Mother Nature has cerainly taken over this Spring! Add yesturday and today’s rainfall amount and were looking at 1.8 inches…putting the Rochester area 7 inches over the average amount this year!

Water has no place to go! Last year the area battled a drought but now were standing in it.

An Irrigation System is still a must have …for certain chemicals need to be watered in and lets not forget that summer will be sure to bring higher temps.

Routine maintenance and repairs occur throughout the year. Recently I have been replacing “decoders” within each sprinkler. The head either does not respond or turns on when ever it likes. 

To correct this I took some pictures of the process.

I am fortunate to work with Toro’s new “Infinity” series. No more digging! All components are found underneath just a few screws!

Once the screws are removed the lid pops off and the fun begins.

Did I mention no more digging? It has been really nice maintaining these heads. Anyway, I need to replace the decoder. 

In short…

The decoder is what sets the sprinklers apart. Each sprinkler has its own number and when the computer or my handheld radio sends a specific code…it searches for the same code or “number”. A few sprinklers have gone rogue so… time for a decoder swap.

Below is the new decoder with its corresponding number.

Remove old decoder and start wire splicing.

White goes with white.

Black goes with black.

Made easy.

Wire nut and gel pack the splice…protects it from the elements.

A solenoid comes attached to the new decoders. That connects the decoder to the pilot valve.

Solenoid: Accepts the electrical charge to open and close valve.

Pilot Valve: Reacts to solenoid charge…sprinkler on/off

Decoder: Unique number for the sprinkler…receives the signal.

Once new decoder and solenoid are replaced…the new number must be entered into the computer. 

Once entered …I test to see if everything connected properly. Enjoy the video. 

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And yes! Success!

So with that..stay dry and thanks for reading.

Quick Greens Update: 2 weeks after Aeration. Filling in nicely.