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Does it make sense that a fence was or will be there?
I've seen that before where a fence was removed and two quarter pattern sprays or rotors were left behind. It this case I didn't see any reason nor evidence that a fence had been there.

I would like to ask the installer what his design reasons were-if I could ever find him. The new client said he used him for years and all of a sudden he simply vanished off the face of the earth.

These are the contractors that leave the public with a dim view of people in our green trades.
 
I’m guilty of a sorta similar hack. For some reason an original installer didn’t install a rotor in a corner, instead putting one of the rotors along one line about 10’ away (ran out of pipe? Idunno — inexplicable). The rotor along the other line of the corner was a more sensible 30’ or so. A chunk of that 10’ pie slice went brown in Summer and was in a “high visibility” area of the overall property. Plus the rotor 10’ in from the corner could never be adjusted to get some water on the corner without watering a big chunk of the neighbor’s yard.

So, yup, I added a rotor in the corner, adjusted the one 10’ in to miss the neighbor and moved on. Alternative would have been to redesign a big chunk of the whole zone — not on the menu. The resulting pattern was a bizarre hack for sure but it “solved” the issue. Some day someone else will scratch their heads and boggle why those two rotors are 10’ apart :confused:.
 
When you realize you're 'the last guy': One thing that's easy to forget: when you get a cold call and you hear,"all my plants are flooding and my turf is stressing" (or vice versa), you think, 'big deal. the clock needs adjusting, 1 hour service call.' THEN, you realize that the original design was well done; the client and the 'landscaper' had changed plants, changed bed edges and screwed the whole thing up. I learned, after a while, to be REAL SUSPECT when I saw PGPs on 12" risers 'blanket watering' turf & plantings. You have a 50/50 chance of having them cop to the problem, or calling you a rip-off. I always drove fresh 'inspection trucks' that started-up right away..........up the driveway!
 
When you realize you're 'the last guy': One thing that's easy to forget: when you get a cold call and you hear,"all my plants are flooding and my turf is stressing" (or vice versa), you think, 'big deal. the clock needs adjusting, 1 hour service call.' THEN, you realize that the original design was well done; the client and the 'landscaper' had changed plants, changed bed edges and screwed the whole thing up. I learned, after a while, to be REAL SUSPECT when I saw PGPs on 12" risers 'blanket watering' turf & plantings. You have a 50/50 chance of having them cop to the problem, or calling you a rip-off. I always drove fresh 'inspection trucks' that started-up right away..........up the driveway!
Lightbulb just lit. I see your point. :nod:
 
Not a hack job, necessarily, but didn't know where else to post.
Got called to a home for sale for a "couple of broken heads". Realtor sent me the home inspection report that read "zone 3 did not respond from the controller and zone 5 heads did not fully come up." Zone 3 didn't have anything connected in the controller but zone 5 sure didn't want to come up, just as the report said. We have done work in this area and we are actually doing a few installs about 1/4 mile from this property; water pressure is terrible over here. The pics of the brick are from the house I was working on. Dynamic pressure and head pressure. Next pics are static and dynamic at the neighbor's house who was gracious enough to let me hook up the pressure gauge and kick on the front zone. He said that pressure was ok when they first built but as there have been more houses built in the neighborhood the pressure has just gotten worse and worse.

Brown Wood Gauge Brick Brickwork


Water Automotive tire Gauge Wood Clock


Gauge Measuring instrument Gas Auto part Font


Watch Clock Measuring instrument Gas Font
 
That's pretty lame. On the other end of the spectrum, a few weeks back I got called to a place by the landscaper who does basic maintainance on the systems for the property's he works on. When things get complicated or needs install work he calls me. This house in particular is a 2 year old spec house that the 100 psi poly main keeps getting pin hole leaks. The owner was blaming my buddy for not winterizing and wanted the main replaced. The first thing I did was put a 100 psi gauge on it and it got pinned against the stop. Turns out the place is 1/2 mile from the county pump station.
Eye Leaf Automotive tire Wood Gas
 
That's pretty lame. On the other end of the spectrum, a few weeks back I got called to a place by the landscaper who does basic maintainance on the systems for the property's he works on. When things get complicated or needs install work he calls me. This house in particular is a 2 year old spec house that the 100 psi poly main keeps getting pin hole leaks. The owner was blaming my buddy for not winterizing and wanted the main replaced. The first thing I did was put a 100 psi gauge on it and it got pinned against the stop. Turns out the place is 1/2 mile from the county pump station.
View attachment 371507
I've never had even close to that problem. We have maybe 1 or 2 neighborhoods where pressure is above 70psi, but mostly <55psi static.
 
Not a hack job, necessarily, but didn't know where else to post.
Got called to a home for sale for a "couple of broken heads". Realtor sent me the home inspection report that read "zone 3 did not respond from the controller and zone 5 heads did not fully come up." Zone 3 didn't have anything connected in the controller but zone 5 sure didn't want to come up, just as the report said. We have done work in this area and we are actually doing a few installs about 1/4 mile from this property; water pressure is terrible over here. The pics of the brick are from the house I was working on. Dynamic pressure and head pressure. Next pics are static and dynamic at the neighbor's house who was gracious enough to let me hook up the pressure gauge and kick on the front zone. He said that pressure was ok when they first built but as there have been more houses built in the neighborhood the pressure has just gotten worse and worse.

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That's crazy low .

Time to toro precision it up with 1.5x extra run time to compensate
 
I've never had even close to that problem. We have maybe 1 or 2 neighborhoods where pressure is above 70psi, but mostly <55psi static.
In North Jersey I deal with many areas where the psi exceeds 100. Some areas it's 140-160. Pressure reducers and/or pressure compensating heads are a must in these situations as the high pressure distorts the distribution and the PR.

Years ago when impacts were regularly in use if you didn't limit the pressure some of them would slap themselves silly and stop rotating.

Bringing the psi into a more optimum operating range conserves water better than most strategies (other than proper design of course!).
 
We installed one a few years ago that the static pressure drops better than 20psi between winter and summer. When we looked at the job in late fall the pressure was about 60psi, installed in the winter with similar pressure and everything worked great when we finished. Started the system up in early May and everything was still good, come June the heads won’t seal. Go out there to check it out, city water pressure dropped to about 40 static and mid 20s at 5-6gpm.
 
A lot of housing developments have a pressure problem after many houses are built and no one thought of the drop incurred. What we did, was buy a 'Data Logger' and hook it into our flow sensor and pressure gauge. We charted a 24 hour period and were able to tell exactly what time of night the pressure was highest and adjust the clock accordingly. Spendy? Yup, but it's the difference between a operating system and standing there with one's zipper open! www.dicksondata.com
 
Sure hope you also saw a pressure regulator with that 177 psi. Many things are pressure rated to 150 psi. kaboom! :popcorn:
It was several years back when I was getting into accoustic leak detection . This house sprinkler system had leak after leak !! Within my few return visits I found like 6 or 7 leaks wether it was a leaky valve or coupler somewhere in the middle of the main . I finally tested the pressure. . It was that job that changed my procedure and now testing pressure is one of the first things I do .
 
My neighbors well head is about 50' from my back porch, normally I can't hear it, was sitting outside a month ago smoking a cigar and I hear water blasting for 20 minutes... decide to go investigate, we shut the pump off and pulled it.

One of the very established well companies in our area installed a new pump for them last year. They put the brass tee with a electrical conduit plug that had stripped threads. Then then taped it on for good measure. Mind you they ran new pex to both sides of the tee and it was completely unnecessary for it to be there in the first place.

I called the well company and explained this was the most pathetic attempt at contracting I had ever seen. The office lady tried to tell me that maybe the client didn't want to pay for the additional part. I explained to the office lady that if the client just paid for a new well pump for their 500k house.... im pretty sure they would be willing to put in a $2 pvc fitting.

This wasn't stupid I think it was unethical and a way to get a call back for a "$700 repair"
Plant Grass Twig Pipe Slope
Grass Bicycle handlebar Bicycle part Wire Bicycle accessory
Plant Grass Twig Pipe Slope
 
My neighbors well head is about 50' from my back porch, normally I can't hear it, was sitting outside a month ago smoking a cigar and I hear water blasting for 20 minutes... decide to go investigate, we shut the pump off and pulled it.

One of the very established well companies in our area installed a new pump for them last year. They put the brass tee with a electrical conduit plug that had stripped threads. Then then taped it on for good measure. Mind you they ran new pex to both sides of the tee and it was completely unnecessary for it to be there in the first place.

I called the well company and explained this was the most pathetic attempt at contracting I had ever seen. The office lady tried to tell me that maybe the client didn't want to pay for the additional part. I explained to the office lady that if the client just paid for a new well pump for their 500k house.... im pretty sure they would be willing to put in a $2 pvc fitting.

This wasn't stupid I think it was unethical and a way to get a call back for a "$700 repair"
View attachment 371715 View attachment 371716 View attachment 371715
Classic case of using what's on the truck.
 
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