Some irrigation service calls make a technician scratch their head with confusion.<\/p>\n
But some are so calamity-filled that they seem cursed. This October, these contractors share irrigation horror stories of possessed wires, ghostly internet signals and backbreaking digging \u2014 jobs that seemed straightforward, until they became a straight-up nightmare.<\/p>\n
Greg Haynes currently works as the public works supervisor for the City of Newport, California, but memories of a nightmare irrigation service call during his tenure as an irrigation contractor come rushing back to him with a jolt.<\/p>\n
He was called out to the 57 Freeway running north and south through Orange County, California, to service the irrigation system, which was watering the east side of the highway, but not the west side.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was wiring everywhere, and none of it made sense,\u201d says Haynes. \u201cIt looked like someone had tried to fix it already, and I was there to fix the fix.\u201d<\/p>\n
After locating what he assumed was the sole master valve on the east side of the freeway, he was certain that lines were carrying water underneath eight lanes of roaring highway traffic.<\/p>\n
He just wasn\u2019t sure how it was happening. But after three days of walking along the freeway and climbing over and under the bridge head, Haynes says he finally discovered another master valve that no one knew about, buried under asphalt along the west side lanes of traffic.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I chiseled away at this 3-inch master valve that was buried in the emergency lane on the side of the freeway, it looked like the road had been widened just enough to cover the valve,\u201d Haynes says. \u201cAfter I dug up the master valve on the west side, I went in to check the wires on the solenoid.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when Haynes was shocked by a jolt so forceful that it knocked him backwards and off his feet. Dazed and on the ground along the highway, Haynes knew he was shocked by more than 24-volt irrigation wiring.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sitting on my butt on the ground thinking that something was wrong because 24 volts will give you a buzz, but it won\u2019t hurt you,\u201d Haynes says. \u201cI sat underneath a tree by the on ramp thinking that I couldn\u2019t put a tracer on this wire because there was power in it, but I had to figure out why there was power in it.\u201d<\/p>\n
After a closer inspection, Haynes says he found a strange looking wire in the controller. Using a wand tracer, he traced it back to a splice box buried deep under ground cover.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe splice box said \u2018street lighting,\u2019\u201d Hayes says. \u201cI opened the box and found the same wire in there. Someone had connected the irrigation wiring to a 220-volt line that ran the traffic light to the on-ramp.\u201d<\/p>\n
After disconnecting the wires and replacing a melted panel in the solenoid, Haynes says he had to start from scratch to figure out how the master valves were programmed and connected.<\/p>\n
After two more weeks of walking back and forth over the bridge, climbing on the bridge heads and searching alongside highway traffic, Haynes says he figured out that while there were two controllers, the one on the west side was wired incorrectly. The one on the east side, while wired correctly, was programmed incorrectly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe east side system would run and then shut down, and because there wasn\u2019t a relay and there was no way to get under the freeway, I had to use a ghost program to keep the valve open on the east side so the water would work on the west side,\u201d Haynes says.<\/p>\n
In the end, Haynes successfully got the water working on both sides of the freeway. One year later, the entire system was torn out during a highway expansion.<\/p>\n
Lesson learned:<\/strong> Get as much information about the job as possible from any previous contractors, then take the time to think through possible scenarios before diving into a job.<\/p>\n As dusk was falling over Carmel, Indiana, one Friday evening, Ken Barthuly\u2019s team was wrapping up the installation of 200 sprinkler heads at a newly built estate. They had finished in the nick of time, just ahead of a large Indianapolis 500 race party scheduled for the next evening.<\/p>\n \u201cOur hands were tied in this situation by scheduling issues out of our control, and we weren\u2019t able to meet the deadline a week earlier,\u201d says Barthuly, co-founder of Barthuly Irrigation Inc., Westfield, Indiana. \u201cSo on Friday evening, as the landscapers were laying the sod, we were turning on the water.\u201d<\/p>\n As he watched the sprinkler heads, he quickly realized that there was a big problem. The rotors weren\u2019t rotating. There had been a 90% failure rate of the sprinkler heads.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were devastated at that point,\u201d Barthuly says. \u201cI was irate and I was embarrassed.\u201d<\/p>\n With less than 24 hours until guests were due to arrive, Barthuly says he was juggling calls to the homeowner to explain what was happening, to the landscapers to tell them they would have to handwater the sod, and to a manufacturer\u2019s rep from a new company that had been working to earn his business.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember making the phone call to the new manufacturer\u2019s rep saying that we were in a world of hurt and needed some answers quick,\u201d Barthuly says. \u201cThey came out with product the next day and gave us the product for free.\u201d<\/p>\n The next morning, a team of 20 technicians working a fast-paced 10-hour day finished replacing the heads just as the first guests began to arrive.<\/p>\n \u201cAs cars were arriving, we were pulling out,\u201d Barthuly says.<\/p>\n Although the original timeline was extremely tight, Barthuly says that he and the other contractors on the job wanted to make it happen for their client, a high-profile and well-respected figure in the city. In hindsight, Barthuly says he should have explained to the client that the timeline wasn\u2019t realistic.<\/p>\n Lesson learned:<\/strong> Identify the deadline. For your internal calendar, move it up a week so you have plenty of time to deal with unforeseen situations.<\/p>\n When the Los Angeles County Parks system decided to install weather-based controllers for the irrigation system in one area park, Sean Gorman says they were certain they had located the ideal spots for the controllers, ones that had a strong internet connection to power the controllers.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone thought they did their homework and we put a good amount of time into the prep,\u201d says Gorman, a senior plumber with more than 20 years of experience as an irrigation fitter. \u201cWe had taken a smaller model controller down into the area and powered it up, and we had initially gotten the good numbers we were looking for to say they were good spots.\u201d<\/p>\n The controller installation went smoothly, but later in the day, it was evident that something had gone terribly wrong.<\/p>\n \u201cIt seemed like we were getting good reception, and then later in the day, we noticed that the controllers were dropping internet,\u201d Gorman says. \u201cThe controller will try to reconnect, but after so many times, it goes into a failsafe mode. The data of the history showed that it was trying to connect every 10 or 15 minutes. It would connect, and then it would disconnect.\u201d<\/p>\n With five or six controllers going on and offline, the team jumped into problem-solving mode, switching out modems, experimenting with different types of antennas, replacing circuit boards and even changing the front display panel. Working alongside reps from the manufacturer, Gorman says they attempted to replace everything but the power supply.<\/p>\n As they began frantically consulting any expert they could find, the team finally stumbled on an IT expert who identified the issue.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were just as baffled as we were about why the signal was good six months ago, and after installation, we had issues,\u201d he says. \u201cIt took some digging, but we finally found out that we put some of the controllers between two cell towers that were equidistant, and the signal wasn\u2019t sure which direction to go. By moving it one way or another, it got a sense of direction and we got a better signal.\u201d<\/p>\n With the problem identified, the team knew they needed to relocate the controllers and extend the irrigation wiring. Then, the real horror story began.<\/p>\n \u201cNo one likes wires,\u201d Gorman says. \u201cIt\u2019s like brain surgery. Sometimes we have 36 or 48 wires and we have to make sure all the wires are connected correctly. Everyone gets super serious and super stressed because they don\u2019t want to have to do it again. We had to make sure that once we moved it, we weren\u2019t going to have to move it again.\u201d<\/p>\n This time, Gorman and the team decided to relocate the controllers, power the units up and let them run for a week, which allowed them to review the data history and confirm that the new locations were receiving strong and reliable internet signals.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we saw the history and that it was doing fine, we could say without question that the location was good, and we could finish the project,\u201d he says. \u201cNow anytime we go to install a controller, I\u2019m looking to see if I have a building, a metal barn, big trees or anything between me and the cell tower. I don\u2019t need a big oak tree blocking my signal. I don\u2019t want to come back to dead landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n Lesson learned:<\/strong> When it comes to weather-based controllers, it\u2019s all about location.<\/p>\n When Earthco Commercial Landscape, Santa Ana, California, was called to do a turf removal project in Anaheim, it seemed like a straightforward job. Remove the turf, install plant materials and retrofit the old irrigation system with low-flow nozzles.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we got in there to dig out the pop-ups, we couldn\u2019t even make that happen,\u201d says Kyle Morrison, vice president of operations. \u201cThe California Pepper trees had encased the main line that ran through the area with roots.\u201d<\/p>\n For two days, five guys hacked away at the roots with picks, shovels, axes and a chainsaw. After 80 man hours and little progress, the team finally decided to bring a tractor to the job site.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes with the coordination of tractors, it can be a pain to get it there, but we should have bitten the bullet and coordinated from the beginning to get the tractor,\u201d Morrison says. \u201cIt took eight hours once we brought in the tractor. We should have just done it originally.\u201d<\/p>\n Because Earthco also maintains the irrigation system at the property, Morrison says they also made the decision to upgrade the system to drip irrigation.<\/p>\n \u201cHad we not changed it, we would still be dealing with irrigation issues to this day because the old system would still be encapsulated in roots,\u201d Morrison says. \u201cWe lost between $5,000 and $6,000 on this job, but I don’t have to replace plants because they are getting the correct amount of water. And since we are there every week to maintain the system, it ends up being better.\u201d<\/p>\n Looking back, Morrison says he should have suggested upgrading the outdated system to a drip system before beginning the project, which would have eliminated the need for digging, making the problems they encountered a nonissue.<\/p>\n \u201cYou lay the drip on top of the dirt so we would have maybe had a slight amount of digging to make sure the lateral line was in the right spot, but it would have been very minimal,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n With this job under his belt, Morrison says he now recommends drip irrigation on every turf removal project, unless the area is on a slope.<\/p>\n \u201cWith ease of installation and longevity of materials for the drip, we always recommend drip,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Lesson learned:<\/strong> Try to work smarter, not harder. Use machinery to your advantage.<\/p>\n When contractors are facing down their own irrigation installation nightmares, it\u2019s important to remember that they\u2019re not taking them on alone. Your distributor or dealer will be eager to lend a hand, says Erik Anderson, district sales manager for SiteOne Green Tech, Vista, California. No matter how much expertise you have, it\u2019s helpful to have that kind of an experienced team behind you.<\/p>\n Before you start pulling your hair out at a tough install, take a breath, gather your notes and give your contact a call, he says.<\/p>\n \u201cUsually, that\u2019s initiated with a single phone call,\u201d Anderson says.<\/p>\n Having images or the original plans on hand will be helpful in vetting the job to get you to the right expert no matter who your distributor or dealer is, but it\u2019s not required. \u201cAfter that, I\u2019ll usually need to make a site visit, or I\u2019ll have the customer text me pictures of a specific controller. I may make a site visit after I determine what he\u2019s got out there.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of the time, I\u2019ll end up helping people over the phone if they just don\u2019t know which buttons to push on the controller or they don\u2019t know how to connect it to the web,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n If a site visit is necessary, your representative will do their best to get a good handle on the situation, he says.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to take a look at the whole thing,\u201d he says. \u201cI may have to call in a technician myself, if it involves electrical or a plumbing issue. But the first thing to do is make a site visit and establish what we\u2019ve got going on.\u201d<\/p>\n With an understanding of the issue, the representative will present options relying on their expertise and the products they have available to deal with the challenge, he says. \u201cWe\u2019re providing the client with multiple choices to difficult problems, or multiple solutions to difficult technical problems in the field.\u201d<\/p>\n Brace yourself for more gut-wrenching irrigation nightmares.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":3362,"parent":0,"template":"","main-categories":[27],"class_list":["post-3361","features","type-features","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","main-categories-irrigation"],"yoast_head":"\nNightmare at dusk<\/h2>\n
A spotty connection<\/h2>\n
Tractor tales<\/h2>\n
Living to tell the tale<\/h2>\n
This article originally appeared in Irrigation & Green Industry magazine.<\/em><\/h6>\n
Lauren Sable Freiman<\/strong><\/a> is a freelance writer based in Cleveland and can be reached at laurensable@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"