SpudFiles

Built my first cannon this past weekend. It works great other than the fact that the Sprinkler Valve leaks. When I put air into it from 0-20psi it leaks pretty fast but when I take it up to around 60psi it seems as if it leaks slower.

Did I screw up when I added JB weld to the oriface that housed the solenoid (did I clog something)?

Mix Water and soap and put some on the joints, then put some pressure in your gun, it should show you the leak, which should help you fixing it.

Exactly

Yeepee my first helpful post !

Leak is internal .......... it leaks out the end of the barrel. The valve is not sealing properly.

Dissasemble the valve and check for any PVC or plastic fragments blocking the diaphragm from sealing. This is quite a common problem. My first modded valve got green plastic shavings in the valve from tapping the exhaust hole that stayed for weeks, with me finding a new one each day...

Does it have a guide rod? If it does did you put it back in place after you modded it? Not sure if that would cause this type of problem but I hope it helps.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I will pull it appart tonight.

Does caution need to be taken when filling the orafice that the solenoid once occupied? I filled it with JB Weld. Was I not supposed to pack it deep into the orafice? Would that affect the equalization of the pressure to the opposite side of the diaphram?

Just had that problem. I took to valve back and got a new one and the same thing happend. There is pvc inside you air chamber that is going into your valve assembly. Take the valve apart and make sure it is "VERY CLEAN" inside (its eazy process).

Looks like I'm having this problem with both watermasters I've bought (from different branches of Home Depot no less). Found the diaphragm comes off so I looked underneath but I can't tell if this is normal or not.


Is that supposed to be glue holding the rubber to the white plastic part? Or is that a defect?

If thats glue and its the part that seals than It shouldn't look like that it looks like a fairly sloppy valve, mine is different to alot of sprinkler valves I've seen. If not just wipe the sealing face of then smear some grease over it thats what I did to mine to make it seal properly.

That side of the seal looks clean and in good shape, wondering about other side. The glue does look a little sloppy. Being i never seen the inside of your valve body, do the sealing surfaces where the seal seats to look good and clean? Even a scratch will cause a small leak. Just like small engines, (2 strokes i'm talking), if theres a scratch in the caseings it will suck air and cause a rough idle and poor acelleration.

The other side is clean as well. When I fill the chamber with water then pump air the water goes out the valve even with everything closed. For some reason the diagphragm isn't equalizing. As for the chamber. I've washed the inside several times so there shouldn't be any debris.


Here was the other end of the diaphragm. It looked clean.

jrrdw wrote: Just like small engines, (2 strokes i'm talking), if theres a scratch in the caseings it will suck air and cause a rough idle and poor acelleration.

do you mean by the cylinder, or what?

okay, back on topic. that glue does look sloppy, I have never seen it like that. does anybody know if that will clean up with a little gas on a rag? if it wont damage the seating surface, that would be that way to go.

EDIT: ohh, where the casings meet at the seam is where it would effectively create a pinhole leak? that seems more plausible. Is that why you use a case puller to disassemble dirtbike and 4 wheeler engines?

The seal on the bottom scould not have the glue like that. In fact, it should not have any glue at all. There should only be that white disk in the middle with the screw in it. You should take that valve back to Home Depot and have them replace it. That is a defective valve.