you ask me to come and service your retic and you’re operating it from a shared bore then be sure to let me know. I arrived to do a basic service on a property last week not realising it was a shared bore. I turned the system on but got no water – not realising that the other partner on whose property the bore control was located had tuned it off!

The control box was still wired up to run a master valve so I figured this must be the problem. After locating the master valve and seeing it was operating ok I noticed the ball valve had been turned to off. Strange…

But I got the system up and running only to hear it losing water somewhere… That somewhere was thru a 25ml pipe to the neighbour’s property. Had the neighbour ‘hacked into’ my customer’s retic?…

It was only after I had cut the pipe and capped it that it dawned on me what was going on.

It was a shared bore and the mains ball valve had been turned off because of that.

All’s well that ends well, but it did end up costing more time and money than either of us had expected.

 

 

 

 

 

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
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Annual Sprinkler Service

Posted on 24th August 2011 in Repairs

 

Believe it or not winter is almost over!

And with that you will be able to turn your sprinklers back on. As the warmer weather approaches its imperative that your sprinklers are working correctly and that they are covering the areas they are intended to.

Brighton Retic and Turf has an Annual Sprinkler Service for only $79.00-$99.00 inc GST

For that price we will check all stations and replace up to 3 regular pop-up nozzles and 3 microsprays or drippers (5 & 5 on 7-9 station properties). We will set your controller and ensure the battery is replaced. This service includes up to 30 mins of labour. For properties with 6 stations or less the charge is $79.00 and for those with 7-9 stations the $99.00 charge applies. if you live in the northern suburbs then just call us on 0400044236 to make an appointment.

If more work is required or nozzles other than regular pop-ups then extra charges will be applied as appropriate at the regular rate.

Call now and avoid the spring rush!

 

 

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
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Bargain Prices on Retic and Turf

Posted on 3rd August 2011 in Local Knowledge

 

 

August is the quiet month for people in the retic and turf industry so if you are wanting work done and seeking the best price then this is the time to be getting quotes.

Be aware that in just a month or two’s time the rush will be back on and prices will rise again.

For a free quote on your needs just drop me a line or give me a call today

 

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
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Why You Need a Master Valve on Your Reticulation

Posted on 2nd June 2011 in Installations, Repairs, What's Going on There?

 

Not every reticulation system in Perth has a master valve and that’s not such a good thing.

 

Here’s why it matters:

 

The master valve exists essentially to prevent you from losing water if any of your station solenoids leak. It is screwed directly onto the dual check valve / cut in tap.

 

Each time you run your reticulation you are actually opening 2 solenoid valves – the master AND the station valve.  Should you develop a leak in your solenoid at station 1 (for example) then it will not leak continually so long as your MV is functioning.

 

Occasionally people ring me and tell me that their retic is leaking continually and they can’t locate the cause. The first thing I check is whether there is a master valve installed. The easiest way to check this is to go to the control box and see whether there is a wire in MV/Pump terminal. If there is then you do have a master valve.  If not then you don’t.

 

A lot of older houses bypassed this part and while its not critical it does protect you against unnecessary water loss. It is possible to retrofit a master valve and might even be quite easy depending on the location of your ball valve for isolating your retic (usually by your water meter)

 

Essentially what would need to be done is

a) locate the cut in tap

b) install the MV onto it

c) wire it back to the 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
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Cleaning a Microspray Jet

Posted on 24th May 2011 in Garden beds, Ideas, What's Going on There?

If you use microsprays in your garden beds then they will get blocked.

Its inevitable as they have very small openings and it only takes a little grit or dirt to clog them up.

 

 

The fix is easy. Just unscrew the nozzle, get a needleor piece of wire and use the needle to clean the jet out. If you push it through the hole then you will remove the blockage and can then keep using the nozzle.

Alternatively you can just buy a new nozzle for around $1.00!

 

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
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Water Conservation and Reticulation

Posted on 9th May 2011 in Drip Irrigation, Ideas, Installations, Installing

A regular request is for us to create  a system that does not have any water spraying onto the path/road etc.

 

This is pretty tricky in lawn areas but much easier in garden beds.  In lawn areas the sprays span significant distances and while we do our best to avoid overspray it is important to have a little to allow for shifts in wind direction. Obviously its crazy to have water spraying directly on the road, but a little overspray is considered acceptable.

 

In garden beds it is easier to prevent this as miniscape and staked adjustable drippers allow for very specific watering.  Miniscape is the subsoil drip system that is placed under mulch and releases water very slowly to the desired areas. If you aren’t a fan of miniscape (and many people aren’t) then you may prefer the staked adjustable drippers.

 

 

The drippers are attached to flexible 4ml tubing and plugged into the main 19ml poly line. In general you can have up to 70 drippers on one line and still be effective.

 

Personally I like drippers better than miniscape, as it is easier to see how they are working, but the cost is not significantly different if that is the main issue 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
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How Much Does a Retic Service Cost?

Posted on 9th May 2011 in Repairs

 

That’s a tricky question as it depends on the condition of your system.

 

At the start of spring we do a ‘special’ of $75.00 inc GST that includes 30 mins of labour, 3 pop-up nozzles and 3 microsprays. Extra labour beyond 30 mins and extra parts would incur an extra charge.

 

If its in reasonable condition,but has a few blocked nozzles and one or two dodgy sprinklers then you can expect a fee of around $120.00-$200.00 inc GST.

 

Usually we can give you some idea of cost before we start so you don’t need to worry about an unexpected bill.

 

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
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Retic Repairs in Perth

Posted on 6th May 2011 in Ideas, Installations, Installing, Repairs

At Brighton Reticulation we offer top quality work at excellent prices.

We work on the ‘extra mile’ service philosophy preferring to do more than is required rather than less so that our customers are always satisfied with the finished job.

You can check out our service rates on our main site where you will also be able to see pictures of the different kinds of work we have done.

It is our goal to provide you with such excellent service that you will refer us to your friends and choose to use us again should there be another problem. If for some reason you are not satisfied with our work then we are always willing to listen and address any issues that require fixing.

So if you’re tired of unreliable tradespeople who don’t turn up on time or who do shoddy work then we want to change that experience 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
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