Talk to me
DIY?
lefty loosey - righty tighty. Other than that you need to know what your replacing: rotor, rotary, spray, drip, etc.
Agree with @mck414 - dig out around the head (to keep dirt out of the pipes), unscrew it, take it to an irrigation supply place and get something that looks just like what’s in your hand. And maybe throw a couple wraps of teflon tape on the threads when you replace it.
It really is just one small step beyond changing a lightbulb.
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Do I have to dig them up?
Put Teflon tape on the threads?
Notice it says again
Yep. Just a couple laps around - it’ll ensure a good seal and keep the threads from seizing.
I had a summer job in HS installing an irrigation system on a golf course and we taped all threaded joints.
I would dig them up to keep dirt from getting inside. Then, put a drink bottle or something over the pipe while you’re working around it. You want to check to see what diameter fitting the sprinkler heads need because some are 1/2 inch and some are 3/4.
Just a tip. When you dig up the grass and dirt, put it in a bucket or small tarp. If you put it on the grass nearby, a fair amount will fall into the grass meaning that you don’t have enough to fill the hole. And trust me, you never want to have a problem with not properly filling the hole.
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For mine, I didn’t need to dig them up nor did I put on teflon tape. My heads were shaped such that the pipe they screw into fit up inside the head. When you unscrewed the head the pip you exposed was clear of the surrounding dirt. No teflon because a few drips in the dirt wouldn’t be a big issue like a leaky faucet would be. Ours look like this:
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I guess whether you need to dig it out depends on your soil. In Florida, we don’t have soil - we have sand. It doesn’t compact and the sides constantly fall in when you’re digging a hole. In Chicago he probably has equal parts mafia bodies and poo from Wisconsin.
That is a pro tip. You’ll never recover all the dirt if you just throw it on grass.
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Different brands and heads will throw the water different distances, get the correct head for the distance you need.
Buy quality reticulation sprinklers so you don’t have to replace them again in a couple of years.
Has rain been banned by your HOA?
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Did you know that affordable, plastic sprinkler heads were developed in Adelaide in the 1960’s.
The first automated, segmented residential irrigation systems connected to mains water were developed in Perth in the 1960’s.
Despite living in a very dry environment we Aussie’s love our green lawns.
I replaced all of mine and the timer last year. The nice feature of the sprinkler heads I used was that the spray pattern was adjustable. Used to be you bought ones that were full circle, or 3/4, 1/2 etc. Much easier to just buy them all and not have to keep a list of how many for each spray pattern
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So I need to replace one that’s broken and looks like a fountain
I accept this mission (and will call the company if I have issues)
So just buy that
Unscrew the one in the ground and screw this in?
I assume I need a tool to dig around the sprinkler head?
What happens if dirt gets in the line?
That tool is called a spade or shovel.
Dig first, then unscrew the head to avoid getting dirt in the line.
Like a hand garden one or a big one?