System Maintenance & Troubleshooting

Maintenance

Like everything else, a bit of preventive maintenance will go a long way with keeping your drip system in working order. Periodically check your system for any leaks or ware in the drip tubing. Inspect all drip emitters, sprayers and bubblers and verify that each are flowing and not clogged. Clean or replace any components that have become clogged or have stopped flowing water. Check the filter screen each week for the first month for any debris built up. Clean the screen with a soft nylon brush and water. The frequency at which your filter screen needs cleaning will depend upon your water’s quality.

Check to see if any drip tubing has been moved and under strain, also check for any nicks or cuts and use couplings to replace and bad sections of tubing. It’s best to flush your drip tubing a few times each year. This can help to flush out any minerals that may have built up in the tubing over time. Over time, it may be necessary to add more emitters, sprayers or bubblers as your landscape matures and its watering needs change.

It helps to keep a small repair kit of parts to deal with any problems that might occur over time. Common parts to have on hand are 1/4” barbed fittings, 1/2” tubing couplings, small lengths of both 1/4” and 1/2” solid drip tubing, extra drip emitters and plenty of goof plugs.

Troubleshooting

Hose timer is not working: Hose timers tend to fall into two categories, either they work or they don’t. Always make sure you have good batteries installed. Be sure to read your timers instructions and thoroughly check the timers program for any missing information. Manual activate your timer to verify the internal mechanism is working properly. To test for automatic operations, set a start time for several minutes from the current time and observe. 

No water from drip emitters, soaker hose dripline, sprayers or bubblers: Verify that you have water to your drip system. Be sure that proper filtration is installed and that all drip lines have been periodically flushed. Check to see if any flow control valves have been shut off or if any drip lines are cracked or broken. Make sure all end caps are installed and tight.

Drip emitters and sprayers have uneven or little flow at the end of the dripline: Verify that you haven’t exceeded the dripline maximum flow rate of 240 gph. Remove any excess or unused drip emitters or install lower flow emitters. Turn down any adjustable sprayers and bubblers. Making small adjustments to your system can help with solving this problem.

Winterization

In areas that are prone to freezing or for long periods on inactivity, we recommend winterizing your drip system. Winterizing is the process of removing water from a drip system that would other damaging the tubing and components during freezing weather.

Start by shutting off your water faucet or mainline that supplies water to your drip system. Remove any hose timers, its batteries and store in a dry location. For irrigation valves, removing the internal rubber diaphragm will extend the diaphragms life.

Remove all drip hose end caps and allow the water to drain completely. To “blow out” your drip system, use of an air compressor is recommended as long as the pressure is limited to 30 psi or under. Higher pressures can result in damaging your drip tubing or components. Once the water has been removed, replace the end caps. This will help to keep out any dirt or insects.

In areas of harsh prolonged freezing, we recommend rolling up your drip tubing altogether. Removal of your drip tubing can easily be done by installing Direct-Loc fittings during the initial installation. These fittings make removal and installation of your drip tubing quick and easy.

Spring Start-up

Starting up your drip system for the spring is not unlike the initial walk thru you made during your systems installation, although Murphy’s Laws does seem to kick into high gear around this time. As stated before, keep your repair kit close at hand to deal with any problems that might pop up.

Start by installing fresh batteries in your hose timer and reprogram for a spring watering schedule. Install all water source connection components as before, inspect and replace any cracked or worn hose washers. Inspect the filter screen, clean or replace if needed. Reattach any drip lines that were removed, then remove all end caps and flush the lines. Once the drip lines have been flushed, replace the end caps and run your drip system.

Inspect all drip emitters, soaker hose dripline, sprayers and bubblers. Clean or replace any parts that have stopped watering. Check the drip tubing for any cracks, splits or for any areas that may have been chewed on by animals or varmints, repair or replace any tubing as needed.

For drip systems using irrigation valves, reinstall rubber diaphragms, reprogram your controller and activate each valve to insure each are working properly.