Strange problem with an irrigation head
 

I have been taking care of my own irrigation for years but have run into a problem I have not seen before. I removed a pop up to install an extension to make it higher and when I went to test it the pop up came up and was charged with water but nothing was coming out even though the head was set to the desired opening.
I have tried:
Checking filter - put in new
Took off head and flushed pipe for 20 seconds
Replaced with new adjustable head
Replaced the inner guts completely with another set of guts
Put in a whole new pop up of another brand

If anyone has any other ideas I would love to hear from you.

Are you saying that water comes out of the pipe, but when you screw in the nozzle, you get no water? Two things I would try:

1. Remove the filter. They are not needed.
2. Try using the nozzle at another spray location. If it doesn't work at the other location, you have a defective nozzle. Note that some nozzles are designed to not spray any water. I installed one where I had removed the plants. The pop-up comes up, but no water comes out.

There is enough pressure to make it pop up but no water comes out of the head?

If you remove the head and turn upon the water, what happens? I would expect nothing to pop up but you should have a geyser at least six feet high.

I assume no water came out in any of your tests including the whole new head. Did it work before you changed things? Are other heads in that zone working? Do you know if any heads in that zone farther down the line are working?

Sorry, no answers just questions. With everything you’ve done it doesn’t sound like a clog in the assembly itself. It could be low pressure and checking other heads in that zone and the geyser height should help determine that.

remove filter , look for small
pebble in nozzle, then replace sprinkler, and celebrate victory with a highball

Take the spray head off, blow through it if you can't then open the adjustment till you can, you likely are closing the head when you tighten it. When you tighten it on the pop up, hold the bottom of the head when you twist the top to open the spray.
Seen new guys do what you did over and over again over the years. I used to giggle a little, now I just expect it.

Leave the filter in, they allow you to adjust flow, and they are easier to clean than the spray head, and they don't hurt a thing.

This is the only right answer, given you did everything you said. Chance you could be getting dirt in the pop-up when you remove/replace though, only take the spray head off when you flush, and check that you can blow through the spray head before you put it back on. Have someone else turn off the water when flushing so you can hold the pop up from returning into the ground and letting dirt in.

There is more, but I don't seem to be getting any royalties from TOTV soooo...

I would verify the extension you installed not the problem especially if you used thread tape? It may be waded up blocking flow?

Happened to me once and the only thing wrong was with the adjustable spray pattern setting was set to zero degrees. I opened up the spray pattern to the 30 degrees I was looking for and the unit worked fine.

The filter is important if you are using rotary spray heads like the Hunter MP rotators. Once sand or a small rock gets into the head you need to throw it away since it can't be fixed. For all other heads especially the big canons, you can get away without the filter.

The best solution is to install a master irrigation filter at the source of your water at the control box. It will remove most of the harmful stuff and leave you with only one filter to clean once a month. If you live in the North where you don't use reclaimed water for irrigation then you should not have any problems since you are using clean pottable water for your irrigation.

Another thing to look for. If the adjustment screw is backed all the way out, its head (on the underside of the nozzle) might have bottomed out.

You’ve got a blockage in the water line

Maybe it’s leaking underground
 

If it sprayed, before, and if water comes out with no resistance from the head, but no water comes out with the resistance/pressure a head provides, and you changed the head, perhaps there is a leak underneath that doesn’t show when there is no resistance, but when you add pressure on the line with a head the water diverts to the leak point. I would dig around the pop up so you can see the joints- or at least see if the hole fills up with water with a head on.

If he is flushing the line, there is no blockage in the line. Yes, could be the screw is bottomed out. If you can blow thru the bottom of the head and air goes thru, and water comes out the pop up with the head off, then you are closing the head adjustment when you tighten it on the pop up.
I can't even estimate how many thousands of heads I have repaired, checked and adjusted over the years... but for sure, there is no reason to discard the filter. Many reasons to keep it there. It also doesn't reason that multiple companies are manufacturing all those heads, selling as cheap as possible, yet adding a filter you need to throw away to make the nozzle work better.
Same people telling me to throw them away also tell me rain gauges don't work.

I understand that you need the filter to adjust the throw distance, but I have never seen any technician actually adjust the throw distance. They just use another nozzle. I have had technicians tell me that they routinely discard the filters because it reduces clogs and maintenance calls. Personally, I never clean a filter, I just throw them away. To me, the only purpose the filter has is to protect a nozzle that you can buy for less than 2 dollars. I understand that this may not apply to rotating sprinkler heads, which I don't have.

Right except for the MP rotators. They will clog and you will be replacing a lot of them if you remove the filter.

Wonder how the OP made out?