# Bringing old system back to life?



## Jsmoke2k (Apr 25, 2021)

A good 12 zone system was installed in my yard many years ago, before I bought the house. Since then, all the heads have grass grown completely over them, so they have no hope of rising to work or even to be located. There's no existing diagram or notes about where the actual sprinkler heads are. The old control panel is still there, and I've located what I think is all of the valve boxes, through some educated guesses and ground stabbing.

All of the original PVC is still in the ground and (as far as I know) it's intact. What's my best route to getting this system back to usable, making use of what I DO know (location of all valve boxes and controller wires)? I'm fully planning to buy all new heads, so I'm not concerned with the ones that are permanently buried. Is there a way to put water through the lines and trace where the pipes go from above ground, without digging trenches just to follow the pipes? Any other thoughts on how I can move forward with trying to salvage a system that's fully in place but also mostly unknown?


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## BBLOCK (Jun 8, 2020)

Jsmoke2k said:


> you can find underground pipes with two coat hangers. i can do this, and some people can and some people can't
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> ...


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## Tincup86 (Mar 24, 2021)

If you have a local irrigation supply house nearby give them a call and see if you can borrow a valve locator and a valve checker. The checker will let you know if the wires are good to each individual valve and of the solenoids are shot. The locator will help you trace the missing valves you can't find. I would start by locating the water supply and backdevice. Is there a master valve? If there is a master valve you can manually open it to get water into the mainline up to the zone valves. Then check each zone by manually opening them. If all valves and wires are good a new controller would be my next step. Many options out there for this. once you're up and running change the heads and nozzle each one according to gpm's and area. Rotors on the same zone should get the same nozzle.


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

I think you'll be surprised by how many heads will pop up.

And depending on how many years, I'd bet on at least one busted pipe. Murphy's Law and all that.


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## JohnnyBGreen (Apr 19, 2021)

I had the exact same scenario with my house I bought last year. "12 zone" (15 zones, they just wired some together). 
I had the old mechanical RainBird timer (that was broken) and a cracked mainline going into the house, likely from no winterization. It was so beat, I just called a local company run by this industry veteran that specialized in resurrecting old and troublesome systems. A few other companies I called, they just wanted to cut in a whole new system. 
But this guy, for 1/4 the price, got me going with a new wifi timer, rewired a whole bunch of stuff, fixed my outside mainline, replaced countless heads, fixed leaks, and got me going 85%. 
Most of the hidden heads, did all in fact pop up to be seen. Others, there would be a very wet dome of sod, that once you cut through, the head would pop out. 
I've been replacing all the other very old, leaky heads myself last summer and now into this summer as well. 
If all the piping and main wiring are in tact, then everything else should be fixable and you could have a working system in the future.


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## thebmrust (Jun 29, 2020)

Fill with water, pressurize with air. You'll find the heads and the leaks. LOL


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## bernstem (Jan 16, 2018)

My heads get overgrown with grass every winter. Though I know roughly where they are, you should be able to find heads even if you have no idea where they are and without an air compressor. With the zone running and the valve open, the heads will still drain water and create a small swamp around the head even if they don't pop up. Find those areas and probe with a screwdriver to find the head, then clean the overgrown grass to allow it to pop up. If the heads are deeply buried, it may take a few minutes for the water to saturate the area around the head. Once you have a few identified in the zone, you should be able to guess where the rest of them are assuming the zone is laid out well.


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