How to replace a sprinkler manifold & valves 

We're redoing our entire school garden, and will have 16 zones + all hooked up to a wi-fi controller (Rachio Iro)... I've done several valves to replace at home; our upcoming project mimics your video w/ multiple valves + so, thanks... this video is very helpful to help visualize the steps, spacing between valve boxes, etc. Thx!

Nicely done. Now I am no longer discouraged from doing systems from scratch. Only wish they had the valves with Unions on them I did my last overhaul. I ended up putting regular 1" unions inline. AND Drain Valves!! I had them all over so once pressure was lost every thing would drain. Grandpa took them all out. I have had to do some major repairs because of this. Will fix it soon.

We're fixing our sprinkler system too, and this video (along with your other ones) has been incredibly helpful. Thanks so much for posting!

Great jobs, I really enjoyed watching you work through that. What a difference. Easy to listen to.

This is incredible work, def motivating me to take on my 4 valve system. The job in this video would be about 20 trips to Home Depot for me.

Thanks for the feedback.

Thanks Kerry. When I set my multimeter to measure AC voltage I measured 25V for voltage drop both at the solenoid (while running) and at the controller -- dumb mistake for me to think it was DC. In my community a new solenoid is $14 and a new valve is $57 so I just replaced the solenoid. My old solenoid had high resistance that bounced around, suggesting a bad internal wire. The new solenoid resistance was 24 ohms, the bad solenoid was 30-90 ohms. Success! Thanks for your advice. Dave

Thanks for your video...the rubber mallet was just the trick when I was replacing my manifold....also instead of dish soap, I used hair dryer for about 60 seconds on my poly tubing and connectors slipped in very easily.

Very kind, thanks for taking the time to leave a comment.

The Bob Ross of irrigation. Good job

Yes, I've heard the same thing from others, who describe the whole valve costing just a little more than the solenoid. But up here in Canada there are strange differences, partly related to duty and additional transportation fees. The valve is an irritrol 2711 APR but the solenoid is made in Mexico so it should be duty free. Mail order is often a problem here because of additional customs and shipping fees. Overall I'm glad it is fixed, and it's fun to understand how it all works. Thanks again.

Keep making those video! Thank you for your time and effort in making this project so easy to do.

Where I live the backflow preventer has to be installed before the first set of sprinkler valves. You are correct, these aren't anti-siphon valves.

Very educational and well explained. I thought the only step missing was your checking for leaks after everything was replaced! I wish all valve had unions; that would make life a whole lot easier.

Thanks, this installation turned into a project.

You have given me the confidence to attempt this. Thank you

I am having problems with my system & this video was very helpful. Thank you! In fact my valves are the same ones here.

So patiently explained. Thank you friend!

Thanks for the comment.

Excellent explanation and video. Thank you!

Thanks for the quick response. I'll look into that. Dave

I bought them from my Rain Bird distributor. Unfortunately Rain Bird discontinued the valve. It was my favorite valve. You can still get the DVF without the unions.

Long but seemingly complete. Nice job :)

This was an awesome video. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

This video is so well done. Thank you for taking your time to put this up on youtube!

Just a suggestion, but you may try Oetiker clamps vs. screw clamps. Also, I tend to refrain from using automatic drains aka King drains. I've found that root intrusion and the amount of water they waste isn't worth the benefits.

If you're referring to the fitting between the 2 pre-built manifolds, it is not a coupling it is a 1"x1"x1/2" tee (SxSxT) that has an automatic drain threaded into it.

Start by turning the stop & waste valve on, make sure it is completely on. Then look in the stand pipe that covers the valve. Notice if there is water filling the pipe. You could have a leak on the downstream side of the stop & waste valve. If you don't notice anything there then check all of your sprinkler valves for leaks. If the flow dial is spinning slowly, it can be difficult to isolate the leak. The most likely culprits are the sprinkler valves or your stop & waste valve.

Pretty sharp the way you duct taped your primer and glue together. That's a tip I'll remember.

Very nicely done...if you're not already teaching, you should consider it--you're good.

Very informative video, thank you.

Depends on what your system piping is. If your supply line piping to the valves is 1.25" or 1.5" I would install 1.5" valves. If your supply line is 1" you would be ok installing 1" valves. You don't want to reduce the available flow in gpm (gallons per minute) through the valves to the sprinkler system.

Hi Dave. I've done the multi-tester on the wrong setting also. I'm surprised there was that much difference in the solenoid and valve cost. Usually it's only a few dollars. What kind of valves do you have? Glad you solved your problem. 95% of valve trouble I run into is the solenoid. KT

I got the shoes at REI. They are Vasque Gore-Tex. Awesome shoes.

Very nice video, I love the dish soap tip. thanks for sharing

Test your voltage from the timer. If you have the 28-29 volts I talked about earlier, everything is good to the valve. If the valve won't open and close properly your problem has to be the solenoid. Buy a new valve and replace the top half of the old valve with the top half of the new valve. I suggest this because solenoids often cost as much or more than a complete valve. Let me know how this works.

Every body should learn how to use this type of irrigation.

Great video, the repairs I have to do seem a lot more manageable...

I build my manifolds out of close coupled 2" PVC (I use 2" smooth to 1" thread tee's), then I pipe in the city water usually with 1&1/4 inch poly pipe from a double check valve. To clarify however, the reason I use 2" PVC is for smoother valve operation and primarily for pump/city water combinations. The pumps I use can run around 4 zones at the same time in many cases, but this is only possible with the 2" manifolds. My personal pump will run 25 3.0GPM rotors at the same time if I want it to. The city water requires one zone at a time. Let me tell ya, close coupled 2" PVC manifolds connecting via brass nipples to the valves and then to the poly pipe. While they not only look sexy (chuckles) but they are very easy to work on as everything stays in perfect alignment and is rigid. I normally use DVF valves from Rainbird. It's usually not necessary to remove a valve entirely, you simply replace it's guts if it fails. On 1" poly fittings or smaller I use 2 pinch claps per fitting, and anything over 1&1/4" poly I use 3 pinch clamps per fitting. No leaks and no service failures until you are much much older (provided you blow the system out for winter).

All of the dirt must be put back into the hole, so there is no divot around the valve box. Those bleeder valves needed gravel around them. Before cutting wires mark which wires go to what area and mark them with masking tape, and the valves that you are changing so you don't have to reprogram your controller.

Excellent video. Thank you.

Gracias por compartir el conocimiento desde Argentina, Neuquén.-

I've never seen hose clamps used on poly , but I've also only used poly for drip (plants and trees)

Excellent. Very nice installation and explanation. Pro level. Thanks!

your tutorials are awesome!

Wow work of art

EXCELLENT video

Good stuff! Thanks for the help!

nice job; ready to take on my project now.

Good video. Well done, thanks

Nice tutorial. Thanks.

This helped me a whole bunch thanks!

Great job on the video very helpful!!!!

Hi Kerry. I'm wondering what the normal spec for a typical solenoid valve should be for voltage drop and amp draw. If the solenoid is removed, what is the (DC?) voltage diff to ground at the device? I've got what I think is a bad solenoid but it has been hard to prove since it does work with a 9V battery when under no load. I've swapped it for other solenoids, and also I swapped the wiring with a known good valve and both tests say the solenoid is bad. Connections are clean.

But I like this video alot. As an irrigator myself I really dig this video

Thanks, learned a lot

Thank you sir! Very helpful

excelente video, muy práctico.

excellent video, thanks

Small repairs I normally do by the hour plus materials. A lot of customers what to know up front what the costs will be so then I would give them an estimate.

Another great video!

Excellent video

Good video. Thanks

I enjoyed the video. I also have 9 zones at my home and still working ok the only thing I am curious about is how to find hidden valves because I could never find them my system was installed in the 1980s and I believe the installer directly buried the valves and didn’t use valve boxes. I always like to know where they are for future maintenance. Very helpful video.😁👍

I'll say. We ate some great sea food in Victoria. The lady at the hotel we stayed at said there is a running joke in Victoria that you had to be newly wed or nearly dead to live in Victoria, and that the city was trying to change that image. I didn't notice any of that when we were there.

Thanks Iscaper1.

Thanks for watching and for the feedback.

Thank u 4 the good idea u hv given .

Good job!

Thank you very nice

I went to Rain Bird's site & looked up their specs on solenoids. They are 24VAC 50/60Hz solenoids. Inrush current is .30A (7.2VA) at 60Hz. Holding current is .19A (4.6VA) at 60Hz. Coil resistance is 42-55 ohms. Even though the solenoids are 24VAC, most timers I've encountered put out around 28-29VAC. The lowest voltage I've seen on a timer & still have it open a valve solenoid is 18VAC. continued

This is perfection!

very good ,thanks.

Excellent

Very good and very helpful for my home project. Thanks.

Great video! very professional, help me a lot. Thanks

Question for you sir and thank you for the videos. My water meter has a little spinner on it and it's slowly turning. When I shutoff the water to the sprinkler system, that little spinner stops, so I think the manifold is leaking. When I take off the cover to expose the zone valves, there is stagnant water in there. Not a high amount of water but maybe half full. This is probably a leak before the valves since I haven't used the sprinkler system in awhile?

The valves are Rain Bird 100DVFUU union valves. Of my suppliers who carry Rain Bird, only 2 of them carry this particular valve. I'm not sure if you'll have better luck with Rain Bird suppliers in your area.

What type of automatic drain do you use? I think there are different types and most irrigation professionals that I have talked with do not like to use them. We have never winterized or system and never had any problems. I do know at the end of the line which slopes down we have an automatic drain valve. Do you recognize rocks around the drain? Great site that I've subscribed too.

Drains are King auto drains. They are much more reliable than drains from years past which were ball and spring types and would tend to get debris in the drain and leak. These drains have a rubber diaphragm with filter cloth over the drain. I've had very little trouble with them. When the zone pressure hits the drain (7psi) they shut off and when the zone shuts down they open and begin draining (slowly). Rocks-gravel around drain are only necessary if you have heavy clay soil.

you need to install between the main shot of valve and the manifold bacflow prevented need's to be installed so the water flow's through the arrow and won't back in to the city water and contaminated

ha John what do u tk of the wireless timers ( Remote Typ )

very good. Thanks.

My old system has 1.25" valves. It seems modern Rainbird valves are now 1", 1.5", or 2". Can you replace a valve in a 1.25" system with a standard 1" valve?

Thanks and Well done! ' Subscribed too. The 100DFVuu may be obsolete at this time as I cannot find them online. Are the unions themselves detachable? Thanks.

Good eavining kerry i allways watch your videos and learn a lot i am estimiting a spr revamp job i have a question do u est a job by the hr or give a price on the job after u look at it your in put would b gerat

Thank you. Its very comprehensive. Could I ask you whether we can build the manifold and valves over ground on a wall and then box it so that they do not get muddy and at the same time easier to get access to and maintain? Thank you.

thanks very much

Can you help me with installation? old copper system with pvb in the basement. how can I rerun this? I have pictures.

I like using action brand manifolds and Hunter PGV valves.

Nice job...

another trick and easier to install fittings to pipe is heat up the pipe slightly.

nice job, i noticed u didnt use tephlon tape. But Ive seen other guys use it. Im assuming its not required . Anybody have suggestions?

thanks..

Should there be some backflow prevention device installed ? These are not anti-siphon valves, right?

hello Kerry, I just wanted to offer a suggestion for you. when retrofitting a system from poly to pvc, I will get out my heat gun and (lightly) heat the poly, first. then I will insert any 2" to 3" (or as long as you want) off-cuts of 3/4" pvc into the 1" poly. after it's heated, it slides right in and will harden around the pvc, but I still like to add a hose clamp for good measure. I have found this to be cheaper and easier than purchasing those transition adaptors, not to mention using up scrap pvc....plus there's the added benefit of having more pipe inside the poly than the transition adaptors. just my 0.02 ¢ take care

hey! where'd you get those DV-UUs at?!?

Nice Keens!

No special reason other than my sprinkler material supplier carried the hose clamps but not the pinch clamp.

no leak test before back filling?