Head diffusers need to be screwed in a touch.

 

Same up here in Grand Rapids.
@Crazy 4 grass nailed it.
Right by head gets water. Then it pushes out the stream and leaves a dry area. Diffuser will cause it to mist in that no-man's land.

 

The green area by each head actually isn't coming from itself, its coming from the adjacent heads. Properly spaced heads will have head to head coverage. Heads can't water close in to themselves and they rely on the heads next to them to water them.

If the diffuser screw isn't screwed in enough the bulk of each heads water will get thrown out to the perimeter of its radius, which is where the other heads are. All heads throwing to much water to each other and not enough diffused into the middle of each arc. Thus the brown you see.

An over correction will result in brown areas around the heads as water won't be traveling far enough to hit them.

Hope this made sense.

 

The green area by each head actually isn't coming from itself, its coming from the adjacent heads. Properly spaced heads will have head to head coverage. Heads can't water close in to themselves and they rely on the heads next to them to water them.

If the diffuser screw isn't screwed in enough the bulk of each heads water will get thrown out to the perimeter of its radius, which is where the other heads are. All heads throwing to much water to each other and not enough diffused into the middle of each arc. Thus the brown you see.

An over correction will result in brown areas around the heads as water won't be traveling far enough to hit them.

Hope this made sense.

It does. And it seems we have damn idiots around here for sprinkler companies. Several of my customers have had these guys out to adjust heads and they never seem to get it right. Jeesh.

 

Yea its unfortunate that lots of people don't really know what they are doing even within their own profession.

Perhaps pass my suggestion on to these homeowners. Anyone can screw a screw in a touch.

 

Yea its unfortunate that lots of people don't really know what they are doing even within their own profession.

Perhaps pass my suggestion on to these homeowners. Anyone can screw a screw in a touch.

Would you have a picture of a head and what needs to be 'screwed in'? A few of my customers would probably take on this task if they knew exactly what to look for.

 

I'll post a pic in a bit

 

Here are a couple pics off the internet

 

The screw is that little metal screw in the blue nozzle. As you screw it clockwise it goes lower and blocks the stream of water a little bit, diffusing it and spreading it out.

 

 

Every hunter head comes with this little adjustment tool. They are easy to come by

 

How to video

 

I've seen this in the past when the Static water pressure was lowered....Hope you get it figured out DA.

 

I believe you misinterpreted my post. I am not suggesting turning the diffuser screw down to enable a head to water close in to itself.

I am suggesting turning the diffuser screw down to lessen the amount of water thrown from one head onto the next and disperse more of it into the middle area between the two heads.

The OP complains of in close to the heads already being too green. The heads most likely aren't doing this to themselves, its the adjacent heads causing it. This is most likely caused by not enough water thrown into the middle of the arc and too much out to the end of the arc landing on the adjacent heads.

You raise many other possibilities of what could possibly cause the issue, and I don't disagree. Certainly there could be other issues. Lack of pressure being one of them. The nozzles can't distribute water evenly underpressured.

I do agree that a properly set up system should not require diffuser adjustments.

That said, often times screwing the diffuser down a touch will solve the issue the OP described. And at the end of the day most clients just want green grass and don't really care how it happens.

I appreciate you taking the time to get into the more technical side of this and even to correct me if I'm wrong. I'm more interested in continuing to learn than needing to be right.

 

Try to get out of that mindset that turning the nozzle down is the fix. I'm not here to be 'right' Your responses are simply inaccurate , even back to me I can dissect every paragraph to redirect you to an opposite way of thinking, the actual way it works instead of what you have created an answer to be ( As plausible as it may sound) The customer doesn't care how it works, but we as professionals should. There is a much bigger picture that is going on, and simple math and design corrections will fix this. Instead of causing improper DU to resolve it.

I do agree with your statement- The highest probable chance with his situation is lack of proper scheduling based on the current ET

 

All that said... seeing as the OP has noticed this at 20 different properties, it is unlikely they all suddenly developed problems.

Most likely they are simply just under watering.

 

All that said... seeing as the OP has noticed this at 20 different properties, it is unlikely they all suddenly developed problems.

Most likely they are simply just under watering.

Yep. Irrigation system should be putting down .5" water per run. Only way to accurately gauge this is by using a 'wide mouth' rain gauge to measure how much water is actually getting put down. My personal system takes 90 minutes on 180 degree rotating heads (Hunter) to put down .5". A customer within two miles of me has same Hunter system and her's puts down .5" in 30 minutes. HUGE DIFFERENCE. I watched her system and man does her area have water pressure!

Here is an example of a good/cheap 'wide mouth' rain gauge: https://www.amazon.com/Brannan-Sons-Ltd-Sprinkler-Gauge/dp/B002Q06HI6/ref=sr_1_68?crid=1RBASVB7H5YHK&keywords=rain+gauge&qid=1688817099&sprefix=rain+gauge,aps,215&sr=8-68

 

First thing to do is find out what their watering schedule is and go from there. It could very well be a case of just underwatering.

 

Using multiple catching containers is the best route.

 

Really…how many? What’s the spacing?

 

The more the better

 

Yes this is partially on the homeowners. But when spr co. is called and comes out and system still not performing, then it's on them too.

 

Bull..

1) Functionality & operation- Broken Heads, Pipes, Zones operational
2) Small improvements/coverage- Nozzle Changes, Heads raised to clear foilage growth.
3) Efficiency- Proper Design, Microclimate, Hydrozoning- Taking special care of every existing sprinkler head out there- Proper nozzling, Reangling, raising , lowering dealing withing every nature aspect out there.

You think that can be accomplished on a basic season 1-2 hour start up or maintaince trip? Nope. I can't provide 20-40 hours to make a pitch perfect system on a basic 4-10k square foot household to fix all the issues within the small amount of time I have. As I much I wish I could fix everything out there, not everyone is on board for a $6k of repairs due to crummy design. And I don't have the time to write up bids for every house like this. I have to prioritize on the biggest things within my time. There is NO GOOD Irrigation company out there that can randomly within the season to take care of massive system improvements like this.

Just like the person calling the AC guy @ 100 degrees and the heater guy @ 14 degrees out. This is the Homeowner, for their lack of care of THERE property

Yesterday - I had a 80 year lady get so mad at me for giving her a ( System wide) renovation of $800 to take care of all of the concerns she showed me. Ie- Lawn is Dry and the issue is the sprinkler head is being blocked by a bush. She simply didn't understand why roughly (50) - 5-10 min projects to make improvements to the entireity of the system would cost that much.. I CAN'T fix that while she is showing me every concern of hers.

 

I'm not letting homeowners off easy
....most are horribly ignorant when it comes to their lawn and irrigation system. But the way some of their lawns look, like a Dalmation dog, there was some piss poor design there or careless maint work. More than half of people's lawns are burnt up. Drought or no, that's not good at any level.

 

I'm sorry for coming off a bit aggressively... Truth is.. I'm the crazy sprinkler guy who takes care all the backround noise crap most anyone else would never notice... I get .. upset... but more to the point of wanting to push knowledge to others about proper ways.. * Help me Help you * Which is why I stated those things to 'crazy 4 grass' , ..... You have every right to say that about sprinkler guys, most can't add 1 +1 =2 and 2-1 = 1. Which is all I'm looking for... Someone who can comprehend basic needs to clients and simple math

 

OK sprinkler install/maint guys, got one for you. We are in a moderate drought up here in SE MN. Nearly all lawns look like total garbage, even irrigated ones.
I have 20-25 lawns that I mow which are irrigated and have this halo effect around some of the sprinkler heads. The grass immediately around the sprinkler head (say radius of 5 ft or so) is completely green and healthy and is obviously getting ample water. However, a 'donut' around the head, from 5ft radius to like 20 ft radius, the lawn is brown, struggling, and not doing nearly as well. I'm seeing this all over my irrigated lawns and its frustrating as there is no reason irrigated lawns should look like that, even in a drought IMO.

Are these donuts just irrigation system fails i.e. heads and system need a tune up? Or is something else turf science related happening. Thx!

The head is leaking. Needs to be replaced. They leak around the wiper seal and pump out more water right around it

 

20-25 different accounts, multiple heads per account?

Seems to be a fairly large coincidence.

 

Not a pro in your guy's arena, but figured I'd chime in. As far as water pressure being too low in certain locales, don't irrigation systems have pressure regulators (reducers) inline?
I'm asking out of curiosity- but if so do they regulate down to an absolute pressure value or lower the existing pressure by some percentage? In the latter case the homeowners would be subject to variations in their city's water pressure. In the first case it seems like the heads were maladjusted and only noticed under the stress of a drought.