Although I haven't had a visit from the Men in Black, I have felt that something strange has been going on. You see, on Saturday I went to turn-on the sprinklers and when it hit the first station in the backyard, I noticed that the area by main line was gushing water. Okay, I changed the connection and everything was fine, right? Wrong! When the next station turned-on, I noticed the exact same thing was happening. Alright...I fixed that one as well. Today, When the last backyard station tuned-on, I noticed yet another break. So, what is the culprit behind these mysterious goings-on...a saddle tee. (A saddle tee, as shown in the picture below, is connected to the poly pipe and the screws or nuts are tightened down. You then take a reaming tool or just a drill and make a hole in the pipe. You can then add a riser and screw your sprinkler head onto that).
It was exactly ten years ago when I installed our backyard sprinkler system. Although in years past I had worked almost exclusively with PVC, I decided to go an easier route and use poly pipe. The connections were faster and it took next to no-time to lay the pipe. By using the saddle tees, I was able to be much more flexible in the positioning of my sprinkler heads and, I didn't have to cut-and-splice a compression tee in the line, which saved a great deal of time and aggravation.
Where is this all going? Well, I just wanted to advise any others out there that may have saddle tees that are getting-up there in age, to keep an eye out for this possible problem.
Now, I need to get cleaned-up just in case Agent Sculley decides to drop by.
I understand what getting-up there in age means but don't know what a saddle tee is. I guess we'll hope there isn't gushing water in the backyard anytime soon! But if there is, won't my hubby be surprised when I tell him to check the saddle tees?!
ReplyDeleteBeadedTail: Sorry about that, I guess I should have explained what it is, instead of just showing a picture.
ReplyDeleteYou connect the saddle tee to the poly pipe and tighten the screws or nuts. You then take a reaming tool or just a drill and drill a hole in the pipe. You can then add a riser and screw your sprinkler head on that.
I'll cut and paste this and place it in the article.
Thanks for letting me know.
LOL, it's all greek to me!! Glad to hear you got it fixed though....
ReplyDeleteAnd I have given you a "Major Award" over at my Soy Wax Candles Blog because your blog is very deserving!!
Congrats!
Kat
KAT: I wrote this late at night and my mind was already fried from working in the sun all day. I should have given a lot more detail as to what these connections do. Thank you for the award, I'll swing by and pick it up;)
ReplyDeleteI'm really glad I don't have to deal with sprinkler tees and other things because I'm getting up in age too. Thanks for the lesson Tim.
ReplyDeleteMountain Woman: I guess these things only last about 10 years or so, because they seem to be all "kicking-the-bucket" all at the same time.
ReplyDelete