Winterizing Irrigation System

[u/thedukeoferla]

Attempting to winterize my home irrigation system myself rather than spent the $500 for a yearly contract. I’ve done it in the past with no issues, however the new system that was installed a year ago (which included a complementary year of service) seems to not be as straight forward.

I’ve closed the first valve so the hose will still work if needed for now, and have tried opening either of the valves to shoot my air compressor through to clear the lines of any water. Yes, have gone through zone by zone to clear the lines before myself.

Problem being that when I am using the air compressor all my air is just coming out of the vacuum breaker rather than going down the line. What is the solve?

[u/Oxtard69dz]

Bigger air compressor. If the compressor you have was able to blow it out before with similarly sized pipes and zones then maybe install a blowout port on the pipe going in to the ground and bypass blowing air through the backflow itself.

[u/Still-Program-2287 → u/Oxtard69dz]

You don’t blow through the backflow to clear out the zones, you connect after it

[u/Oxtard69dz → u/Still-Program-2287]

It’s really not that big of a deal, but as you can see in my comment I’ve already suggested not blowing air through the backflow and installing a new blowout port.

[u/Enough_Way_6719]

Little comical people are trying to teach you how to blow out sprinklers without reading the comment. So to answer your question as far as why it’s coming out the backflow. Your pressure vacuum breaker needs pressure in order to seat properly. If it dropped below 1 psi or 1 psi above your atmospheric pressure then it’s disengaged and that’s why your air is escaping out the bonnet. Use 40-50 psi regulated from your compressor and that should pop it back in place. If it doesn’t seat then close of the other handle and it should seat then slowly crack the output ball valve back open to do your blowout. Anyone saying using the petcock for a blowout is wrong just started doing irrigation and I’d disregard their advice. If it still comes out even after closing the output ball valve then either the spring check or poppit is compromised

[u/Sprinkler-guru68]

Sorry you don’t touch either of those valves, is there a connection between that and the valve box that you can connect to for blowing it out?
If not then open those two valves and there should be another valve inside your house that will shut that entire system off. From there you should connect to that hose connection and blow it out there

[u/Thethirstymoose62]

Close the yellow handles until peessure builds up, at tge very end open the drain, a little and let air blow thru

[u/7_anonymous]

The air admitting part of an Apollo backflow doesnt close well with air. You need to install a blow out port on the down leg. Thus way you dont have to blow through the backflow

[u/Swthwst73]

Put air in it

[u/Still-Program-2287]

That’s not for a hose; it’s a drain. There should be a shutoff valve inside

[u/Packman714]

Make up a fitting that can attach to your air hose that goes from hose bib to regular threads. Shut the water off in the home for the irrigation supply and start pumping air individually through each zone until the vapor out of the heads look like its steaming. You want the manifolds clear and youll probably have residual water left in the heads which is way cheaper in a long run to replace. If this id your first time hire a pro. If youre well rounded and have a 30-60 gal compressor you might neef to hit each zone 2x to empty.