# Designing new system, how many valve locations?



## icy (4 mo ago)

I have done general reading on irrigation and created a yard drawing. My plan is to send RainBird my drawing and see what they come up with. This idea was inspired by another post on this forum(https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=8074).

Below is an image of my yard drawing. The red Xs represent valve locations that currently exist. On the right side of the back yard, next to the house, there is a question mark. The red square is the water meter. Red circle represents the timer location. I need to install new sprinklers to the back yard and right portion of the front yard. Current sprinkler coverage is very poor, this project is meant to fix that.



Questions:

Is it best to have all valves in as few locations as possible?

What are everyone's thoughts on just relying on the valve location of the back yard (bottom left of house)?

Would it be worth setting up another valve location where the question mark is?

How difficult is it to setup a new location? I am familiar with how to setup additional valves at an existing location, but not installing a new location.


----------



## dofdk3 (5 mo ago)

There's potentially a lot to unpack here but basically, valves can be placed wherever you want. They just have to be between the controller and sprinkler head.

If adding an additional valve to a location that already has a valve you'll need to consider: is the valve box big enough to accommodate a second valve? Is wiring fed through a tube or just laying in the ground? And where would you splice the supply line for the new zone of sprinklers?

Running a new valve location probably gives you more freedom when expanding a system.


----------



## icy (4 mo ago)

Thank you for the reply.

About the valves:

 There is only a single valve at the back yard location. Only two sprinkler heads exist in the back, and a single in the front. As you can imagine coverage is really bad. This is a major reason why I want to overhaul it.

 There isn't a sprinkler box. The valve is above ground. I was planning to dig it up and put it in a box below ground. Is be interested in reasons for it against this.

 The wiring is zipped together and runs across the top of the house under the overhang. Should be easy enough to modify.

 If I did add a new valve location, I was thinking of running the wire of this location under the house and out again where the timer is located.

I essentially want to know if a new valve location is worthwhile. Without it the sprinkler pipes run a long ways to the front yard. However it does feel like having all valves in one location could simplify management. It might be easier to have just the one back yard location, but is it a bad idea?


----------



## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

If there's a long run for the laterals, or requirement for multiple trenches, it's usually better to run/extend a single mainline to a new valve box location and locate your valves closer to the zones they control. Longer mainlines increase the likelihood of major leaks so it's a tradeoff. There is no significant advantage to having every valve in the exact same location, as long as the location of each group of valves is known.


----------



## bernstem (Jan 16, 2018)

I agree with G-man. I would probably run a main line around the back and then around the right side of the house and to the front lawn on the top right. Assuming you don't need irrigation in the grass free front and side lawns you are good. If those are landscaped areas that you want irrigation in, then you may need a second main line going along the left of the house to that area.

I don't have a master valve on my system so the main lines (I have one in the front and one in the back) are constantly pressureized. If you don't want that you can add a master valve on the main line.


----------

