A pipe was broken and I was losing a lot of water pressure. No problem...searched the web, looked at all the ways to fix a sprinkler pipe. I dug out the water leak visible from the ground. I find 3/4 inch pipe in the ground...and hacksaw the cracked edges of the pipe out to get nice smooth and flat surface. I buy 3/4 inch connectors to snug into the pipe. Crack. The old pipe in the ground cracks with light insertion of the connector (the connector does not break some new 3/4 inch pipe that I bought as a repair).

Now the journey through hell begins--over 3 weeks and many days of fiddling after work.

I get some pipe compression repairs--but the compression ends do not fit snug enough to prevent water leakage. I try latex/acrylic in between the pipe and some 3/4 inch connectors. Each time that I try something new, the pipe cracks further up the line (which means more digging). Now I have a space about 10 ft wide, with my last attempt. I use PVC primer and cement on some 3/4 female screw in connectors to jam around the 3/4 pipe in the ground. I am waiting for this last 'fix'...if it doesn't work, I will dig a long trench from the water source and drop in an entirely new PVC line.

Wish me luck...


PS if anyone has any advice, I'd really appreciate it.

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All I ever really needed to know, I learned from watching Star Trek.
Nassau County, NY

PVC for a supply line? Didn't know you could do that.

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If the pipe has very thin walls, hacksaw is your best bet because cheap pipe was installed. I had a similar problem, if it indeed a sprinkler pipe lay a new line up to the first sprinkler head. Digging a trench is what is you will need to do unfortunately.

Edit if you dont want to dig for the whole new line, expose about 4 or 5 feet of the old pipe on both sides to allow for the pipe to bend just enough to not break. A couple of couplers and new pipe will work. If the pipe is too brittle just replace the whole line.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/2012 03:58PM by Carm.

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Carm
If the pipe is too brittle just replace the whole line.

After a second repair, this is how I would have done it. Copper is a little expensive these days, but spending $80 on pipe is nothing compared to paying a plumber to do it.

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in tha 510.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/2012 04:25PM by Filliam H. Muffman.

>>Sprinkler broken in new house

Do people expect new houses to be problem free??

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It is a lawn sprinkler underground line that broke, correct? Not a sprinkler INSIDE the house as the subject says, correct?

I'm surprised that the line is metal. Every supply line I've seen for underground watering systems has been PVC. It will handle more pressure before failure by freezing.

Since that line failed, it suggests that the system was not drained last fall. You may be in a location where the ground does not freeze in winter, which would explain that. Otherwise, expect more of this.

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Mr. Curmudgeon, on Mountain Lion.

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mattkime
>>Sprinkler broken in new house

Do people expect new houses to be problem free??

When I bought my house, we discovered that the spike on the For Sale sign pierced a sprinkler line.

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