"JD" wrote in message
...
Last fall I extended my irrigation system by tapping into the main supply
line and creating a manifold with three solonoid valves and one "direct"
line with a manual valve.
I ran an additional line to the rear of my property for an "always on"
hose spigot. I didn't hook it up over the winter. Each of the irrigation
valves work well.

Now that we won't be getting any more deep freezes, I hooked up my "always
on" valve to the line running to the spigots.

To my surprise and puzzlement the pump will not supply water to this line
unless one of the irrigation valves in the manifold are open. I don't
understand this. The valves are "downstream" of the direct line and
should not have any affect on the valve that is tapped directly into the
main supply line.

It seems to me that when the manual valve is open water should flow out of
the valve to the spigot. Tests have shown that water will flow freely to
the spigot when hooked to a garden hose.

I am puzzled why the pump won't come on when the manual valve alone is
open and only when one of the irrigation valves in the same manifold is
operational.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Jackson
Chesapeake, VA


Does the pump come on automatically, as on a pressure switch, or is it
turned on only when an electric valve is turned on? Many pumps used only
when the irrigation is on are turned on by the irrigation controller. If
you look in the controller, where the valves are wired in there may also be
a terminal marked "MV" or "PS". These stand for master valve or pump start.
This is a 24V circuit that is on at any time there is demand for a valve to
be on. They are then wired into a 24V pump relay that turns on the 110V or
220V pump.

If you do have such a set up, are all of the valve circuits in use on your
controller? If you have some extra valve circuits not in use, if you were
to turn on a circuit that does not have a valve connected, that should turn
on the pump and give you water to the manual valve. As and example, if you
are only using 10 circuits on a 12 station controller, if you were to ask
the controller to manually turn on station 11 or 12, that would turn on the
pump but not a valve. That would allow all of the water to go to the manual
valve. The thing you want to watch out for is that you do NOT turn on the
pump without the manual valve being open. Let me know if this is how your
system is set up.

DP