Adjusting Sprinkler Heads
Adjusting sprinkler heads is fairly straight forward and should be checked at least twice a year for damage and out-of-adjustment conditions. Below are generalized instructions for adjusting most standard sprinkler heads.
Automatic sprinklers should come on in the early morning. This means that unless you get up before dark, you probably don't see your system in action. Therefore, you first need to do is turn on you system one zone at a time. Don't be tempted to turn on several zones to see if the heads need adjusting. This will not give you a true indication of where the heads are spraying during a normal cycle. To turn on a zone, you can either do it from your controller or if you know the location of your valves, you can turn them on manually.
If you are using your controller you will need to refer to the owners manual, although most of the controllers are fairly easy to interpret. Usually you use the manual setting and turn to the zone number you want to turn on then press or set knob to run. This process various from controller to controller.
Once you have the zone turned on, you want to look at all of the heads that are spraying.
Rotors:
Adjusting your rotors will depend on the type of rotors you have, but most of them are adjustable for both distance and the amount of rotation. If you have Rain Bird rotors, you just need a small flathead screwdriver to adjust both. There is a small set screw in front of the nozzle that you can turn down into the water stream and reduce the distance the water travels. Also, behind that screw, there is another screw that you turn to increase or decrease the amount of rotation. Using these two adjusting screws, you can get your water where it is suppose to be and keep it off of the street and side walk. If you have Hunter rotors, you will need a special tool to make these same adjustments.
Spray Heads (pop-ups):
Spray heads are typically set for a specific angle. Although there are adjustable angle nozzles, they are not the norm. So to adjust the "angle" you just grab the stem (the part that pops up) and physically turn it to the best angle. On top of most heads you will see a small screw. This is the adjusting screw for the distance the water will travel. Again, you need a small flathead screw driver. Simply turn the screw in or out until you get the desired travel distance.