1. I have worked on alot of these and have NEVER been able to spin the guts out with that tool without first removing the head from the ground and cleaning out the debris from inside the head and even then its near impossible to hold the head tight enough to spin it out without a BIG pair of pump plyers. 2. What causes the trip lever to jump the arc stop. It happens once in a while. Sometimes, I will reset it and it will not happen again on that head, and other times, I will get a call back after a few days and I will replace the head. I have tried bending the wire trip lever and the arms of the arc stops and nothing has helped.
Yes, those are some of the problems. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever been able to get the guts out without holding the outer body with plyers. I'm not sure what causes the lever to pop up, but I know what you're talking about. I'm not a fan of these, and it seems like the newer ones aren't nearly as good as the ones made 15+ years ago. I suppose they have their place, for dirty water mostly. But I always recommend replacing them with 5000's if they'll let me.
Yeah, sorry about that, I'm definitely going to redo this video. It may just be broken, but too low or high pressure can stop these from rotating. Thank you so much for the comment, and thanks for watching!
If the 4 heads are rotors, I'd say that it will probably be fine, they have similar pressure requirements. The only difference is that too high pressure will affect the Maxis but not a regular rotor. Thanks for watching!
Hi Jaime, thanks for watching and commenting. There's not a way to shut one off that I know of. What I do is dig it up, and put a threaded cap on the fitting that it's attached to. Draw a diagram and accurately measure where it is. Once you cap it and cover the hole, you'll never find it again if there's not a diagram unless it's in a corner or something like that.
Karen, that's a good question. I'm trying to remember how I've done that in the past. I think I've used small needle nose pliers to pry it apart and pop it back into place.
It has too much pressure going to it. You could possibly control that if your valve has a Flow Reduction Screw on it. Some manufacturers make a Pressure Reducing Solenoid attachment that you can attach to the valve and reduce the pressure, and thus the speed of the sprinklers.
Hello. I recently purchased an older home that uses the RainBird Maxi Paw throughout the lawn... Im a novice, but it seems like these impacts wastes/uses alot of water??? What is the benefit of these vs the ones my neighbors use... The Rainbird 5000 or 32SA?
The impacts are an older style, and the newer models are a bit more efficient as you can dial in the pattern more precisely. But as the commenter below said, they are good to use if you have more sediment such as using lake water or a dirty well. I would use the 5000, as it's a professional grade model and the 32SA and similar nomenclatures are made for the consumer market to be sold in big box hardware stores.
Thanks for the video. I currently have Rain Bird Maxi Paw impact sprinklers and have problems with sand, acorns and other crud getting inside. Also problems with the heads not reversing at the left and particularly right limits. I have 35 heads and every year I probably replace the internals of 5-7 heads. I'm thinking of replacing all of them with a rotor heads, probably the Rain Bird 5000 series. Do you find rotor heads to have less problems than the Maxi Paw impulse heads?
Bob, I know exactly what you mean. The open construction just isn't great in environments that have a lot of debris. I really love the RB 5000 series rotor. I would just replace the ones tha you needed to work on anyway. In a few years, you'll have them all changed. Then you'll have to get used to not fooling with them all the time, just check the adjustment once a year.
@@Proirrigationtraining Thanks for the quick response. Regarding the RB 5000, is the Plus(+) model features worth the extra couple dollars in purchase price? Also, do you like the Hunter swing joints? I was thinking of using the SJ-706 in swapping to the RB 5000's. Appreciate your insight.
@@Proirrigationtraining Also, I live in Indiana (freezing winter temps), both my front and backyard are sloped and each of my zones has an automatic low point drain. Thus in almost 30 years, I have never blown out my lines at the end of the season and have never had any problems with freezing. Does switching to RB 5000+ heads change the effectiveness of my low point drains? Thanks again!
@@fiftyoon The 5000 basic model is a great sprinkler and I've installed many thousands of them. The 5000+ is good if you need the shut-off feature, but i'm not certain if the gears are any better. As far as the swing joints are concerned, the Hunter ones are great, but it's only necessary if you have more than 80 psi or pulling more than 4 gpm. I've got a video on the 3 ways to connect a sprinkler head that covers that in detail.
Hi Stewart, sorry for the slow response, crazy time of the year. But I'm pretty sure they both have the same arc. 15 degrees is pretty tough to accomplish. I think I've seen specs on a head somewhere that goes that narrow, but I can't find it at the moment. You might have to use an adjustable spray nozzle and try to reduce it's flow down.
Hi Savannah, thanks for watching. It could either be too little or too much pressure. That sprinkler needs between 25-60 psi to operate correctly. Sometimes, if using an outside faucet on a house that has a pressure reducer set to 35-45 psi, and a long garden hose (75-100') there's not enough pressure or water flow to turn the sprinkler.
@@Proirrigationtraining The trip spring on one of my Maxi's can no longer do the trip switch to do a reverse. The other 3 sprinklers are doing fine so it's not water pressure. I tried to find a replacement trip spring but I only found one online store that even mentioned it. They no longer carry it because "the manufacturer doesn't make the part anymore". It's crazy to spend $9 to replace the whole sprinkler because of a 5 cent spring. Is Rain Bird going to drop this product? The trip spring mechanism is not a good design and a lot of people are having this problem.
@@Jeeprassic It's true, the springs wear out over time. I don't think Rain Bird will drop the product because they're still somewhat popular. Maybe you can contact a local irrigation company or farmer and ask if they have any old ones laying around? I try to keep older heads just to have some odd replacement parts, but most people just throw them away. You may have to purchase a new head, but I would buy a 5000 series rotor to replace.
Yes sir, still a great head. Especially for dirty systems, these are hard to beat. For a clean system, I would personally use RB 5000+, but I can understand people's desire to hear that classic sprinkler sound.
Besides the arms, Why if it won't change direction?????? Help. I was going to replace but it connected by side inlet, I hate to dig that big of a hole and I can't get the insides out. MAN am I having issues with this one. I have replaced 40 heads. This is my last one. Woman 67 in Texas.
It may just have to be replaced, but these heads won't work right if they have to much or too little pressure. You may have to dig it up to see if the inlet is blocked or crimped.
I took the bottom screen out. Looking down inside, there's a 1/2" nylon nut. Removed it with a socket and extension. Found that the plastic rotating shaft was extremely worn, which was causing too much friction for the head to reverse direction. But I did get 20 yrs of service. It's a great sprinklerhead. Much more reliable than the new gear driven heads
Thanks for this. However the camera is so far away I can't see the details of what you're talking about. Nor could I see the details of how to remove it and change out the nozzles, etc.
The directions for the spring arm are too small to see. Sprinkler comes with the blue nozzle installed but it looks like the spring is set to position A. That doesnt seem right. I was hoping this video would give a close up for this issue
Thanks for the comment. I will remake this video using your comments at some point, I have about 38 others in the cue I have to do first. Sorry that it's not so clear. If you still have the instructions, I believe it says which notch to put the spring on for each nozzle choice.
Thanks for the comment. It's actually in my video creation Que. I'll get it updated shortly with close-ups. Thank you so much for watching and commenting!
These videos where the person explains more clearly, are all done so far out you can't see what the person is doing. You must do a close up video where dummies like me can see what you are actually doing!
1. I have worked on alot of these and have NEVER been able to spin the guts out with that tool without first removing the head from the ground and cleaning out the debris from inside the head and even then its near impossible to hold the head tight enough to spin it out without a BIG pair of pump plyers.
2. What causes the trip lever to jump the arc stop. It happens once in a while. Sometimes, I will reset it and it will not happen again on that head, and other times, I will get a call back after a few days and I will replace the head. I have tried bending the wire trip lever and the arms of the arc stops and nothing has helped.
Yes, those are some of the problems. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever been able to get the guts out without holding the outer body with plyers. I'm not sure what causes the lever to pop up, but I know what you're talking about. I'm not a fan of these, and it seems like the newer ones aren't nearly as good as the ones made 15+ years ago. I suppose they have their place, for dirty water mostly. But I always recommend replacing them with 5000's if they'll let me.
This was somewhat helpful. Thanks
Wish you had done it closer
What would you do if yours stopped spinning complelty?
Yeah, sorry about that, I'm definitely going to redo this video. It may just be broken, but too low or high pressure can stop these from rotating. Thank you so much for the comment, and thanks for watching!
thanks for your great video! I presently have 4 heads on 1 zone. Do you think 4 of these(either max or mini) would function?
If the 4 heads are rotors, I'd say that it will probably be fine, they have similar pressure requirements. The only difference is that too high pressure will affect the Maxis but not a regular rotor. Thanks for watching!
How would you shut one off? One of mine is now in a spot that I don’t need the area wet, and j need it shut off completely
Hi Jaime, thanks for watching and commenting. There's not a way to shut one off that I know of. What I do is dig it up, and put a threaded cap on the fitting that it's attached to. Draw a diagram and accurately measure where it is. Once you cap it and cover the hole, you'll never find it again if there's not a diagram unless it's in a corner or something like that.
My two pens came off. How do i get them back in place. The sprinkler just goes around and around
Karen, that's a good question. I'm trying to remember how I've done that in the past. I think I've used small needle nose pliers to pry it apart and pop it back into place.
Can you tell me how to "slow down" the sprinkler? I have a couple of these that go back and forth way too fast. I need to slow it down.
Thank you!!
It has too much pressure going to it. You could possibly control that if your valve has a Flow Reduction Screw on it. Some manufacturers make a Pressure Reducing Solenoid attachment that you can attach to the valve and reduce the pressure, and thus the speed of the sprinklers.
Hello. I recently purchased an older home that uses the RainBird Maxi Paw throughout the lawn... Im a novice, but it seems like these impacts wastes/uses alot of water??? What is the benefit of these vs the ones my neighbors use... The Rainbird 5000 or 32SA?
It is for hard water, that will plug rotary style sprinklers with sediment.
@@SolRC Yeah, that's pretty much true, as the orifices are slightly larger and will allow more sediment through.
The impacts are an older style, and the newer models are a bit more efficient as you can dial in the pattern more precisely. But as the commenter below said, they are good to use if you have more sediment such as using lake water or a dirty well. I would use the 5000, as it's a professional grade model and the 32SA and similar nomenclatures are made for the consumer market to be sold in big box hardware stores.
Thanks for the video. I currently have Rain Bird Maxi Paw impact sprinklers and have problems with sand, acorns and other crud getting inside. Also problems with the heads not reversing at the left and particularly right limits. I have 35 heads and every year I probably replace the internals of 5-7 heads. I'm thinking of replacing all of them with a rotor heads, probably the Rain Bird 5000 series. Do you find rotor heads to have less problems than the Maxi Paw impulse heads?
Bob, I know exactly what you mean. The open construction just isn't great in environments that have a lot of debris. I really love the RB 5000 series rotor. I would just replace the ones tha you needed to work on anyway. In a few years, you'll have them all changed. Then you'll have to get used to not fooling with them all the time, just check the adjustment once a year.
@@Proirrigationtraining Thanks for the quick response. Regarding the RB 5000, is the Plus(+) model features worth the extra couple dollars in purchase price? Also, do you like the Hunter swing joints? I was thinking of using the SJ-706 in swapping to the RB 5000's. Appreciate your insight.
@@Proirrigationtraining Also, I live in Indiana (freezing winter temps), both my front and backyard are sloped and each of my zones has an automatic low point drain. Thus in almost 30 years, I have never blown out my lines at the end of the season and have never had any problems with freezing. Does switching to RB 5000+ heads change the effectiveness of my low point drains? Thanks again!
@@fiftyoon The 5000 basic model is a great sprinkler and I've installed many thousands of them. The 5000+ is good if you need the shut-off feature, but i'm not certain if the gears are any better. As far as the swing joints are concerned, the Hunter ones are great, but it's only necessary if you have more than 80 psi or pulling more than 4 gpm. I've got a video on the 3 ways to connect a sprinkler head that covers that in detail.
@@fiftyoon No, just don't get the models with check valves, which Rain Bird calls the SAM (seal-a-matic.)
Does the mini or maxi allow a narrower arc (side-to-side) than the other? I need 15 degrees (very narrow side to side setting).
Hi Stewart, sorry for the slow response, crazy time of the year. But I'm pretty sure they both have the same arc. 15 degrees is pretty tough to accomplish. I think I've seen specs on a head somewhere that goes that narrow, but I can't find it at the moment. You might have to use an adjustable spray nozzle and try to reduce it's flow down.
Mine is not spinning and i have to hold it to get it to shoot far if not it just floods in that spot! please help
Hi Savannah, thanks for watching. It could either be too little or too much pressure. That sprinkler needs between 25-60 psi to operate correctly. Sometimes, if using an outside faucet on a house that has a pressure reducer set to 35-45 psi, and a long garden hose (75-100') there's not enough pressure or water flow to turn the sprinkler.
@@Proirrigationtraining The trip spring on one of my Maxi's can no longer do the trip switch to do a reverse. The other 3 sprinklers are doing fine so it's not water pressure. I tried to find a replacement trip spring but I only found one online store that even mentioned it. They no longer carry it because "the manufacturer doesn't make the part anymore". It's crazy to spend $9 to replace the whole sprinkler because of a 5 cent spring. Is Rain Bird going to drop this product? The trip spring mechanism is not a good design and a lot of people are having this problem.
@@Jeeprassic It's true, the springs wear out over time. I don't think Rain Bird will drop the product because they're still somewhat popular. Maybe you can contact a local irrigation company or farmer and ask if they have any old ones laying around? I try to keep older heads just to have some odd replacement parts, but most people just throw them away. You may have to purchase a new head, but I would buy a 5000 series rotor to replace.
I did not know that they still manufacturered this line of sprinklers.
Yes sir, still a great head. Especially for dirty systems, these are hard to beat. For a clean system, I would personally use RB 5000+, but I can understand people's desire to hear that classic sprinkler sound.
I cannot get it the sprinkler to come up and start spraying
Besides the arms, Why if it won't change direction?????? Help.
I was going to replace but it connected by side inlet, I hate to dig that big of a hole and I can't get the insides out. MAN am I having issues with this one. I have replaced 40 heads. This is my last one. Woman 67 in Texas.
It may just have to be replaced, but these heads won't work right if they have to much or too little pressure. You may have to dig it up to see if the inlet is blocked or crimped.
I took the bottom screen out. Looking down inside, there's a 1/2" nylon nut. Removed it with a socket and extension. Found that the plastic rotating shaft was extremely worn, which was causing too much friction for the head to reverse direction. But I did get 20 yrs of service. It's a great sprinklerhead. Much more reliable than the new gear driven heads
@journeyman291 Totally Agree I love these Rainbird impact heads. My oldest head is lime green 💚 and still working, and I believe it's a mini paw.
I leave the trip pin down and it just sprays in one direction
Thanks for this. However the camera is so far away I can't see the details of what you're talking about. Nor could I see the details of how to remove it and change out the nozzles, etc.
CM, thanks for the comment. I think I will reshoot this one or add a close up of the workings. I really appreciate the input.
The directions for the spring arm are too small to see. Sprinkler comes with the blue nozzle installed but it looks like the spring is set to position A. That doesnt seem right. I was hoping this video would give a close up for this issue
Thanks for the comment. I will remake this video using your comments at some point, I have about 38 others in the cue I have to do first. Sorry that it's not so clear. If you still have the instructions, I believe it says which notch to put the spring on for each nozzle choice.
Close-Ups please!!! Can't see what you are talking about!
Thanks for the comment. It's actually in my video creation Que. I'll get it updated shortly with close-ups. Thank you so much for watching and commenting!
These videos where the person explains more clearly, are all done so far out you can't see what the person is doing. You must do a close up video where dummies like me can see what you are actually doing!
Some closeups would have been helpful.
Yeah, no doubt. I'm going to reshoot this one soon. Thanks for watching though!