SYSTEM DESIGN
It’s important to get out into the field and run water through the system while performing maintenance. Pair that with an inspection of any online settings to ensure that the proper inputs are being applied.
inspection points for varying inspection frequencies, ranging from daily drive-by visual inspections to five-year performance audits. However, should an irrigation technician, new or experienced, find themselves maintaining a zone-control VRI system, there are some additional maintenance items to be aware of in addition to this checklist.
VRI system checks
Getting out into the field and running water through the system for an evaluation is an integral part of main- taining a system. Just as important with newer connected systems is “virtual” maintenance of the system. It is easy to set and forget many of the configuration options through the online interfaces. Some annual checks and adjustments often need to be made.
If using an online irrigation scheduling tool, perhaps most important of all is to initialize the scheduler by ensuring the
24 Irrigation TODAY | Winter 2023
proper crop type and hybrid, planting date, tillage practice and target yield. Setting these inputs for every field before the irrigation season will help ensure that the best scheduling decisions can be made. It is also recommended to clear last season’s VRI prescriptions from the system to avoid accidentally selecting an old prescription map and applying water at an undesired
At the system’s panel, a few more checks should be made before flowing water. Ensure that the VRI control panel (whether integrated or standalone from the center pivot control panel) has a good cellular connection. Occasionally, wireless routers may become outdated and no longer connect to newer cellular networks and will need replacing. Once a stable cellular
When it comes time to perform regular system checks and maintenance, additional points of inspection must be added to the checklist to maintain the efficiency gains and ensure the additional investment in the system pays off.
rate in the upcoming season. Be sure to keep one or two backups of any custom prescription maps that may be used in the future on both local and cloud-based storage before deleting. Other virtual maintenance items may include renewing premium subscriptions, updating system information should any major changes be made (such as pumping plant or sprinkler package flow rate changes).
connection is established, find the panel’s settings and select the option to update the firmware. Generally, these updates are quick, and contain important bug fixes that will help improve the function of the VRI system. Should your system be equipped with wireless nodes for individual sprinkler control, check that all the nodes are connected. If not, make a note of which are not connected to further inspect for
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