It’s pretty miserable outside today but Sunday and Monday are looking very nice!
Call us to ensure you’re retic Controller is working and set correctly.
Time to Turn Your Reticulation Back On?
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Tag Archives: butler reticulation
Reticulation Installation in Jindalee
Today’s job was to install a backyard system for a client in Jindalee.
There was no retic in the place at all so we began with the sprinklers plumber, then the master valve and just one station solenoid to serve the lawn using MP Rotators.
The trencher got a good workout in the established turf and we finished in good time.
If you need retic installed in your backyard then be sure to give us a call!
Can I Install Reticulation While it is Raining?
Yeah you can.
But the pipes get crusty with sand and they are harder to cut and keep clean.
The green retic glue will still work even with a little water on it so you don’t need the two surfaces perfectly dry and clean – although that is preferable.
The biggest challenge of rainy days is definitely the sand that sticks to the pipes but just carry a towel and wipe the ends before joining and it should be fine!
After the Bobcat
I often get called to go in and fix the retic after the bobcat has been thru and done his work.
Today I was in Butler and the bobcat had smashed thru the main line, broken the wiring as well as ripping up most of the pipe down one side of the rear. It didn’t help that the area was full of roots and that the client wasn’t completely sure on where he wanted things to go… Add to that a 3 hour deadline and intermittent rain and it was potentially a difficult day.
But we got the main line repaired and wires reconnected. Then we worked together on the sprinklers to the rear and by 10.50am we were done.
It’s impossible to quote a job like this as you simply can’t estimate a cost when you don’t know how much damage is done. Fortunately it wasn’t too bad today and with two of us going hard we managed to get it ready for turf in a couple of days time.
Everything is fixable! It just takes time and patience as you track down the breaks and leaks.
Should I Use Netafim Dripline on My Garden?
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?
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.
What Does the Fuse Message on an Irritrol Kwikdial Controller Mean?
Ok – possibly the single most common issue I hit each year is this problem.
First up – there is no fuse and no battery in the controller! Silly I know – to have a ‘fuse’ message and a battery symbol at the same time.
The average DIY would look for a dodgy fuse or a faulty battery.
What the message actually means is that there is either a fault in the controller or a fault in a solenoid.
The way to determine the issue is simply to remove wires and keep resetting the controller and testing it. If it operates perfect with one of the wires out then it’s more than likely a solenoid coil sending a ‘fault’ message.
However if the controller display is flickering or if the fuse message only appears intermittently then chances are very high that the box itself is at fault and will need replacing.
If You Look Hard Enough
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 🙂
Why You NEED a Retic Bloke!
Why should you get a retic bloke in to fix your sprinklers?
Let me tell you a story of today’s DIY mishap…
Retic is just like plumbing right? Yeah that’s what I reckoned… So we needed to change over the taps and spout in our ensuite and I figured ‘it can’t be that hard – I’ll just do it myself.’
I removed the old spout, taps and shrouds without much drama and began to install the new spout. It was a tight fit – really tight – I could hardly get it on. But with some very careful manoeuvring I managed to get the spout almost perfectly in place. Almost… it was about 1mm out and Mrs Brighton Retic doesn’t like things that are ‘almost’ perfect.
I figured one more turn would see it perfect. The picture you see is what happens when you go that extra turn.
Not happy – not what I needed on my day off.
I decided to leave it in place and install the taps then head down to Bunnings later to try and get a new spout.
So I took all the old gear off and began to install the new taps. But they didn’t go on as I thought they should. They were ‘on’, but not functioning as they should have been.
I checked out the fittings and realised they were very different to the current ones and installing these was a gamble – possibly out of my skill range – no – definitely out of my skill range.
So I called my plumber to explain that amateur hour had gone south fast.
‘Yeah – you can’t install just taps and spout – you need to do a whole basin set’ he told me. Well now I know…
So I put the old taps back on, drove to Bunnings to spend another $85 on new taps and I have booked Andy the plumber to come and fit them for me.
By the time I had got to Bunnings and back it was 11.00am and I had spent 3 hours and $85 for no return. My plumber would have had it done in fast time and I would have had a professional job.
Sometimes its just worth having someone who actually knows what they are doing!
When we come to your home to fix the retic, we carry virtually every fitting imaginable – there is nothing we can’t fix on the spot. A trip to the shop is down time for us so we make sure we have everything onboard.
And then there’s the expertise factor. A handyman is probably half the cost of a retic bloke, but chances are he will take twice as long and not use quality parts. We fix everything in fast time and get you up and running both quickly and professionally.
So save yourself the repeated trips to Bunnings, the struggle to fix something that has you baffled and the loss of time off – and just call us. We will be there to get it sorted.
My sliding door rollers carked it yesterday too. I could probably fix it on my day off, or I could call Malcom at Smooth Sliding Doors and he will fix it in 15 minutes – and it will be done right.
I know what I’ll be doing!
Spring Reticulation Servicing
As well as specialising in control boxes we also do general service work. Its that time of year when you can turn your sprinklers back on.
Chances are that when you do you will find a few issues and that’s when you can make multiple trips to Bunnings and try to find the right parts you need – or – you can call us and we will fix any problem on the post often within an hour or so. We can give you a ballpark price before starting work, or we may choose to send a detailed written quote if it is a large job.
We carry a full supply of virtually every kind of part you can imagine and on the off chance yours is an unusual job we are usually only a few minutes from a retic store.
So for fast, hassle free service at fair prices give us a call. All of our work has a 12 mth warranty and in the event of something not working as it should we promise to come back and make it right.
Call Andrew on 0400044236