# Constantly repairing poly leaks



## Meatpopsickle (Apr 7, 2020)

Hey guys

My entire irrigation system is made of Poly. First few years no issues but lately I seemingly am constantly repairing leaks. They aren't major. Minor cracks about 1/2" that spray fine mist. Enough to soak the ground/lose pressure further down the line and eventually get larger. I have been cutting out bad sections and coupling together with new poly but at this point it is my hell. Today I had two leaks. Decided to replace an entire 25' section that had already had 3 repairs on it. Replaced that. Turned it on to check and a new leak sprung up 30' further down that same line.

Anyone else have the same trouble with this stuff? Any suggestions to make this easier. I've seen so many crazy repairs on YouTube (electrical tape, flex seal, etc). Short of digging up my entire yard to replace it all wondering if there is something I'm doing to immediately cause subsequent leaks that could be avoided.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Poly is sold by wall thickness (pressure rating). Most installers use the lowest (cheapest). Do you know which one you have?


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## Meatpopsickle (Apr 7, 2020)

g-man said:


> Poly is sold by wall thickness (pressure rating). Most installers use the lowest (cheapest). Do you know which one you have?


I don't to be honest. The installer used a one that is black with 2 yellow lines on it. At this point no marking is really visible. I have just been buying black stuff from Lowe's.

This section has drip for 12 large trees (4 drips each) and a window planter. It's a rather large section and my guess would be that pressure is rather low given the length of all the tubing but I could be wrong. Could low pressure also cause leaks?


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## hsvtoolfool (Jul 23, 2018)

Drip irrgation usually requires low pressure and flow. Low pressure and flow won't cause leaks. The opposite is true: high pressure and especially high flow velocity causes failure, mostly due to water hammer.


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## Meatpopsickle (Apr 7, 2020)

hsvtoolfool said:


> Drip irrgation usually requires low pressure and flow. Low pressure and flow won't cause leaks. The opposite is true: high pressure and especially high flow velocity causes failure, mostly due to water hammer.


The leaks don't appear in the drip line but in the 5/8" poly line that feed to smaller drips. It gets rather hot here in AZ and the ground gets rather hard. Wondering if as the temps rise (currently 110+) and rain decrease the ground is getting so hard that any movement in the line when it is pressurized will cause abrasions and small hairline leaks? It may explain why anytime I touch the line to repair a leak another one pops up in a different location on the same line of poly.

Who knows but it is an uphill battle for sure


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## hsvtoolfool (Jul 23, 2018)

Meatpopsickle said:


> Wondering if as the temps rise (currently 110+) and rain decrease the ground is getting so hard that any movement in the line when it is pressurized will cause abrasions and small hairline leaks?


Is the soil clay? Clay is notorious for expanding and contracting with wet/dry cycles. If a pipe is up against a buried rock in clay soil, it's possible for movement over time to slowly wear a hole. But I'd think such abrasions would be clearly visible, not to mention rare.

From your description of "small hairline leaks", it sounds like you have simple rubber hose which is degrading and becoming brittle over time. Whatever it is, I'd stop using that product.


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## Meatpopsickle (Apr 7, 2020)

hsvtoolfool said:


> Meatpopsickle said:
> 
> 
> > Wondering if as the temps rise (currently 110+) and rain decrease the ground is getting so hard that any movement in the line when it is pressurized will cause abrasions and small hairline leaks?
> ...


Phoenix has some of the poorest soil in the country. Its predominantly clay and there's often thick layers of caliche. Hard as concrete. There really isn't much of a wet dry cycle. Haven't seen rain in months. It is hot as hell so maybe just extreme heat is causing this. I am going to try and find some 5/8" poly tubing with a thicker wall.

Next time I undergo a project it'll be schedule 40. This is just crazy. Had another leak this morning.


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