When You Break the Tap off the Water Meter

Posted on September 22, 2019 by reticcontrollerman

Have you ever found a water meter that either won’t turn on or off? Like the tap is just stuck?

This week it happened again – about the third time in 11 years but I knew what to expect.

The water meter was on but the tap timer I had installed was leaking a little and I went to turn it off and fix the seal.

But it wouldn’t budge – and I knew that taking the grandpa wrench to it was most likely going to snap it.

So I called the homeowner out, explained the situation (the water had to be turned off) and then began to gently crank the wrench.

And it snapped…

Bugger…

No major drama – just a call to water Corp to come and fix. Meantime I went around the back to try and tighten up the leaking tap timer but as I did it can’t apart and water gushed EVERYWHERE!

Ok ‘call now!’ I said.

After a few minutes I managed to get a poly fitting screwed on and sealed the leak. I headed off to lunch and came back to see Anton changing the tap over. He did it ‘live’ which I thought was pretty clever.

Disconnect the water on the house side, create a way for the water to divert and then remove and replace the tap. Then turn it off…

Fixed… and I can go back this week and carry on!

Why is My Water Pressure so Poor?

Posted on September 12, 2019 by reticcontrollerman

If you have exceptionally bad retic flow and pressure then it could be that you have a restrictor fitted to your water meter.

This can limit the flow to 9l/min and mean that it’s very difficult to get an efficient system up and running.

If you aren’t sure then check with your plumber. You may go from 9l to 30l overnight!

Why Does My Retic Just Keep on Running?

Posted on September 9, 2019 by reticcontrollerman

This is a common question.

And the answer is usually very simple. Generally speaking this happens when more than one start time is set.

Unless there is a watering exemption in place you are only allowed to water once a day which means you only need one start time.

Often people get ‘start times’ and ‘run times’ mixed up. So get this :

YOU ONLY NEED 1 START TIME!

Most errors are made when people set 5.00am as a start time, then 5.15, 5.30 and so on.

So when you set your controller make note of which function you are operating in the dial and just set the one start time.

If you get stuck then just give me a call!

Will Changing the Battery Fix My Retic?

Posted on August 31, 2019 by reticcontrollerman

Nope…

If your reticulation isn’t working then changing the battery will just be $9 down the drain.

The battery is not responsible for the operation of the sprinklers. It simply helps to retain the settings when the power goes off.

Your retic needs 24v if power to open the solenoids so changing a battery wont do the job.

If it’s not working then it could be any one of a number of issues – but it won’t be the battery!

The Purpose of the Common Wire in an Irrigation System

Posted on August 23, 2019 by reticcontrollerman

Every irrigation has a common wire that connects all of the solenoids together and in most cases it is a black wire, as this is the colour most commonly used.

The common wire is found in the ‘c’ terminal and is vital to the systems operation.

If a common wire gets cut then all of the solenoids that it connects together will be out of action.

Its usual to have one strand of multi core wire serving the front of a house and another strand serving the rear, so if you find that all of your rear solenoids have stopped working then chances are your common wire will have been cut or broken.

From there it just a matter of tracking it and repairing it.

Reticulation Servicing in Yanchep and Two Rocks

Posted on August 13, 2019 by reticcontrollerman

Yanchep is a lovely part of the world and is our homebase, so we love to work there.

Whether it’s a new installation of retic and turf or whether it’s a tune up of your existing system, we can be there promptly and will get the job done in fast time, with quality components and a guarantee to come back if there are any problems.

We have been operating now for 11 years and have developed an excellent reputation for top quality work and friendly, polite service at a fair price.

Should I Use Netafim Dripline on My Garden?

Posted on August 13, 2019 by reticcontrollerman

If you want to achieve maximum water efficiency then there is no question that Netafim Dripline is your friend!

Here is a job I did recently in Yanchep where new native plants had been installed and the client wanted to ensure minimal wastage of water. Now that the Dripline is in he can mulch the area.

If you are on a bore then you may like to consider ‘bore line ‘, similar but not pressured compensated – which usually isn’t an issue on a bore.

This dripline is extremely effective at dripping water right next to the plants and is designed to resist root invasion of the drip emitters.

While there is no digging involved in a project like this dripline is a more expensive product and generally works out a little more costly than sprays.

Should I Buy a Hydrawise Controller for My Retic?

Posted on August 13, 2019 by reticcontrollerman

I’d been using a very old Hydrawise controller for around 6 years when it suddenly decided to stop connecting to my wifi.

It was one of the original indoor models and it did the job fine, but when Hunter bought Hydrawise they did some work speccing up the controller to make it more user and contractor friendly.

By comparison with the old controller the new controllers have:

1. A designated master valve terminal

2. Larger and more accessible terminals making installing easier.

3. A sturdier outdoor casing.

4. An easier to read display

5. A stronger wifi connection.

All of these are significant improvements on the original model and as a result when I had the choice of any controller I chose to stay with the Hydrawise.

The app works really well and once installed the controller itself is pretty much set and forget.

Patchy Lawn?

Posted on August 8, 2019 by reticcontrollerman

So you’ve got a bare area in your lawn and you’re thinking of revitalising it with lawn seed?

What you need to find out before doing anything is why the bare area happened in the first place. Otherwise chances are the problem will simply recur.

Reasons the lawn may be bare are:

– The lawn doesn’t get enough sun.

– The lawn doesn’t get enough water.

– There are lawn beetle in it.

So before doing anything first work out what the problem is.

And then it’s to the solution. Obviously ‘lawn seed’ is not the way to fix any of the problems above.

That said I have never seen lawn seed work as a successful solution in any setting. It’s partly because the new ‘lawn’ is always sparse and partly because it rarely gets watered enough to sustain it.

New roll on lawn is always a better option, but only if it gets watered and is laid with adequate sun.

If You Look Hard Enough

Posted on July 24, 2019 by reticcontrollerman

Yesterday I went to try and sort out why the retic pipe kept bursting on a bore in Ridgewood.

Usually there is an obvious answer. The first step was a new controller and then a check that the solenoids were all opening as they should have been.

All good there.

I dug a hole and found two 25mm pipes going to the rear yard – but with no water coming out of the sprinklers.

I drilled small holes at various points along the pipes and water cane out. Hmmm… water is definitely getting thru, is there a blockage somewhere? Has someone capped off the line and not told me?

The pipes were under pavers so it wasn’t easy to test them. Eventually after 90 minutes of trying to locate the problem I lifted a slab right at the end of the run to the back and discovered that each pipe had a filter attached and the filters were completely blocked.

I have never seen filters at that place in a pipe before but once I removed them water flowed freely.

Moral of the story = for every problem there is a solution if you look hard enough (and long enough)

If you have a tricky problem then give me a call. I reckon I can fix it 🙂