Any hints for finding shorted valves?

[Mike Leary]

Wow! Florida sure has some opinions, all b.s. I might add.

[Mike Leary]

Originally Posted by jvanvliet

I am obviously in the presence of the g(note little g)od of irrigation. Many of us in south Florida inherit properties that have had the "local boys" or residents maintain their systems for years and only call when it's fubared.

Perhaps the 50X100 lots that you maintain make it easier to locate valves & faulty wiring and in less time than it takes to read this post. Unfortunately I have not had similar experiences on the 5 - 25+ acre common areas, some with installation as much as 30 years old and others installed by hacks, that are my bread and butter along with the residential homes utilizing the much dreaded indexing valves (no problem locating the valve here).

Without the benefit of your superhuman abilities, it has been difficult for me to trace wire that has been in the ground for that long in that short of a period of time, broken insulation and rigged in every way possible, the occasional lightning strike not being helpful either; but then I failed to contact you.

The 12-18" aluminum spike provided for grounding must be supernaturally enhanced for your applications, I have found that driving a good size grounding rod into the ground increases the performance exponentially, not necessarily 5 ft it just happens to be how long mine is, and if I can hammer it all the way down, I do, perhaps it is merely Freudian (see your Dickhunters guide for a definition).

Some of my accounts, The Ocean Club of Ocean Ridge, The Estates of Silver Lakes (boynton Beach) The City of Golf, French Villas of Lighthouse Point (Lighthouse Point) Grand Reserve (Coral Springs) Nautica (boynton beach) and others have not yet complained about the methodology I've employed in maintaining their irrigation systems, nor the time it has taken (on occasion) to locate field valves that have issues for a variety of reasons including landscape installation.

Nonetheless, I bow to your ability to speak a valve into existence via telephone in less time than it took to read & reply to my thread.

Perhaps I can find the answers in your "Dickhunters" guide... or is that just a hobby.

On another note, it is usually insecure people who build themselves up degrading and stepping on the shoulders of others.

I had hoped to have been offering something positive but now seem to have degenerated to your level.

Thank you for your input

That's as nasty of a post as I've ever seen in on the forum.

[1idejim]

Originally Posted by Waterlogged

I think I will hijack a little, I'm thinking about the TDR, but I have a question. In my area most of the houses I deal with will have multistrand coming from the controller to just outside the house and then switch to single strand 16#- 18#. Do I consider the short run of multistrand when telling the device the gauge size of wire I'm testing?
And Captain, do you mind telling me your price range on the TDR you bought? I have found some under $200. Thanks.

Originally Posted by S.O.Contracting

On the same note. What about the systems with a 14-16 gauge common with multi for the zone wires? Really think the TDR can be an amazing tool in a troubleshooting.

men, you can buy a TDR knowing that i don't receive any money for promoting the TDR's use in any way, shape or form.

i've spent a lot of time working with the TDR, gathering information and testing theory's because i believe in it's use.

here's a few pic's of different wire arrangements for s&g. these pics show the use of three different size and type of wire, the mid thirties readout was with the 1-18 ga. and 1-14 ga. tied together to loop the wire. short = loop

the sixties reading is with 1-18, 1-14 and an unknown ga. jump wire to make the loop........in the heat, with all of the wire exposed, the TDR readings will vary with the VOP but in the ground it doesn't seem to matter much.

once you start getting the feel of the TDR in your area, heat, cold, soils ect you should be able to adjust the TDR's VOP to fit you or as i do use it to narrow not pinpoint the valves and wires.

it's not as important to pinpoint the site as it is to get close enough that the valve finder, ground fault locator is used minimally.

[Kiril]

Jim,

You better be careful ..... you don't want to be labeled as an arrogant elitist for correcting members of this forum and presenting the correct information.

[1idejim]

Originally Posted by Kiril

Jim,

You better be careful ..... you don't want to be labeled as an arrogant elitist for correcting members of this forum and presenting the correct information.

i was hoping that nobody would figure me out for another 10,000 or so posts...............damn................i can't have nothin' nice...........

[Waterlogged]

Florida,

I really hope you're just having a bad day. But I'm a firm believer in how-you-do-anything-is-how-you-do-everything. So I guess this is how you really are.
Jim has done nothing but help people on this forum. The fact that he has let people call him to help them through their situations on jobs shows his true selflessness. I feel your post was uncalled for. I agree with Mike Leary.

You do realize what you wrote right before this sentence, right?
"On another note, it is usually insecure people who build themselves up degrading and stepping on the shoulders of others."

[Waterlogged]

1idejim
Thanks for the info.One day you will have something nice

[Mike Leary]

Anyone that badmouths Jim will have to go through me first; after I sick this bad girl on them.

[1idejim]

[QUOTE=Waterlogged;3673346]1idejim
Thanks for the info.One day you will have something nice [/QUOTE


thanks, but if i do, somebody'll take it or break it

[Kiril]

Originally Posted by 1idejim

i was hoping that nobody would figure me out for another 10,000 or so posts...............damn................i can't have nothin' nice...........

You leper .... you shall be cast out of the irrigation guild if you continue to display any type of intelligence beyond that which the majority possesses.