I have rainbird 5000s and tore one apart inspired by your video to see what the guts look like. Many of my 5000s had stopped rotating. I pulled them, cleaned filters, rigged them up to my garden hose with an adapter, turned the water on full and verified that they were still not rotating. Then in a flash of the tried and true, old school, mechanical fix of “just give it a good ol whack” inspired by your video with the water still full on, I whacked the head decently hard flat against a block wall hitting it both above and below the rotating head about ten times, and now they all rotate like new. Did this to nine non-rotating units, same procedure and same results. Was going to junk them all. One didnt work out but i pretty much new i had already stripped the gears by messing with it, oh well. Your block wall may be a large screw driver or whatever, but try giving them a whack with the water on and maybe be amazed.
I absolutely loved this video. I fight these problems all the time and now I (sorta) know why they don't work. And you validated that certain things aren't meant to be fixed. Keep curious and keep sharing bro!
Hey , this video helped me understand the function of the degree of rotation mechanism! I was able to slip the clutch back in place and adjust as before! I was told the head was broke… now it’s not! Thanks bro!
Thanks for the video! I was fighting with a hunter pgp for 30 minutes trying to disassemble it. Good to know it isn't possible to open it peacefully ;)
Dang!! Your cross sections are awesome! I try doing something like that and it’d be a pile of scraps and my hands are cut up!! Yours are Like in handyman magazine! How old is that unit when you took it apart? Rusty / tarnished spring. Loads of gunk in filter?! Listening to you, you share my awe in these things. In the pictures of cut aways w all the gears, etc! Amazing complexity all powered by water! And all that complexity for under $10!? Seems a bargain?? I’m holding a 15 year? old rain bird 5000 that looks new. Just doesn’t rotate. How did gunk get in yours? Water line or around seal from ground? Gonna try the wack it trick before taking it apart. Thanks for video!!
so dude, i was wondering the same thing as you, .. and i have these same sprinklers. i was gonna throw mine in the trash, but i took it apart because you were taking it apart, and i found the EXACT washer i needed in perfect condish! dude you saved me a trip to the store at least!! thanks for real, not a goof.
Thanks for taking the time to show a peek inside one of those sprinklers. Mine are maddening to use, may try cleaning them out. That sprinkler sure was dirty/gritty inside...I'm going to try a water and vinegar soak, adding just a tad of soap to the mix.
Just cleaning them out thoroughly fixes most of them. Very rarely I have to throw them away. Dirt gets way down in them. Spraying them and tapping against your palm loosens the dirt freeing up the clogged gears.
thanks for the video. As you say at 2:42 - you haven't figured out how to get them to rotate (ie to david's comment... I think they are cheap enough to just replace rather than actually try to repair. Even me - mr. frugal / penny wise pound foolish, I am starting to realize that some things just aren't worth fixing - at least myself. And this - certainly not a pro repair / higher cost. For all the effort to dig it out of the ground and put it or a new one back in, the cost of a new one is minimal. But curious how to take them apart, hence me watching the video. but at 2:43, there's a jump... just what I wanted to see - HOW to get to that filter. : ) THANKS FOR THE VIDEO THOUGH!
The problem is the debris gets past the sprinkler's filter. Or, dirty water. My Orbit's generally plug up after a couple of years, when they are at the end of a pipe run. My debris in the water is usually rust flakes and rock and both are harder than the plastic so they are always going to stop up plastic gears. One thing I haven't tried yet is flushing with the nozzle removed. Once, as installed to use the water pressure to pop the nozzle out(the extra water flow with no restriction might flush the drive gears better). Using the water pressure is the only way I have been able to remove the nozzles without destroying them and I usually want to reuse them if I am trying to get more from the sprinkler. Then I would remove and clean normally including trying to back flush through the nozzle location. A quality mainline filter might be less maintenance work if there's a big problem in your yard.
I have rainbird 5000s and tore one apart inspired by your video to see what the guts look like. Many of my 5000s had stopped rotating. I pulled them, cleaned filters, rigged them up to my garden hose with an adapter, turned the water on full and verified that they were still not rotating. Then in a flash of the tried and true, old school, mechanical fix of “just give it a good ol whack” inspired by your video with the water still full on, I whacked the head decently hard flat against a block wall hitting it both above and below the rotating head about ten times, and now they all rotate like new. Did this to nine non-rotating units, same procedure and same results. Was going to junk them all. One didnt work out but i pretty much new i had already stripped the gears by messing with it, oh well. Your block wall may be a large screw driver or whatever, but try giving them a whack with the water on and maybe be amazed.
I absolutely loved this video. I fight these problems all the time and now I (sorta) know why they don't work. And you validated that certain things aren't meant to be fixed. Keep curious and keep sharing bro!
Hey , this video helped me understand the function of the degree of rotation mechanism! I was able to slip the clutch back in place and adjust as before! I was told the head was broke… now it’s not! Thanks bro!
Thanks for the video! I was fighting with a hunter pgp for 30 minutes trying to disassemble it. Good to know it isn't possible to open it peacefully ;)
Thank you for the video! There is absolutely NO GOD *DAMN* video on how these sprinklers work
Dang!! Your cross sections are awesome!
I try doing something like that and it’d be a pile of scraps and my hands are cut up!!
Yours are Like in handyman magazine!
How old is that unit when you took it apart? Rusty / tarnished spring. Loads of gunk in filter?!
Listening to you, you share my awe in these things. In the pictures of cut aways w all the gears, etc! Amazing complexity all powered by water!
And all that complexity for under $10!? Seems a bargain??
I’m holding a 15 year? old rain bird 5000 that looks new. Just doesn’t rotate.
How did gunk get in yours? Water line or around seal from ground?
Gonna try the wack it trick before taking it apart.
Thanks for video!!
so dude, i was wondering the same thing as you, .. and i have these same sprinklers. i was gonna throw mine in the trash, but i took it apart because you were taking it apart, and i found the EXACT washer i needed in perfect condish! dude you saved me a trip to the store at least!! thanks for real, not a goof.
Thanks for taking the time to show a peek inside one of those sprinklers. Mine are maddening to use, may try cleaning them out. That sprinkler sure was dirty/gritty inside...I'm going to try a water and vinegar soak, adding just a tad of soap to the mix.
Just cleaning them out thoroughly fixes most of them. Very rarely I have to throw them away. Dirt gets way down in them. Spraying them and tapping against your palm loosens the dirt freeing up the clogged gears.
My professor had this in a playlist to help me study for a quiz on databases.
That's funny
It was informative though, I ended up watching the whole thing haha.
That filter looked mucked up which if clogged, potentially could make them fail to rotate too. I appreciate your reverse engineering video.
thanks for the video. As you say at 2:42 - you haven't figured out how to get them to rotate (ie to david's comment... I think they are cheap enough to just replace rather than actually try to repair. Even me - mr. frugal / penny wise pound foolish, I am starting to realize that some things just aren't worth fixing - at least myself. And this - certainly not a pro repair / higher cost. For all the effort to dig it out of the ground and put it or a new one back in, the cost of a new one is minimal.
But curious how to take them apart, hence me watching the video. but at 2:43, there's a jump... just what I wanted to see - HOW to get to that filter. : )
THANKS FOR THE VIDEO THOUGH!
The problem is the debris gets past the sprinkler's filter. Or, dirty water. My Orbit's generally plug up after a couple of years, when they are at the end of a pipe run. My debris in the water is usually rust flakes and rock and both are harder than the plastic so they are always going to stop up plastic gears.
One thing I haven't tried yet is flushing with the nozzle removed. Once, as installed to use the water pressure to pop the nozzle out(the extra water flow with no restriction might flush the drive gears better). Using the water pressure is the only way I have been able to remove the nozzles without destroying them and I usually want to reuse them if I am trying to get more from the sprinkler. Then I would remove and clean normally including trying to back flush through the nozzle location.
A quality mainline filter might be less maintenance work if there's a big problem in your yard.
super honest bro
thenx for video
$10? They are $50 each where I live.
Shane Hartley where do you live, that’s a lot?
lsm13b I think Mars. Everything is more expensive up there, California too!
It’s more a “cutting open a sprinkler” than a disassembly….
doesnt pay to dig it out of the ground and open it up to clean.. for 10 dollars just replace it.
You can give me some old springklers!
I don't have any at the moment, do you want them for the turbine/transmission?
You didn't show how you took off the very top part??
The top part is made of rubber. It is simply pushed into place. I use a teaspoon and work my way around till it pops off.