Two out of three zones of my sprinkler system have died in the last few months.
After a little trial and error with the one good zone, I found that the solenoids in the control valves had gone bad. Bah. To make matters worse, the manufacturer (Rain Bird) apparently has re-standardized all of their parts which made it impossible to buy a replacement solenoid for the unit I already have. So that meant I got to upgrade the system!
The one good thing about tinkering with stuff is that you actually get to learn a bit about it. Not only did my friend and I replace the faulty valve, but we replaced the goofy maze of pipe that the contractor put in to reroute the one sprinkler head back a few feet in my yard. We got our DIY gold star for the day… and the sprinkler system actually works again!
At some point in the future, I am going to extend the lawn and a real garden down to the lower level of the yard. By then, I think I will feel comfortable putting in yet another, complete watering zone.
