Step by Step Irrigation Spring Start Up Process
It is best to turn your sprinkler system on when the ground is no longer frozen and the temperature is 55* or warmer for a week straight. Typically, this is mid to late April in Southern New Jersey.
Spring Start-Up Instructions
- Grab some tools and get moving, here’s what you’ll need:
- Pencil and paper
- Adjustable wrench
- Small flathead screwdriver
- Teflon tape for reinstalling any plugs or caps that were removed during the winterization process
- Shovel to clear grass and debris from around sprinkler heads
- Sprinkler head adjustment tool or key
- Replace batteries in controller if they are a year or older
- Turn on, inspect, and program your controller
- Make sure the controller has power and you can read the display
- Replace backup battery if needed
- Make sure the date and time are correct
- Verify the system start time and zone run times
- Inspect the Pressure Vacuum Backflow (PVB).
- Make sure the backflow valve body, ball valves, and top cap haven’t broken over the winter months
- Reinstall any plugs or caps using Teflon tape that have been removed from when the system was winterized
- Make sure both ball valves are in the closed position
- You may need to use a wrench to close the valves
- You can tell the valve is closed when the handle is perpendicular to the ball valve body
- Make sure test ports are also in the closed position using a small flathead screwdriver
- Go inside the house and slowly turn on the main sprinkler valve on
- Now it’s time to turn the valves on at the backflow preventer
- First, slowly open the lower inlet ball valve on the PVB
- Use wrench if necessary
- This is where the water supply comes from the house and into the PVB
- There may be some water that leaks out from the top of the PVB as it pressurizing
- First, slowly open the lower inlet ball valve on the PVB
- Next, you need to slowly fill the mainline
- This is done by opening the outgoing ball valve ¼ of the way.
- This will keep back pressure on the internal parts of the PVB so it doesn’t leak out of the top while filling the main line with water
- You will hear the water filling the main line.
- Once you can no longer hear the pipe filling it is safe to turn the outlet ball valve all the way open.
- This is done by opening the outgoing ball valve ¼ of the way.
- Finally, it’s time to turn on and inspect each zone and all sprinkler heads
- Go to the controller and manually turn on the system zone by zone.
- This will help eliminate all air from the piping system and let it fully pressurize with water.
- While the zone is up and running go around to all the sprinkler heads and make sure they are free of grass and debris
- There is a chance that some heads will not pop up due to overgrown grass or they are broken
- Use your shovel to dig them up and inspect
- Replace any faulty or broken sprinkler heads
- Adjust sprinkler spray patterns with tool/key as needed
- Go to the controller and manually turn on the system zone by zone.
We recommend that your sprinkler system should be winterized by a professional. If you are still having problems after following instructions on how to winterize your system it may be time to give Adaptive Sprinkler a call.
Please see our service plans and choose the one that will fit your needs.