Finding underground wires and pipes in yard irrigation system?

[greybeard]

Short of calling someone out to do it, does anyone have any tips on finding buried lines, zone solenoid valves and wires in a yard irrigation thing?

Got 7 zones (stations) finally got all the sprinkler heads fixed or replaced and zone 1 (the most visible part of the front yard of course) quit working and I have not been able to find but 2 of the 7 solenoid valves.
I know the master solenoid valve works and I know where it is. Zone 1's nearest sprinkler to that master is just 3 feet from the master but that doesn't mean anything. I've learned that the vales can be anywhere. Diggin up the whole front yard ain't much of an option..

Zone 1 WAS working a few weeks ago. Just suddenly stopped and I haven't done any dirt work anywhere that might have cut a line.

 

[Travlr]

You can "douse" for wires and pipes beneath the soil.

Take two pieces of about 18 inches of heavy copper wire with no insulation on it, or some light copper tubing, and bend each piece at a 90 degree angle so that you have about 4/5 inches you can hold and the rest parallel to the ground.

The trick is to hold it VERY lightly so that the wires are pointing out straight away from you. As you walk over the ground, across the direction of the underground wire/pipe, the wires you are holding will begin to move toward each other. They'll do it quickly and when they are pointed directly at each other, each wire pointing at the opposite hand, the underground wire/pope should be directly below.

It takes a light touch. It would help if you saw someone do it. Maybe there's a Youtube video on dousing? It works... I've done it myself.

I haven't looked at the video but found this:

 

[callmefence]

I witch em all the time. I'm not 100 percent but in the 90s .

 

[callmefence]

You can "douse" for wires and pipes beneath the soil.

Take some heavy copper wire with no insulation

Any piece of wire seems to work. I use a couple of welding rods. One thing. Over the years and lots of employees. Not everyone can do it.

 

[Brute 23]

They have a tool for finding them. Think it's kid if pricey. Our sprinkler guy uses one.

 

[Rafter S]

Any piece of wire seems to work. I use a couple of welding rods. One thing. Over the years and lots of employees. Not everyone can do it.

A friend of mine uses coat hangers, straightened and then bent into an L-shape. He's retired now, so @greybeard, if you need someone to come do it for you he might be interested in a road trip. I might even ride along with him.

 

[Ouachita]

I'm weird because my wires don't cross. They repel each other and point straight away from each other instead of crossing each other. Momma said I was special.

 

[Ouachita]

Oh, and I've noticed I don't get as many false positives if I bend the wires slightly more than 90 degrees. That way they are pointed ever so slightly downward so that gravity helps to stabilize them until you sense what your looking for.
Exact 90 allows them to "float" with the slightest movement of your hands.

 

[greybeard]

They have a tool for finding them. Think it's kid if pricey. Our sprinkler guy uses one.

I've looked. Good ones are over $1k.
I do have a really cheap one, from Harbor Freight. Haven't had any luck with it tho. Transmitter signal can't go thru the brick walls & I guess ya get what you pay for.
Reviews tho, said it did work.

go cheap

 

[GoWyo]

I used baling wire to located my waterline to the shop. Double strand and bent in "L" shape. I had an idea where it was and dousing it put me right over it. Was buried 5'. Lawn sprinkler lines should be easier to find. I think they need water in them though, so if the valves are off and they were blown out it might be a problem. But you should find the lines leading to the valves. The valves aren't all in a box with the manifold?

 

[greybeard]

Any piece of wire seems to work. I use a couple of welding rods. One thing. Over the years and lots of employees. Not everyone can do it.

I've never been able to.
I think it's like being hypnotized. Some people can't be.
May be one of those "Ya gotta believe" things.

"There you go with those negative waves again Moriority"

 

[Brute 23]

What about starting where the nozzles are and walking from the ends with a rod poking the ground?

Ours are in fairly large boxes and are shallow. They are usually pretty close to the first head. You will hit the lid on top and know pretty easy.

Not ideal you might get lucky.

 

[greybeard]

The valves aren't all in a box with the manifold?

The ones I found in the back yard are not. Just scattered around in little plastic things.
Older rainbird system. Not mine but mine look just like this:



I have no idea where or if a manifold exists.

The ground here is harder than a hooker's heart right now but I'm making up a probe to hook to my water hose so I can wash down a 3/8" copper pipe thru the grass and topsoil.

 

[simme]

Rental companies rent the locator tools. About $60 per day. Whether they are high quality or not, I don't know. Also may be able to find wires or valves with a metal detector. I expect the wires are not very deep.

 

[callmefence]

I've never been able to.
I think it's like being hypnotized. Some people can't be.
May be one of those "Ya gotta believe" things.

"There you go with those negative waves again Moriority"

View attachment 19560

I'll be happy to swing by I'm pretty good at guessing those things. Lol

Oh, and I've noticed I don't get as many false positives if I bend the wires slightly more than 90 degrees. That way they are pointed ever so slightly downward so that gravity helps to stabilize them until you sense what your looking for.
Exact 90 allows them to "float" with the slightest movement of your hands.

Lots of things cause a false positive. Changes in soil composition can fool you. As well as any void in the ground.
The edge of a plowed field is a good example. So you have to apply a dose of common sense and some good old experience as you track a line. It's a wild azz educated guess....

 

[1982vett]

I witched a waterline for a neighbor wanting to plant a tree. He moved an appropriate distance and commenced digging the hole. Almost got the hole dug and found out he was on top of a waterline. He decided to go back to the place I said the line was since it obviously wasn't the waterline. About 10 inches down he dug up a scrap piece of pvc.

 

[Philip-TX]

I came across this for some reason a while back.

Find underground wire with lawnmower (link)

Using a lawn mower to find underground wire.
(i.e.dog fence)

If you have one of the control valves, then you can tap into it and follow the wiring. Usually in the pipe trench to the next valve.

Just a thought,
No experience. You can google more examples

 

[sstterry]

Metal detector for the wires and any metal parts?

 

[Ebenezer]

I'm weird because my wires don't cross. They repel each other and point straight away from each other instead of crossing each other. Momma said I was special.

If you hold your hands close together the wires will cross. If you hold your hands farther apart they will go out.

 

[greybeard]

Did a little digging..
Wires are indeed running with the piping, to the master valve anyway. The popup spray heads are 8" long, usually sitting on a short riser, (4-6" long) so the lateral lines to the zone sprinklers I've seen so far are about 1 foot deep. 2" of thatch, 6-8" of black soil and kaliche from there down.

The spray head that sits in zone 1, right (on the diagram) above where the master valve is, I dug down to it today. Was hoping there was a solenoid between it and the master which would mean that head was the first in zone 1. Evidently, it's not since there is no control solenoid in the short space between the head and the master valve.
Just downsteam of master, these are the pipes and wires. The smaller pipe feeds the nearby sprayhead.


The master, which is about a foot upstream from the above picture. Already was cautious about snakes down in those plastic boxes so That toad scared the livin crap out of me when he hopped up. (It is darker down in there than what this photo indicates)


This whole area below isn't 6 sq ft.