help with my sprinkler valve

[joe912]

well today i went out and bought a sprinkler valve and i cannot get it to seal. i am using just the normal solenoid to actuate it. i took it off and when i blow in it air just leaks out. any tips?

[saladtossser]

a common problem
clean it out, also check that it is pointed in the right direction

[bone]

How much pressure are you feeding it? I have a valve that won't seal good until it gets at least 20 PSI in it. The way the valves are designed, the more pressure, the better the seal.

[joe912]

ok i think i have figured out where the air is leaking its leaking though the little hole drilled into the exit side of the valveif i put my finger over it and pump it to 20 psi then it works but it still leaks through the small hole. this means i should get a blowgun tomorrow right?

[beebs111]

do you have a picture of the valve? it seems as thouch you have it on the wrong way

[TalonXxX]

I am also having troubles... I tested my gun with my solenoid and it didn't leak and then I removed the solenoid and plugged the hole with epoxy and now air is leaking through the epoxy. I can feel air coming through the epoxy with doesn't make sense. Did I get shitty epoxy? I'm going to try and bore the epoxy out and try it again. Any ideas? Thanks

[beebs111]

try jb weld or pc7 they have held up good for me and are pressure rated very high

[TalonXxX]

should I solvent/cement the hole and the add epoxy on top or is that not a good idea?

[joe912]

ok i got it to work better i just took a file and smoothed out that little white nipple below the solenoid but i was not able to get out to get a blowgun today, we got like 11 inches of snow but saturday i will go and get a blowgun and mod it because now it honks which is sorta annoying but other than that it shoots very good now just a little bit of filing

[beebs111]

what i did is just mixed up my jb weld and smeared some on then used a toothpick to push it through into the hole, then fill the rest of the area with it

[TalonXxX]

ok awesome, that worked. thanks beebs!

[nicholai]

yeah i just use cheap ass plumbers putty, and a q-tip of solvent/cement in the little hole. good rule of thumb is when you are pressing the epoxy in to grab a bic pen or a sharpie marker and cram it in as hard as you can to seal any small air pockets.

When you mod the sprinkler valve make sure when you drill the hole that you arent drilling it where the guide rod sets or it wont seal right, most sprinklers (orbit watermaster) used in spudguns dont have a guide rod so its all set. ALSO its very very important to lubricate the diaphragm, these valves were designed for water not air so after a dozen or so shots they might start to "honk" or make a honking sound. Use white lithium grease as it wont degrade the diaphragm and weaken it. This will also make the life expectancy longer