Advanced Irrigation Troubleshooting

Note: The following catalog of content covered in this webinar is time stamped to allow you to follow along or skip to sections of the video that are relevant to your questions. You can also search for content on this page using the FIND command in your browser (CTRL + F in Windows, Command + F in Mac OS.)

• Intro/TOC
• Standard Troubleshooting Process
  • What to Do When Things Don’t Work
• Equipment Data/Symbol Issues
  • Drawing Corruption and Cleanup
  • Error Accessing Equipment Data in the Project
  • Correcting Symbol Mismatch
• How to Review a Valve Analysis
  • Understanding Pressure Losses and Precip Rates
• Sizing Mainline Techniques
  • Caps/System Monitors
  • Flow Zones

0:00 – 4:49: Intro/TOC

4:50 – 10:44: Standard Troubleshooting Process

 

What to Do When Things Don’t Work (5:11)

• Check that project and Preference Set data is correct.
  • Make sure you’re using projects and Preference Sets correctly.
• Try the same action in a blank drawing.
• DelRegApps, Audit, Purge, or deeper drawing cleaning methods if needed
• How did you add the equipment?
  • Import (potentially problematic)
  • New (preferred because we’re constantly updating equipment in our database)
  • Copy
• Highlight Tools
• Verification Tools
• Sizing Tools
• Schedules

10:45 – 32:09: Equipment Data/Symbol Issues

Drawing Corruption & Cleanup (10:45)

“Land F/X has detected corruption in this file …” message (11:00)

 

“You must first save the block into the Plan Graphics library …” message (12:30)

 

“Error adding extended data to entity” message (13:10)

 

Using the LOL and EE commands (14:15):

• Type LOL in the Command line and press Enter. Then type EE and press Enter.
• Select the piece of equipment, and press F2 to open the command history. A properly configured piece of equipment should have LandFX at the beginning of its reg name beneath the text Select object in the command history when you use the LOL/EE commands.
• If you see anything else at the beginning of the equipment’s reg name (example: _APP0), you are experiencing a data mismatch issue with the equipment – likely as the result of drawing corruption caused by RegApps.
• In this situation, you’ll need to clean your drawing using either our Nuke tool or manual drawing cleanup steps.
• Note that cleaning the drawing will not fix the equipment with mismatched data. You can quickly remedy the issue by placing an identical piece of equipment and using our Match Properties tool to replace the bad equipment with identical copies of the “good” equipment you’ve just placed. (See the demonstration of this process at 17:50 in this webinar.)
• To text whether the fix worked, use our Highlight Equipment tool to highlight all instances of the newly repaired equipment in the drawing. If they all highlight, you’ve fixed the issue. (18:38)

 

Question: Sometimes the Nuke tool will get stuck and not finish. Why does this happen, and how can I fix it? (19:07)

Answer: Massively corrupted files can at times confound even the Nuke tool. (Keep in mind that the corruption is likely originating in the Xrefs.)

• If Nuke doesn’t work, you can try our manual drawing cleanup steps.
• If those don’t work, you can try detaching the Xrefs and “down-saving” them to DXF files before re-attaching them.
• The key to preventing this issue is to clean Xrefs before attaching them to your drawing.
• Another possible solution is to select everything in your irrigation plan and use the COPYCLIP command to copy and paste everything into a blank, clean DWG file.
• F/X CAD users (2016 and newer) can also use the Clean Export tool to consolidate several of our manual cleanup steps into one click.
• Our fxREF tool can help speed up the process of attaching Xrefs.

 

Important: After correcting and replacing equipment, remember to use the Verify Laterals and Verify Mainline tools, as well as size all lateral and mainline pipe in the drawing after replacing equipment. (22:00)

 

Error Accessing Equipment Data in the Project (22:30)

You might see this error message when you use our View Data tool and select a piece of equipment such as a head or valve.

 

As a reference for all equipment you’ve added to your project, and to prevent errors like this one, we suggest running an Irrigation Schedule with the Entire Palette option checked. (23:50)

 

This error occurs when a piece of equipment has been removed from your project. Check the Irrigation Manager, and see whether the piece of equipment that generated the error is listed. If not, add it new to the project. (25:30)

 

Then click View Data and select the symbols of one of the components you just added. The equipment should have linked automatically to the symbols in the drawing when you added it back to the project. (25:40)

 

Correcting a Symbol Mismatch (26:10)

The equipment may have also been added as a different number than intended (such as Type 2 instead of Type 1). Look for a (2) at the end of equipment entries in the Irrigation Manager, which could be an indication of this issue. (26:10)

 

Note also that blocks can be defined incorrectly in a drawing (such as outdated symbols). Outdated symbols will lack the LAFX prefix in their names. You can first try to address this issue using the REDEFINEBLOCK command. However, if that command doesn’t work, and/or you get a Missing file message, you can then use the Replace tool, replacing the outdated symbols with the new versions. (28:30)

 

You can then use the XLIST command and select one of the components to ensure it has the LAFX prefix (meaning that it’s one of our updated blocks, as it should be) (30:00)

32:10 – 53:14: How to Review a Valve Analysis

Understanding Pressure Losses and Precip Rates (32:25)

 

Running a Valve Schedule (32:25)

 

Checking the Precip Rate column for excessively large or small entries (32:44)

You can also look for anomalies in your Watering or Runtime Schedules. For example, if the Watering Schedule only calls for watering one minute per week, you’ve likely found an issue that needs to be addressed.

 

If you do see a Precip Rate entry that’s out of the ordinary, your first items to check are the coverage arcs of the heads in your drawing. (33:20)

 

Selecting a valve with the view Data/Equipment Info tool active, and clicking Analysis to perform a valve/station analysis (33:40)

 

Editing a head with a problematic coverage arc with the Block Editor and changing the scale of the arc (34:10)

 

Sizing the valve again and running another Valve Schedule (37:00)

 

Troubleshooting a coverage area in an irrigation plan where the system has not created a Region (37:35)

Irrigation F/X should create a Region for each coverage area, which allows that area to be calculated correctly.

 

Selecting a coverage area block and using the Select Similar option to select all similar areas, then checking their stats in the Properties panel (38:30)

 

If you see anything other than 0 in the Rotation row, that may signal a problem. You can easily use the Rotation menu to set all selected areas’ rotations to 0. (39:00)

 

Sizing the lateral pipe for the problematic valve (39:44)

We recommend doing one step of troubleshooting at a time, sizing the pipes between steps. Still getting the same error or issue after sizing? Time to try the next step.

 

Selecting all the coverage areas again using Select Similar and checking the properties again (39:55)

 

Checking the scale of the coverage areas (40:00)

In this example, the Scale entry is off (it shows as Varies, which means different scales exist throughout the different regions).

 

Checking the drawing units and changing the precision (40:25)

 

Checking for and correcting Z elevations in the Properties panel (40:35)

 

Sizing the pipes again and running another Valve Schedule (41:40)

 

We highly recommend following the proper workflow order when creating your designs. (44:20)

 

What happens when you size the mainline and it’s full of loops (46:00)

 

Using the Move Piped Equipment tool to test for loops and other errors in your system (47:40)

One example of an error in placement is a component, such as a head or valve, that has been copied after it was piped.

 

Using the LOL/EE command to check one piece of equipment against another and check for improper connections (49:17)

The easiest way to fix an improperly connected component is to delete it and all pipes leading to it, then place and pipe it again.

 

Using the Match Head tool to replace a problematic head with the correct version (50:44)

 

Using LOL/EE to verify that the new head is correct, then piping to it (51:20)

 

Using Move Piped Equipment to verify that the head is piped correctly (51:45)

 

Sizing the mainline after making the corrections (51:57)

 

Continuing to use Move Piped Equipment to pinpoint any additional loops (52:20)

53:15 – end: Sizing Mainline Techniques

Caps/System Monitors (53:15)

A cap can help you fine-tune your pipe sizes if necessary.

 

Adding a cap for future use to the project and placing it at the end of the system (53:50)

 

Piping to the cap and sizing the mainline (54:40)

 

Increasing the flow to the cap and sizing the mainline again (55:30)

 

Using our Verify tools to ensure the system is piped correctly (56:25)

 

 

Flow Zones (57:20)

Placing a new Flow Zone to limit a length of pipe to a specific size (57:50)

The Flow Zone will calculate a specific length of pipe correctly as long as the entire length of pipe (both ends and the middle) is contained within the Flow Zone.

 

Sizing the mainline (58:25)

 

Checking the flow through the newly sized pipes (59:50)