Lawn Sprinkler Systems Since 1957
Spring Start Up Procedure
1) Make
Sure blow out valves (faucets) are turned
off.
There
is one in the house next to the main valve (this should have our BLUE tag on
it) and one outside next to the backflow preventer
2) Make
sure the controller is plugged in and set the controller to the OFF position
Do
this to verify that a zone is not be activated during the filling of the main
line
3) Turn the main
valve on very slow. If it is a ball valve
only open it a little. This ¼ turn valve. Only open it about 1/8 of a turn
until you hear water starting to flow. Leave it in this position until you hear
the water stop running. While it is filling it is a good time to go out side
and check for any main line leaks. First check the backflow preventer to make
sure it is not leaking. There are two ¼” little valves on the backflow
preventer that may be open. Close these if water is spraying out. You may need
to use a screw driver to close these ¼”
valves.
If water is gushing out
of the top of the backflow preventer shut both ball valves on the back flow
preventer. The water running will stop. Then open the first ball valve quickly.
The backflow preventer should seat. Open the second ball valve slowly to fill
the main line.
4) Once
the main line is full open the main valve all the way.
5) Go to the controller and turn on zone
1. So you don’t have to go back and forth to the controller you should use your
controller’s test cycle. If it has one. You could also set up a program that
you don’t use (like program c) to run each zone for 3 minutes per zone.
Remember to set up a weekly walk through cycle on a
different program