Programming your Sprinkler System Timer
During the dry season it's really important that everyone water their lawns. Our last dry spell was longer than usual and as a result of poor watering practices there's some sizable patches of dead grass on Bonita lawns. Those homeowners may be faced with re-sodding those dead areas and that ain't cheap!
If your sprinkler timer is like most of the ones in Bonita Isle, then it looks something like this.
If your sprinkler timer is like most of the ones in Bonita Isle, then it looks something like this.
Typical Timer
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Hourly Select Wheel
Daily Select Wheel
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You'll want to make sure the system is set to run at least twice a week. And you'll want to adjust each zone's watering time depending on the size of the zone and how thoroughly it is watered.
Here's how to do that.
Look at the image of the Hourly Select Wheel. Each trip pin opens the value for 12 minutes so each zone can receive water timed in 12-minute increments. If you want a zone to receive, say, 24 minutes of water, then place two trip pins into adjacent slots. The zones don't have to be equally timed. One can receive 24 minutes of water, the next 12 minutes, etc. An empty slot causes the system to advance to the next zone. Therefore you cannot skip a zone, the timer doesn't allow that. So each zone must receive at least 12 minutes of water.
For example, my system has four zones. So I need four sets of trip pins with a single empty slot between each set. You can see that in the image. It's arranged like this: pin pin empty pin pin empty pin pin empty pin pin Each of my four zones will receive water for 24 minutes starting at 1am. Don't worry about Daylight Saving Time kicking in or out. One hour either way doesn't matter.
Now that the hourly times are set, let us look at the Daily Select Wheel. This wheel determines on which days the system will activate. There are 14 days on the Daily Select Wheel from which you can choose to water or not. Pull the pin toward you (out) to water on that day. The daily pins do not come completely out -- they just push-in or pull-out a little. They are hard to push in and pull out so you'll need small needle-nose pliers. To water every night, just pull all the pins out toward you. To water every other night, pull out every other pin, etc.
Because this is an analog clockwork timer, it can be difficult to tell which day the pins are controlling. But it doesn't really matter. Don't think in terms of "I'll water on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday" because it's difficult to tell what days each pin is referencing and what day is next up on the Daily Select Wheel. And besides the grass doesn't care if it's Monday or whatever. Instead, think in terms of how many days during the two-week period you want to water. If you want to water only once a week (bad idea), then just pull out two pins -- 180 degrees apart. If you want to water four times over the two-week period, then pull out four pins, spaced more or less equally, around the Daily Select Wheel. When the two-week period ends, the timer just starts over again. And so it goes on forever just like that.
On the larger image above, near the lower left area of the yellow wheel, you'll notice a silver toggle switch. Flip the switch UP to activate the timer system. The center position is off, and the lower position opens the valve immediately for testing the sprinkler heads.
Now then, like me, you probably don't have any spare pins! You can buy a package of a dozen for two bucks or so at Lowe's, that's what I had to do. I have some spares now if you'd like a few. If you aren't sure how to do this, you can contact the sprinkler guy in the neighborhood and he'll come by. If you need someone then let me know.
There's been some question as to who pays for sprinkler maintenance. I'm not 100% positive of this, but I believe it works like this: If your sprinkler system draws water from the lake then you pay for sprinkler maintenance, e.g. broken heads, etc. If your system draws from the county water main then the association pays for your sprinkler maintenance. I don't know why it's like this, but this is what I've been told a number of times.
OK, I hope this article on sprinklers help you keep a pretty and living lawn!
Here's how to do that.
Look at the image of the Hourly Select Wheel. Each trip pin opens the value for 12 minutes so each zone can receive water timed in 12-minute increments. If you want a zone to receive, say, 24 minutes of water, then place two trip pins into adjacent slots. The zones don't have to be equally timed. One can receive 24 minutes of water, the next 12 minutes, etc. An empty slot causes the system to advance to the next zone. Therefore you cannot skip a zone, the timer doesn't allow that. So each zone must receive at least 12 minutes of water.
For example, my system has four zones. So I need four sets of trip pins with a single empty slot between each set. You can see that in the image. It's arranged like this: pin pin empty pin pin empty pin pin empty pin pin Each of my four zones will receive water for 24 minutes starting at 1am. Don't worry about Daylight Saving Time kicking in or out. One hour either way doesn't matter.
Now that the hourly times are set, let us look at the Daily Select Wheel. This wheel determines on which days the system will activate. There are 14 days on the Daily Select Wheel from which you can choose to water or not. Pull the pin toward you (out) to water on that day. The daily pins do not come completely out -- they just push-in or pull-out a little. They are hard to push in and pull out so you'll need small needle-nose pliers. To water every night, just pull all the pins out toward you. To water every other night, pull out every other pin, etc.
Because this is an analog clockwork timer, it can be difficult to tell which day the pins are controlling. But it doesn't really matter. Don't think in terms of "I'll water on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday" because it's difficult to tell what days each pin is referencing and what day is next up on the Daily Select Wheel. And besides the grass doesn't care if it's Monday or whatever. Instead, think in terms of how many days during the two-week period you want to water. If you want to water only once a week (bad idea), then just pull out two pins -- 180 degrees apart. If you want to water four times over the two-week period, then pull out four pins, spaced more or less equally, around the Daily Select Wheel. When the two-week period ends, the timer just starts over again. And so it goes on forever just like that.
On the larger image above, near the lower left area of the yellow wheel, you'll notice a silver toggle switch. Flip the switch UP to activate the timer system. The center position is off, and the lower position opens the valve immediately for testing the sprinkler heads.
Now then, like me, you probably don't have any spare pins! You can buy a package of a dozen for two bucks or so at Lowe's, that's what I had to do. I have some spares now if you'd like a few. If you aren't sure how to do this, you can contact the sprinkler guy in the neighborhood and he'll come by. If you need someone then let me know.
There's been some question as to who pays for sprinkler maintenance. I'm not 100% positive of this, but I believe it works like this: If your sprinkler system draws water from the lake then you pay for sprinkler maintenance, e.g. broken heads, etc. If your system draws from the county water main then the association pays for your sprinkler maintenance. I don't know why it's like this, but this is what I've been told a number of times.
OK, I hope this article on sprinklers help you keep a pretty and living lawn!