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Underground Sprinklers

N

NebTrac

Active member
Ok guys this is another question that has entered into my wee brain. I stopped at the local courthouse today to register my pickups and asked them who I sould talk to about detecting the court house lawn. (I mean Ray gets to hunt his why can't I):biggrin: They didn't have a clue, weren't offended by it, just looked perplexed. It's a small town settled in 1877. I'm on the extension board, so I may bring it up there.

Anyway, I did ask if there were underground sprinklers and was told there were.

Besides very carefully. What are some of the tricks you guys use to avoid damage that my influence our hobby? I do not have underground sprinklers and certainly have no experience with them.

Thanks

NebTrac
 
NebTrac,

Many of the sprinkler heads I've come across have brass heads and register in the mid-tone nickel range. Often, they aren't very deep either. If you intend on focusing on high conductivity coins, they may not be a problem.:cheers:

Jim
 
I just dig careful, a sprinkler head will sound and look like a coin until you pinpoint it, and it will scream then loud, so you will know something is up. One good thing about them is they are usually set out in a row most of the time. As far as the pvc, it won't break, funny pipe will cut pretty easily.
 
I've found the wiring from one of the runs in the back yard. I guess they didn't plant the wires very deep. Anyway, that pinpointed that run.

Surprising I haven't found any of the heads. Hmmmm! There Rainbird.
 
Set up your detector so you can hear all ferrous tones and find a sprinkler head as a place to start. If it is an older sprinkler system it is likely made a galvanized pipe and will have metal sprinkler heads. You should be able to use your detector to follow the yellow brick road, so to speak, and trace the galvanized pipes thoughout the lawn and make mental note of where they go. If the system has plastic pop up style heads, the piping could be either metal or plastic. Again, check with your detector. Sprinkler heads are often placed along walks. If you get a BIG signal in an area that is likely a location of a sprinkler head, use a probe and check.

If you aren't able to trace any pipes, it is probably a newer system made of plastic pipe of one kind or another. Here you must be more careful when you dig and what you dig with.

On occasion, you may come across areas that have abandoned sprinkler systems that have been replaced with something newer.

Rich (Utah)
 
The problem is not so much the heads, but the woring and the plastic pipe. If you hear a good sounding target and you know it is not a head (they can be seen when you look close enough), that target may lie on or under a plastic pipe. If you crack or cut the pipe, you are ging to be less than popular with the town officials. What happens if, later, they have a sprinkler problem, and think you had something to do with it. Could be a little testy, so if you hunt there,m you're going to have to be r-e-a-l-l-y careful.
 
At least in our area the sprinker lines themselves are VERY deep. They aren't set shallow like you would in personal residence.

The older brass type usually overload unless deep and in that case aren't in use anymore.

The newer plastic versions don't ring as anything you'd dig if they ring at all.
 
Actualy my home town park has about 3 different lots of them.I think the metal ones were put in in the 30s and 60s and them both bunches were left in the ground and new plastic ones were put in just a few years ago.The old brass heads sound off like a quarter but much larger as pinpoint will quickly tell me,Ray.
PS There is one less of the early models now as it poped off when I barely touched it a couple of weeks ago.At least it was only junk and had not seen any use in many years.
 
Interesting with the permissions thing.

I rang a local council to ask about detecting in a park and got the whole "blank look" thing too

Seems 99% of people just dont mind and dont care and are pretty happy that you bothered to ask.
 
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