Champion Sprinkler Valve Manual
Champion Sprinkler Valve Repair Manual
Champion Sprinkler Valve Instructions
Champion Sprinkler Valve Operators Manual

We have compiled this sprinkler installation manual of helpful hints and tricks of the trade to help you in completing your irrigation installation projects without a lot of unnecessary time delays and/or cost expenditures. This installation manual will help you learn how to install sprinklers and sprinkler systems. We hope you find it helpful.
Valves - Champion Irrigation Champion manual anti-siphon valves are available with or without an outlet union for easier installation, and are available in 3/4' or 1' sizes. Champion V-19 series anti-siphon valve bodies are also available for use with automatic actuators. 466 Series Manual Anti-Siphon.

The Green Industry Hall of Fame presents Richard Daigle presenting a antique Champion Irrigation Vavles.

Check The Dumb Stuff.

If the valve won’t open at all, or doesn’t fully open, start with the obvious things just to be certain. I know, any idiot knows better, but even us pros periodically overlook something really simple and obvious.

Tip: There are labeled photos of some of the more popular valve models showing the various valve controls (such as flow-controls, on/off levers, and bleed screws) mentioned in this article at this page: Anti-Siphon Valves with Parts Labeled. Download best smart tool full crack.

Is the water supply turned on?
Is there a shut off valve on the water supply that may have been closed? Once I had a system I couldn’t get to work, couldn’t find any closed valves, but still no water to the sprinklers. Turned out the city water company had closed a valve in the street for street work they were doing and forgot to reopen it!
Check the flow control on the valve to make sure it isn’t closed or partially closed. It is often desirable for the flow control to be left partially closed, but if it is restricting the flow too much that could be the problem. On some valves the flow control doesn’t have a handle, it is just a small screw in the valve lid. If unsure, look up your valve model at the manufacturer’s website to see if they have a drawing of the valve showing a flow control device location. Unfortunately, some inexpensive valves do not have a flow control device.

Manual Operation Test

Try manually opening the valve, using the on/off lever on top of the valve body. Some valves use a bleed screw to manually open them, so if you don’t see a lever labeled on/off or open/close, look for a screw, typically the screw has a knob handle to allow it to be twisted by hand. Do not fully remove a bleed screw! Just turn it about 1-2 to 1 full turn, water will squirt out from under the screw and the valve should open. Some valves have both a bleed screw and a on/off lever, on those valves I generally use the bleed screw as I have found it works better if the valve is being stubborn. If the valve opens correctly and fully when using the manual open lever or bleed screw, then the problem may be electrical. If the valve does not open fully when using the manual open feature, skip over the next section on electrical problems.

Basic Electrical Tests

If you don’t have a valve actuator test unit, start by making yourself a home-made valve activator using three nine-volt batteries. See my page with full instructions for making a irrigation solenoid valve activator (it’s easy and only takes about 2 minutes!)

Champion Sprinkler Valve Manual

Now use your actuator to test your solenoid and wires:

NOTE: make sure you are using fresh, brand new batteries in your actuator! It takes a lot of amperage to open a valve and worn or old batteries won’t do the job. Don’t waste your time tracking down false results caused by bad batteries!!!
Note #2: 24 VAC does not feel good if you shock yourself with it, especially if you are wet. Don’t touch bare wires without rubber gloves on!
Disconnect the wires from the valve solenoid. Touch the valve solenoid wires to the terminals on your activator. The valve should open. If the valve fully opens then the problem is NOT the valve, the problem is with the wires leading from the controller (timer) to the valve, or possibly the controller is broken. Continue with the next step. If the valve does not open, then skip the rest of the electrical diagnosis items. The problem is with the valve or the valve solenoid.
Controller problems are very rare, it is much more likely the problem is a broken wire. Do NOT try to test the controller by using a wire to create a short-circuit “spark” between the terminals! You may fry your controller! First reread the controller manual on how to wire the valve circuits and make sure you don’t have them wired wrong. Optional: You can test the controller using a multimeter if you have one and know how to use it. The controller output to the valves is 24 VAC. Most modern controllers will show a positive test for 24VAC even if the circuit is off, you need to test the circuit with a load. Don’t panic if you don’t know what that means or don’t have a multimeter. Just go to the next step.
You can test the wire very simply. If the wires from the controller to the valve are disconnected from the valve reattach them to the valve solenoid now.
Next remove the wires for the common and the “lead” wire circuit to your valve from the controller terminals.
Attach your valve actuator to the 2 wires at the controller end, just like you did to the solenoid wires. The valve should come on. If it doesn’t open, or only opens partially, the wires from the controller to the valve are either damaged (cut or short circuiting), or you are testing the wrong wires. Are you sure you have the correct pair of wires for this valve? That’s often the problem with a newly installed system! It’s pretty easy to get the wires mixed up, especially if they do not have color-coded insulation. Another source of the problem may be damaged insulation on the buried wire. If the insulation on the wire has been removed or damaged someplace along the length of the wire it can cause a voltage leak. A nick or partial cut in the wire may cause resistance to the current in the wire. These wire problems cause the solenoid to not receive sufficient power to fully open the valve.
If the valve does turn on fully the problem is the controller. Most modern controllers are not user repairable. If it is under warranty contact the manufacturer for instructions. They may ask you to do some additional tests. If the controller is not still under warranty you can contact a professional irrigation repair outfit for a repair quote. For most low-cost homeowner controllers it is cheaper to just replace the controller with a new one. If your current controller is not a Smart Controller you should consider replacing it with one. A self-adjusting Smart Controller will save you a lot of water and effort.

Valve Cleaning and Repair

If you’ve tested the controller and wires and they are OK, then the problem is with the valve itself. You have two choices: remove and replace the valve, or disassemble the valve to look for problems. Which way you go depends on which is easier for you to do. I generally try to clean the valve rather than replace it at this point.

Replacing a valve: Removing and replacing a valve can be a big job if the valve is fully installed. Basically this is a swap out, take a photo of the old valve before you remove it, then remove it and install the new one in it’s place. You probably will need to cut the pipe on the outlet side of the valve so you can turn the valve body to unscrew it from the inlet pipe and get it out. Some valves are installed so close together that you need to cut the pipe on both the inlet and outlet sides, this is especially true of anti-siphon valves. Once the old valve is out, you install a new one in the