My Hunter X Core Controller Won’t Work on Manual

Posted on 12th January 2013 in Controllers, Never Seen That One Before

 

x core

 

If you have a Hunter X Core Controller and it doesn’t come on as it should when operating manually the you could have a dodgy switch issue.

Normally to run an individual station you turn the dial anti-clockwise to the ‘run single station’ indicator, then select the station an return the dial to auto-run.

If it doesn’t come on (and you will know its on by the presence of a little sprinkler symbol) then you may need to jiggle the switch a bit and see if you can get it to fire up.

Usually if this is a problem then the dial will not move between the various modes easily. Unfortunately the only solution is to get anew control box as the dial and switches are a complete unit

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Forgotten to Put Conduit Under Your Driveway?

Posted on 3rd September 2012 in Installations, Never Seen That One Before

It does happen occasionally…

I am currently trying to help some people find a way to get pipe under an 8 m wide driveway with access from one side only.  It is proving difficult.

With access from both sides you can clear a path, but meet in the middle but with access from just one side it is much more difficult.

I have managed to plunk 5m in, but after that it just gets stuck and with poor water pressure we are struggling to keep the pipe moving. Plunking is normally pretty straight forward but it helps if you have good water pressure and can come at the driveway from both sides.

I explored some options today, one of which was the ‘bullet-mole‘, a piece of steel you smack thru with a sledgehammer. It looks like a great option, but unfortunately it can only go 6m and I need one that can do 8… but it does look like a great option for people who have narrower driveways and are needing to get thru.

The other option seems to be compressed air. I haven’t done this before so I’m reluctant to try it unless I am sure it will work, but it seems this may be where we land up.

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Reticulation in Jindowie with Poor Water Pressure

Posted on 31st May 2012 in Local Knowledge, Never Seen That One Before, solenoids

 

This morning I laid the main retic line for a client in Jindowie (a part of Yanchep). I’ve written before about water pressure issues in this part of the world and today we hit the same problem again.

I use Richdel solenoids 99% of the time, but today they wouldn’t seal. They need a certain amount of backpressure and the water being what it is up here I just couldn’t get them to work.

I changed them for Hunter PGVs and they worked fine. I’m not sure why Hunters will operate with the lower pressure, but they seem to be the answer when the Richdels fail.

Lucky I had 4 onboard to subsititute!

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What Does it Cost to Install Reticulation?

Posted on 16th March 2012 in Installations, Installing, sprinklers

We offer some general guidelines on our home page here, but the truth is it can vary considerably depending on the type of soil we need to dig in, the ease of accessibility and the simplicty or otherwise of the job. A new house is fairly easy to give an estimate for and we suggest that typical costs to expect are:

  • Retic cut in by licensed plumber $180.00 + GST
  • Hardwiring of controller $160.00 + GST
  • Wireless rain sensor (only compulsory if you wish to get a lawn watering exemption) $150.00 + GST
  • Electronic Controller $200.00-$400.00 + GST (depending on what is chosen)
  • Installation / pipes / sprinklers etc see below

To give you an idea of what to expect a very rough ball park figure for a 4 x 2 home on a 600m block with 5 or 6 stations is usually around $2600.00 + GST including plumber and sparkie. These prices do vary with the seasons so if you ‘need it done now’ over summer chances are that with any retic business you will pay a premium. If you can wait until winter then you will probably save 10-20%.

A front install on this kind of home would be around $1500.00 + GST and a rear install usually around $1100.00 + GST.

If your home is established and we need to dig through grass, tree roots and flower beds then we will charge extra for that, but a straightforward installation is usually in the ballpark of the prices above.

But the best way to go is to get in touch and we can then meet up onsite, walk thru the plans and get a clear picture from there.

 

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Controller Manuals

Posted on 24th January 2012 in Controllers, Installations, Local Knowledge, Products

 

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.

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The Sprinkler Police Will Get You

Posted on 24th January 2012 in Controllers, Local Knowledge

Seems 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.

Here’s the story

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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

 

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Yanchep Capricorn Estate Reticulation

Posted on 23rd November 2011 in Installations, Installing, Never Seen That One Before, solenoids, What's Going on There?

I don’t know how many people have checked their water pressure in the Capricorn estate in Yanchep, but after working on a job today I was shocked at how poor the water pressure is.

In a backyard of 5m x 11m we would normally use one station of MP Rotators evenly spaced and have heaps of water pressure to spare, but today we needed 3 separate stations of Toro precision nozzles for that one small area. That’s the only option when the pressure is lousy and the flow rate is 10l/min. We tried putting 3 MP 2000′s on a line but there wasn’t enough grunt to make then get up.

The bigger drama was that the solenoids refused to seal because of the ultra-low pressure. We tried about 15 different Richdels and none of them would seal and ended up having to head down to the shop and grab some Hunters. Solenoids need a certain amount of water pressure to create the seal and this was so low that we couldn’t get that seal. It was almost a give up and call it a day scenario.

Persistence and a very gracious client made a hot, windy, difficult day a much better experience than it could have been. So if you live in Capricorn I’d be interested to hear if you have also had water pressure problems. I was due to do another backyard install in Capricorn tomorrow, but I have postponed it until we can find a way around these nasty water pressure issues.

 

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How to Cut PVC Pipe (Easily)

Posted on 1st June 2011 in Ideas, Products, Tools

You can use the good ole hacksaw, but there is a better way.

The hacksaw leaves burred edges and can be unwieldy, but a good set of PVC cutters will slice thru PVC and black poly easily and give a clean cut every time.

They last for ages and you can pick up a pair at any retic shop. Most cutters suit up to 25ml pipe, but you can get some that will do up to 40ml pipe also.

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Which One is the Common Wire to My Reticulation Solenoids?

Posted on 27th May 2011 in Local Knowledge, Never Seen That One Before, What's Going on There?

 

Sometimes you find yourself working on a job where the original installer decided to save money by simply using the same colour wire all around. Its ‘black’ wire to the master, the stations and the common rather than the multi-core version pictured above.

What happens though if your dog rips up all the rear solenoids and you are simply left with 4 black wires poking out of the ground? How do you work out which one is common and which ones are power?

Option A is trial and error and with just 4 wires the permutations aren’t too bad to have a chance of getting it right. But a smarter option is this:

a) Get a mate to help.

b) Run a new strand of wire directly from the contoller common terminal to the rear where the broken wires are. It might mean you need 30 m of wire.

c) Connect the new common wire to the common probe on your multimeter which you have turned on to <200V.

d) Have your friend stand at the control box and turn on each station in turn. Connect the positive probe from your multimeter to the other wires in turn. When you get 25 V or thereabouts then you know it is a power wire.

e) The one wire that produces no response is then the common.

Simple hey?…

 

 

 

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