All lawn sprinkler systems are a maze of pipes, electronic parts and sprinkler heads that work in concert to irrigate lawns and other landscapes with the water they need to grow.
One of the most vital elements of these systems is the remote control valve. Variously called a zone, station or solenoid valve, an automated lawn sprinkler system will include a remote control valve for every watering zone it has.
A watering station is composed of a group of sprinkler heads whose water supply lines are linked to that remote valve. When a watering station is activated from the timer, an electrical signal is sent via a pair of field wires to the connected `solenoid,` which opens the valve hydraulically, thus allowing the water to flow to those linked sprinkler heads.
If you're a homeowner, the logic behind your contractor`s choice of valve location might escape you! That's because contractors often don't group all the remote control valves in the same location; it`s usually more practical to route a single `main` supply pipe, connecting the solenoid valve where it intersects each watering station around the property. If all the valves were grouped together in a single location it might make repair jobs easier, but it would require a separate `feeder` pipe from each valve routed to the watering station it controls. On large landscapes, this would require lots of plumbing in a big hole in the ground, as well as, large pipe sizes. Not very efficient.
Yet there are some cases where grouping valves would be a smart idea. For example, if a particular location gets a lot of traffic from vehicles, animals or humans, bunching the remote control valves all together, in a protected location would be a wise move.
To be honest, sometimes valve placement isn't based on best principles but is simply selected because that's where the control wires end. Or it was chosen because some feature of the landscape forced the location on the contractor.
Of course, by definition, the solenoid valve is `remote-control' and therefore accessibility isn`t crucial. If a repair is required, the installer knows it can be found in other ways.
One of the most vital elements of these systems is the remote control valve. Variously called a zone, station or solenoid valve, an automated lawn sprinkler system will include a remote control valve for every watering zone it has.
A watering station is composed of a group of sprinkler heads whose water supply lines are linked to that remote valve. When a watering station is activated from the timer, an electrical signal is sent via a pair of field wires to the connected `solenoid,` which opens the valve hydraulically, thus allowing the water to flow to those linked sprinkler heads.
If you're a homeowner, the logic behind your contractor`s choice of valve location might escape you! That's because contractors often don't group all the remote control valves in the same location; it`s usually more practical to route a single `main` supply pipe, connecting the solenoid valve where it intersects each watering station around the property. If all the valves were grouped together in a single location it might make repair jobs easier, but it would require a separate `feeder` pipe from each valve routed to the watering station it controls. On large landscapes, this would require lots of plumbing in a big hole in the ground, as well as, large pipe sizes. Not very efficient.
Yet there are some cases where grouping valves would be a smart idea. For example, if a particular location gets a lot of traffic from vehicles, animals or humans, bunching the remote control valves all together, in a protected location would be a wise move.
To be honest, sometimes valve placement isn't based on best principles but is simply selected because that's where the control wires end. Or it was chosen because some feature of the landscape forced the location on the contractor.
Of course, by definition, the solenoid valve is `remote-control' and therefore accessibility isn`t crucial. If a repair is required, the installer knows it can be found in other ways.
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