Expert: James Grote - 10/5/2006

Question
I have a 6 zone irrigation system.  Today one zone developed a problem.  When that zone comes on, water is emitted through all the other zones with it, so all 6 zones trickle when zone 5 should be on alone.  I believe I've changed out the plunger in the valve head before.  Does this seem like a logical place to start?  Seems to me if there were a problem with a crack or faulty head in zone 5, it wouldn't push the water back into the head and out toward the other zones, would it?  Thanks!

Answer
Art,
What the heck is going on out there? This one is driving you crazy isn't it. It does not seem logical. I can only think of 2 things that might be causing this. 1) The system is hydraulic, which means that the valve are not turned on by wires, instead there are small tubes turning the valves on and off. Let me know if that is the case. 2) The valve are made by Toro and they are the terrible Flo-Pro valve. You can identify them by the jar top on them. There are no screws holding them together and they are the worst invention Toro ever came out with.  One bad Flo-Pro will make the others act up. If this is the case, you are probably better off replacing the whole valve instead of trying to rebuild the old one. Let me  know, Jim