Thread: My Spring Project

Originally Posted by PanMan_VA

Might have to take 1/2 day on Thursday and wet a line.:D

There you go.......

Ok, I understand....ulterior motives.

I know I'm going to cut the existing wires that run from the controller to the valves since the cable is buried only a few inches deep at the most so I decided to pull the cable out of the ground to prevent it from getting wrapped up in the tiller when I'm preparing for the walkway.

The existing cable is the second cable in the ground. The system was never tested when it was first installed since it was winter. The plastic cap was still on the controller transformer plug that was laying on the floor of the garage when I moved in. I tried to bring the system up the next spring to set the arc and radius on the heads but the controller would not operate the system. The landscape contractor was certain that I had damaged the cable when I put the drywall up in the garage. I was not home when his employees cane by to fix the problem.

They cut the first cable below ground level just outside the garage and ran a short cable through the garage wall and to the controller. They damaged that section of cable when they pinched it between the PVC pipe and plate near the garage floor. I guess that did not work so they replaced the controller and did a poor job of attaching it to the wall. That did not work either so the cable from the garage to the valves was replaced. Rather than running the 6 feet or so extra wire through the wall and to the controller to get an un-spliced cable, they just spliced the cables outside the garage. The box they had the poorly spliced wires in was not even sealed properly. Everything came apart easily when I pulled the cable out of the ground. I'm surprised the system made it through the season last year without failing. I bet it would have been easier and faster to run the cable through the wall and to the controller than it was to do all the splicing.

Apparently, he cannot do simple math either. The total flow rate for the sprinkler heads he has on each zone exceeds the total total flow my well and pressure tank can sustain. I will be replacing some of the heads soon to reduce the flow to get below what my well can provide. And he wonders why I will not let him in my yard any more.

The cable I put in will be in conduit so it will be better protected against damage and a new cable can be easily pulled through the conduit should it ever need to be changed or the system expanded. The total cost of the electrical conduit was $7. I bet the contractor had to pay his employee more than that to bury the second cable. I may pull the first cable they laid in the ground out in the next day or so to see where it was damaged and to get it out of the way in case some future work goes on where it is buried.

Paint those chairs . Or you'll have a bunch of limp wristers waiting when you bring home the fish