# Sprinkler Head Question



## amoffitt (May 27, 2018)

Hello,

I have a couple spinkler heads that are leaking when the system is on. They do not leak when the system is off. They are Orbit Brand Sprinkler heads. I believe them to be the Voyager models. They seem to leak a bit at the nozzle and at the base while running. More or less I need to know if I can replace any of the internal parts to fix these such as the O-Rings/Washers or is my only option to replace them?

The picture below is of one of the ones that I replaced already.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

You replace it and it is still leaking?


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## amoffitt (May 27, 2018)

g-man said:


> You replace it and it is still leaking?


I replaced it and its not leaking anymore. The water that you see is from when that zone shuts off and the sprinkler retracts underground.


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## kolbasz (Jun 7, 2017)

I Had a leaking orbit sprinkler, repalced it with a rainbird maxipaw to match the rest of the system.

Ended up using the ag5 version from home Depot, just because I don't feel like ordering and waiting for the 2045's.


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## amoffitt (May 27, 2018)

kolbasz said:


> I Had a leaking orbit sprinkler, repalced it with a rainbird maxipaw to match the rest of the system.
> 
> Ended up using the ag5 version from home Depot, just because I don't feel like ordering and waiting for the 2045's.


You made me think of another question that I forgot about. I have never used Orbit sprinklers. I have always used Rainbird and they seem to work great. How is the quality of Orbit? Since I already have to replace a few I would rather get higher quality sprinklers.


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## Ral1121 (Mar 19, 2018)

I believe that if you start replacing heads with different ones, you need to replace them all because you want to make sure that all heads put out water at the same rate or else you will not get even coverage.


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## amoffitt (May 27, 2018)

Ah that makes sense. Some of the heads in my yard are rainbird and some are Orbit it seems. They seem to be the same brand per zone just one zone might be Orbit and the other might be Rainbird.


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## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

I would think that the value is not closing all the way. Check and see if there is a flushing procedure for your values.


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## kolbasz (Jun 7, 2017)

If it is leaking at the base, dig it up, put some thread tape on the the threads and then tighten it down again. See if that helps any. I know some of mine have water around them while running.

The maxipaw pops up out of a cup, so I would expect to see water in it. Some have more, others less. It is very odd and has nothing to do with your issue, but I am mentioning it anyway.

I am likely going to replace one of the heads with a seal a matic one because the entire zone leaks out through one that is at the lowest point of the yard. As a result, the ground gets a little soupy in the area, but I hope that has something to do with me digging it up. It was 2" below grade because my insane neighbor thought it was his yard and buried it in top soil. (he didnt know how to grow grass and had more dirt brought 3 times when it wasnt growing). Either way, the point is the ground is soft in the area and without running it when dug out, it is difficult to tell if it is leaking under ground.

I had a pop-up in my one zone that was not working well and in turn the rest were lacking too. Turned out to be a cracked threaded pipe. Dug it out, repaired and closed it up, now I just assume there is no leak.

I would say you know it is leaking for sure if the water is puddling a lot while running. If the zone if running poorly something is cracked and or broken. Take a shovel to it and investigate.

As for the quality of Orbit, I have no idea, but a ignorant assumption says they are the cheaper solution available at big box. Hunter and rainbird are quality, they have their pro lines and consumer, but overall, I think they are likely better.

I bought the HD version of the maxipaw, just because I needed to get my system up and running as we were getting a few days in the 90's and rachio told me it has to run...


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## Delmarva Keith (May 12, 2018)

amoffitt said:


> Ah that makes sense. Some of the heads in my yard are rainbird and some are Orbit it seems. They seem to be the same brand per zone just one zone might be Orbit and the other might be Rainbird.


The rotor heads have replacable nozzles. The nozzles are chosen to achieve uniformity over the area you are irrigating (among other factors like available water flow, desired radius and the soil type, slope, etc. being irrigated). For example, a corner rotor would generally be installed with a nozzle that puts out half the rate of a rotor that covers 180 degrees and a quarter of the rate of a 360 because the corner rotor covers that fraction of the other rotors' area.

http://store.rainbird.com/5000rctree-rotor-nozzle-tree-for-rain-bird-42sa-plus-52sa-5000-5000-plus-series-rotors.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=RainBirdPLA&utm_term=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9uWSpeuq2wIVRb7ACh3r-gMyEAQYAyABEgIQhvD_BwE

Buying rotors at the big box is fine but keep in mind that it comes with whatever nozzle it comes with.


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## amoffitt (May 27, 2018)

**Update**

I have been busy for a bit but I did contact Orbit. They informed me that I can purchase replacement wiper seals from them and it should resolve the problem I am having. I ordered these and I am waiting on them to show up in the mail. Here is a link to what I was instructed I would need to resolve the issue I am having.

https://store.orbitonline.com/store/products/voyager-ii-wiper-seal/


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