Sprinkler Head Maintenance for Dummies

Capping a sprinkler head

There may well be no eHow.com freelancer trick more irritating to our research staff than faking references. In case you didn't know, once there'd been sufficient ridicule of their "expert" help, eHow began requiring that their contributors list references for the information they reworded. Unfortunately, the content editors didn't always verify that the information was actually in the references. Oops. That's what tipped us to Rick Paulas and his moronic HomeSteady.com post, "How to Cap a Sprinkler Head."¹

Paulas claimed to have gotten his instructions from the Orbit sprinkler website, but his "reference" turned out to be a planning and installation guide, lacking the word "cap" anywhere. Shame on Rick...

Paulus' unfamiliarity with in-ground irrigation is pretty clear from the get-go, since he seems to have been under the impression that you would cap a sprinkler head because,

"Occasionally, a faulty sprinkler head may start leaking and spewing water in awkward directions, ruining your sprinkler system. Capping that rebel sprinkler head will provide a quick fix, allowing you to continue using your sprinkler system while you get the broken sprinkler head replaced."

In reality, capping a sprinkler head is a permanent solution a homeowner undertakes because of changes in landscaping or the footprint of the hardscape – adding a patio or deck, for instance. Rick's ignorance becomes all the more clear when he suggests that capping requires that you,

"Use a shovel to dig a small area around the sprinkler head."

In reality, that's right. It's what he thought you're supposed to do next that raised local eyebrows:

"Use a screwdriver to turn the screw located on the bottom of the sprinkler head counter-clockwise until it is completely tight. This will stop the flow of water to the sprinkler head and "cap" it. The water will then bypass this sprinkler head and move on to the next one."

Orbit doesn't even make a sprinkler head with a "screw located on the bottom": we have no earthly idea where Paulus came up with that particular load of bull.

The permanent answer is to cut the riser off below ground level and cement a cap on the end. If you might reactivate the sprinkler later, most manufacturers sell a threaded cap that screws into the riser. The cap can be removed at a later date if needed. Note that the precise method depends on whether you winterize your system or not.
As for our Dumbass of the Day and his waiting to "get the broken sprinkler head replaced," why on earth wouldn't you just replace the damned thing while you have the riser exposed? Idiot.

¹ The original has been deleted by Leaf Group, but can still be accessed using the Wayback machine at archive.org. Its URL was   ehow.com/how_7631278_cap-sprinkler-head.html

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