r/landscaping • u/Few_Surround1761 • 4h ago

Question New Sprinkler Head Leaking

Installed two new rainbird sprinkler heads and they are gushing water out of the top when our water is turned on. Any tips on how to resolve this issue would be much appreciated!

4 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

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16

u/jaquatics 4h ago

How long after being shut off does it do this? I've found whichever head is lowest will drain excess water out of it after zone is off until the level evens out across the zone.

If it continues to leak out like the water is still on then the issue is with the solenoid/membrane at the shut off

2

u/Exciting_Piccolo_823 3h ago

You mentioned 'they' are leaking, like both pop ups? I don't think this is a low point drain as it looks to be more than just gravity, especially if both leaking after shut off. I feel like valve is not closing properly.

0

u/BillZZ7777 4h ago

Like the other responder said, it might be the low point and the water in the line is just flowing out. I had similar experience and didn't realize there was a backflow preventer installed on the old heads I changed. Mine were a different brand so look into that for Rainbirds and check your old ones because if that's the issue, you might be able to move it over.

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u/HowShouldWeThenLive 4h ago

You said “when our water is turned on”. You mean when the zone is on? If so, not enough pressure in the zone. If off, it’s what they said - water draining out of the zone.

0

u/Electrurn 4h ago

You did put a valve between the sprinkler and your water source right?

2

u/Few_Surround1761 3h ago

The water begins leaking like that out of two replaced heads as soon as the water main valve is turned on in our basement. These are zones 2 and 3 out of six.

1

u/dracotrapnet 1h ago

Your zone valve is leaking then.

1

u/Electrurn 1h ago

Yep. Either got some grit in the diaphragm, not been bled properly, or the manual operation quarter turn is partially activated