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1. Jennings Dustin T

   
   6/27/2013 10:06 AM

   I recently had a pipe blowout in one of my fairways that went unnoticed long enough for rocks, mud and broken pipe debris to rush down the main line. Subsequently, all 4 heads on one of the greens down the line from the leak were completely clogged. I was able to clear two of them out by pulling out the guts of the head but it looks like the other two are clogged from either inside the swing joint or even in the loop itself. Is there an easy way to unclog these heads without digging them up and cutting pipe?

   
   
   
   
2. Clay Putnam

   

   33 posts
   
   6/27/2013 2:06 PM

   Dustin T Jennings said: I recently had a pipe blowout in one of my fairways that went unnoticed long enough for rocks, mud and broken pipe debris to rush down the main line. Subsequently, all 4 heads on one of the greens down the line from the leak were completely clogged. I was able to clear two of them out by pulling out the guts of the head but it looks like the other two are clogged from either inside the swing joint or even in the loop itself. Is there an easy way to unclog these heads without digging them up and cutting pipe?

   
   
   Close the supply valve(s). Spin off the heads. Open valve. That should do the trick.

   
   
   
   
3. Timothy Walker

   

   0 posts
   
   6/27/2013 3:06 PM

   Clay Putnam, CGCS said:

   Dustin T Jennings said: I recently had a pipe blowout in one of my fairways that went unnoticed long enough for rocks, mud and broken pipe debris to rush down the main line. Subsequently, all 4 heads on one of the greens down the line from the leak were completely clogged. I was able to clear two of them out by pulling out the guts of the head but it looks like the other two are clogged from either inside the swing joint or even in the loop itself. Is there an easy way to unclog these heads without digging them up and cutting pipe?

   
   
   Close the supply valve(s). Spin off the heads. Open valve. That should do the trick.

   
   
   That would only work if the rock is smaller than the swing joint...I had to dig up and take out the swing joint to get the rock out of the service tee

   
   
   
   
4. Jennings Dustin T

   
   6/28/2013 8:06 AM

   Timothy Walker, CGCS said:

   Clay Putnam, CGCS said:

   Dustin T Jennings said: I recently had a pipe blowout in one of my fairways that went unnoticed long enough for rocks, mud and broken pipe debris to rush down the main line. Subsequently, all 4 heads on one of the greens down the line from the leak were completely clogged. I was able to clear two of them out by pulling out the guts of the head but it looks like the other two are clogged from either inside the swing joint or even in the loop itself. Is there an easy way to unclog these heads without digging them up and cutting pipe?

   
   
   Close the supply valve(s). Spin off the heads. Open valve. That should do the trick.

   
   
   That would only work if the rock is smaller than the swing joint...I had to dig up and take out the swing joint to get the rock out of the service tee

   
   
   Thats what I was afraid of. my swing joints are 1" so this rock(s) and mud must be larger than that.

   
   
   
   
5. Timothy Walker

   

   0 posts
   
   6/28/2013 10:06 AM

   It's worth digging down to the service tee and spin the swing joint off. In my situation the stone was just too big to pass the inside diameter of the 1" swing joint - I was able to get it out once the swing joint was off. Otherwise at that point you've already dug the hole and easy to cut and repair...good luck!