Your thoughts on drain valves?

[rvsuper]

I was thinking of and idea on saving time for more installs this fall instead of winterizations.

I was thinking that if you would put a boiler drain in the basement (right after POC), so you could drain the PVB to the basement, one after the PVB, one on the manifold, so it drains the manifold when you shut the main valve off. For the laterals, one drain valve after every valve, then one on the last head.


Good idea or should I stick to the "blow out" procedure?

[The Lawn Boy Pro]

When I installed ours, I used a 1" copper service line in the basement, and I installed a 1" drain valve. Instead of blow outs, I vacuum out from the basement.

[rvsuper]

WHAT???? You suck the entire system out with a vacuum? How big is the system? How big is the vacuum?

[DanaMac]

We always did a drain directly after the POC, on the copper ell as it 90s up the the PVB, and one in the manifold. And no drains after that. Most homeowners can't figure out how to drain that much, never mind 2-4 more drains on each zone. And I hate - absolutely hate- auto drains. Replaced 60 feet of 1.5" PVC pipe in a trench with 3 other pipes due to an auto drain not opening up.

Blow it out. You know all the water will be out because you can see it leaving. Not hoping that it drains or that the pipe is sloped properly to the drain.

Plus auto drains waste water by opening up after every cycle and draining all that water in a few concentrated areas.

[aquamtic]

Dana, Can you please explain how yand what you install on the manifold for drainage. I have a customer that insists on a self drain system and will take full respondsability if it fails. I would rather stay away from installing drains at the end of each zone line.

[BSME]

I got a new customer today who is just a know-it-all.... I fixed about 7 leaks... all on the lowest spot on the zone... I tried explaining to him he wasn't being winterized properly but he finally decided he knew what was wrong... he needs to fill his system up with antifreeze in the fall... I couldn't win an argument with him all day so I let him run with it... I definitely want to see how he does this

[Grassmechanic]

Originally posted by rvsuper
I was thinking of and idea on saving time for more installs this fall instead of winterizations.

I was thinking that if you would put a boiler drain in the basement (right after POC), so you could drain the PVB to the basement, one after the PVB, one on the manifold, so it drains the manifold when you shut the main valve off. For the laterals, one drain valve after every valve, then one on the last head.


Good idea or should I stick to the "blow out" procedure? boiler drain before the PVB will not pass inspections in most areas. It would become a concern for possible cross contamination. Automatic drains don't always function correctly. The best way to winterize is to blow the water out.

[DanaMac]

Aquamatic - here are a few photos of manual drains in manifolds I work on. Are you just unfamiliar with the auto drains? The auto drain could just be substitued for the manual drains in these photos.

[DanaMac]

Another manifold drain

[DanaMac]

And another drain

[DanaMac]

and the last one

[DanaMac]

If you are unsure of what an auto drain is, here is one screwed into a PVC ell that would go on the end of a manifold. Let me know if this helps.

[DanaMac]

OOps. One photo didn't ccome up

[Mdirrigation]

We wont use drains, you cant guarentee that the system wont freeze. Plus winterizations are a good part of our business.

[DanaMac]

Manifold drains are to drain out the PVB, manifold, mainline and any exposed above ground pipe. There is no way we could do 400 winterizations before the exposed pipes would freeze and crack. Pipes below ground will be insulated until early to mid December. But the above ground pipes and BPs can freeze in early October here. Manifold and mainline drains should be standard on most systems.

Lateral line drains I don't like though. Honestly I'm not a fan of auto drains at all. Some situations they are great though.

[aquamtic]

Dana, Thanks for the great information. I will be installing the manual drain on the manifold and auto drains at the end of each zone line. Again- No one around here uses them but in this case its what the customer wants.

[DanaMac]

aquamatic - one other thing. The red auto drain shown is designed for mainline or constant pressure. The same manufacturer (King) makes a white one for zone lines. The red ones are a little more expensive but you don't need as many as the others.

Glad to help.

[MOlawnman]

We have been using auto drains for quite some time now. We use the King or Harmony (same) drain. Works fine for us. We charge extra to install these. We only install these at customers request.

The main concern here is the freezing of the backflow. Here in Missouri we are not allowed to use PVB's only double checks and RPZ's. When we install a system with auto drains we still go out and winterize the backflow preventer. We still charge the same and are able to do many more in the same amount of time.

[greenworldh20]

drains in wire splice box???

wassup with that?

brian