Sprinkler and Irrigation System Pump Repair in Winter Park

We recently had a homeowner contact us about repairing the pump system to the sprinklers. The hapless homeowner had not one but two previous 'irrigation experts' come out to try and fix the problem. Not only did they not fix the problem, but they both disappeared with the cash and left the situation worse than before.

So I offered to take a look at the system and offer a diagnosis. The first thing we did was to rule out supply issues. This pump pull from a well, so I checked the USGS water levels in the area and determined that even with the recent dry weather, the local water tables were back to typical levels as gauged by years' past. Next was to see if the previous attempts at repairs had left air gaps in the PVC. We simply took kitchen plastic wrap and duct tape and wrapped the pipes. There was still only about 10lbs of output pressure.

In this photo you can see some of the plastic wrap and duct tape that we used to rule out leaks in the pipe:

We wanted to check the valves as well to insure that the lack of pressure was not at the output side. So we dug out the valves. There was +24V feeding all the valves and it was working with the timer, so we were able to rule that out. Therefore, there was only one last thing: the pump itself.

The homeowner had offered to simply replace the pump, but this was a Berkeley pump and rather expensive. My thought process on these is that the more expensive the pump, the greater the ability to replace worn parts. It's 'price vs. cost of ownership', and these are great pumps. Any replacement would be going far backwards...

This is the pump once we got it out.  Pretty simple mechanism, water goes in the hole in the middle and is flung out the sides:

So I pulled out the pump and discovered the issue within 5 seconds: whoever replaced the pump previously had failed to line up the motor, diffusor, manifold and intake. The rubber diffusor ring therefore slipped, fell, and was wedged between diffusor and intake pipe! A $5 part, always seems to be the culprit. Once we swapped that out, the pressure was not high enough (50+ lbs with all valves closed) so we obtained further replacement parts and then the system was back to running like new. BTW, running like new means 40lbs of pressure with a sprinkler line open, 50+ with the all valves closed.

At the end of the day, the homeowner spent less than the cost of a new pump and ended up with a better system that will work quietly in the background for years to come.

Here's some photos of the system once it was put back together:

We also repaired the piping going to the pressure valve (those are the small pipes on the bottom):

If you need your sprinklers, motors, pumps, heads, piping, misters, rotors, or any other part of your irrigation system repaired, designed or installed please give us a call or email us at winterparkhandyman@gmail.com. We service Orange County, Seminole County and the surrounding area. This includes Winter Park, Orlando, Maitland, Longwood, Winter Springs, Oviedo, Winter Garden, Altamonte Springs, and anywhere else in the neighborhood. We're your neighbor too!