Has anyone ever used MightyVac to blow out sprinkler lines? I know it has the CFM (around 95), but does it have enough psi to pop up the heads and get the water out of the lines? My MightyVac was perfect for winterizing my pool... and I am hoping I can save the $80 charge from sprinkler company to blow out the sprinkler lines.
MightyVac on sprinklers?
- Thread starter jtech1
- Start date
I'd say hook it up and try it. I think it'd work and it should be easy enough to tell if it's blowing all the heads as it cycles through the zones.
Tried it. My blow out port is on the house side of the back flow valve. It appears the mighty vac does not have enough psi to open the back low valve. I get no air out of any heads. Just dribble from backflow. Hmmm may be I need to add a blow out port on the system side of the backflow. Before I cut pipe, is love to know if anyone else has successfully used a might vac to blow out sprinkler lines.
It wont work on an irrigation system. Its not the pressure so much as a continuous flow of air that's needed. An air compressor would have to have a HUGE tank to make it work. The pull behind the pickup compressors they use for blowing out sprinklers are the same ones they use to run jack hammers and air tools on commercial jobs. Those have no storage tank to speak of, but a big enough motor to keep a steady supply of air going to fully evacuate the lines.
Spend the $80 and do it right. You wont have a $200+ bill in the spring because your system froze and busted.
And its $125 up here in Massachusetts. I wish ours was only $80!
Spend the $80 and do it right. You wont have a $200+ bill in the spring because your system froze and busted.
And its $125 up here in Massachusetts. I wish ours was only $80!
I used my 25 gal compressor to blow as much out as I could... the CFM at 50 psi is only around 8, so it had no problem while there was a stead of flow of water out the heads, but as soon as it turned to a sputter, the heads start going down, since there is not enough CFM to keep them up.
Just for the heck of it, I hooked the mighty vac up on the sprinkler side of the backflow valve... and it would not pop up any heads... I wonder if the water were still in there if it would have done it. Interesting that the 100 cfm the mightvac produces was not enough to raise the heads... I find no specs on their site, but the pressure must be very low.
Just for the heck of it, I hooked the mighty vac up on the sprinkler side of the backflow valve... and it would not pop up any heads... I wonder if the water were still in there if it would have done it. Interesting that the 100 cfm the mightvac produces was not enough to raise the heads... I find no specs on their site, but the pressure must be very low.
Mighty vac won't work. These types of blowers always struggle on small diameter pipes over a long run. For example when using the cyclone vac I can blow out a return/skimmer line in under a minute but takes quite a bit longer to blow out a descent length of garden hose. I'm not positive but mighty vac/ cyclone vacs only produce around 5-8 psi I believe
I use a 25 gallon compressor and weight down all the heads with bricks except the last one in the zone/run. I'm in Georgia now but used this method for years in Minnesota with no problems.