Sprinkler Repair FAQs

Signs of a leak in your sprinkler system may include water pooling in certain areas, sprinkler heads not popping up all the way in one zone or higher than usual water bills. 

Check your water meter to see if you have a continuous leak. If you do, the meter will display that water is running even if you have everything turned off. Then it's a matter of determining whether the leak is in the house or the yard. If no continuous leak, then increased water use is may be due to a broken sprinkler head or drip irrigation part that allows much more water to pass through a zone than usual, when that zone is running. 

If you find a leak in one zone of your sprinkler system, you should turn off that zone by setting its run time to 0 minutes. Then decide if you want to give the repair a try yourself, ask your gardener, or call us.  

If you find a constantly wet spot near your valves, there may not be a problem. After each zone runs, some water may drip out of the valve for a few minutes. If a valve drips constantly (24/7), or if the soil around the valves appears wet all the time then give us a call. We'll figure out if there is a valve problem (which is often easily fixed) or possibly a pinhole leak in the pipes below the valves (not so easy). 

IN some cases, yes. We recommend giving it a try because replacing a galvanized system is expensive. Our philosophy is to get the most life out of your existing system.

Hint: Its not the timer!

If you get up in the morning and you discover a sprinkler is running and won't stop, you should turn off the water to the sprinkler system and contact Smart Sprinkler Repair to have it repaired.

Many homes have a water shut off valve just for the sprinkler system, and if you do have one it will usually be located at the front of the house where the water main comes in from the street. Second most likely place would be near the sprinkler valves.

If your home does not have a separate shut off valve for the sprinkler system, rather than shut off the water to your entire home, try this: If you know where your sprinklers are located, put your hand on each valve in turn to find which is vibrating, a sign that water is flowing through it. Then, if it has a knob in the center of the valve, turn that off (right). Not all valves have a volume adjustment knob, so this will work for most but not all valves. This will keep this valve from opening and your yard will go dry, so give us a call so that we can repair it.

Valves may look old and still have years of life in them. We recommend rebuilding any valve that leaks or fails and replace any valve for which there are no longer replacement parts. 

There may be a loose wire, bad solenoid (the electrical component of each valve that responds to the signal from the timer), or possibly the volume control on the valve has been turned off. There are also some very small channels for water to pass through inside each valve that are subject to being clogged. 

You have a leaking valve. Sprinkler valves have rubber parts that can wear out, or sediment in the water such as chunks of rusted iron or sand can prevent the diaphragm from closing, Even a very tiny leak is enough to result in a wet spot in the yard, or a notice from the city.  We'll figure out which valve is leaking and either rebuild it (if possible) or replace it. 

Drip irrigation is a type of low-flow irrigation system that delivers water directly to the roots of plants through a network of tubes and emitters, which measure out water at rates appropriate to the type and size of each plant. Drip irrigation systems are more efficient than spray, as they use less water while still providing what each plant needs.

Selecting the right equipment and having it installed professionally can avoid these problems:

1. Most of my plants look dry: Drip zones should be set for 30 minutes when first installed and dialed back in runtime minutes as you gain experience. 
2. Some of the emitters stopped working: The hard water that is typical of Southern California will plug some kinds of drip emitters. We recommend emitters that resist plugging or which can be easily cleaned. 
3. All those little black tubes get cut or moved around accidentally: We recommend the most substantial and damage resistant drip equipment 

Drip works well for plants and trees but isn’t recommended for grass and ground cover like ivy. Your sprinkler zones that focus on planter beds are good candidates. Call us for a free evaluation of your system to determine which zones (if any) are suitable. 

Yes, if you have areas (zones) that are appropriate. The water savings is immediate, and the cost of installation is often paid off in the first year or two. Also, you will be doing the most you can do to save water during any shortage - or helping to prevent the next one. 

Advantages are: Lower water bill; better control of water amount at each plant; fewer weeds, since water isn’t being sprayed everywhere. Disadvantages are: Higher maintenance; Closer attention to plant health is required.

Generally, yes. Nurseries in Southern California universally use drip irrigation to raise all plants and trees, so drip is suitable for your yard too. However, grass, ground cover (ivy, ice plant) and very densely placed plants may be best with spray.  

Not hard at all. Your existing timer, valves and pipes can be used to run drip in the zones selected for conversion, so installation consists of adding a pressure regulator and drip lines. 

Changing two zones to drip with about 100ft of drip line for each zone might run $350. There are a lot of variables and we do free estimates, so give us a call. 

Drip lines can be cut with garden tools, damaged by pets or animals, emitters can become plugged and some types of drip parts are subject to sun damage, which makes them brittle and more easily broken.  Repairs are usually easy to do. 

Run each drip zone and walk around the zone looking and listening for leaks two or three times a year. More often if you have a complex or large system or if you have had a history of problems. All the parts you need are widely available online and at hardware stores. There are hundreds of videos online providing instruction, and then you can always call us. We have some customers that have us inspect their systems quarterly, and we do find a few things to fix with every visit. 

Drip irrigation zones always need more minutes of watering than spray zones. 20 to 40 minutes is common for drip. A spray nozzle emits several gallons per minute. One drip emitter will take an hour to emit the same.  

A drip zone for trees might run for one or more hours, once a week. A zone covering drought tolerant plants for about 20 minutes once a week in the dry months. Most other plants for 30 minutes, twice a week. These are rough guidelines and you or your gardener must make adjustments for the circumstances. 

Each plant has one or two emitters nearby and it depends entirely upon those emitters to work. So if just one emitter stops working, the plant it waters will go dry even as the other plants in the zone continue to get enough water.  Emitters have tiny channels that are subject to being plugged by contaminants like sand or dirt that may have gotten into the water supply upstream.