Said It Here

Can I blow out my own irrigation system?

Attempting to save money by doing it yourself often fails because standard home air compressors are not strong enough to break through the lines. The necessary connection points downstream of the backflow preventer are also frequently missing or impossible to locate. Ultimately, these setup roadblocks lead many to decide the effort is not worth saving $100 a year.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    Having a professional company come out to do it
  2. 2
    Watching a professional do it and recording a video for reference
  3. 3
    Watching DIY videos on YouTube
  4. 4
    Attempting to use the testcock upstream instead.
  5. 5
    Building a DIY connector piece using a foot of hose and a male compressor nozzle to attach to a regular spigot.

In their words

Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.

r/lawncare3 people · September 2026 – October 2026

“I’ve always had a company blow out my irrigation system but am interested in doing it myself.”source ↗

demo183 · r/lawncare · 1 upvotes

“I tried it once and concluded it was not worth saving $100/year.”source ↗

HumanDissentipede · r/lawncare · 1 upvotes

“I’m not actually able to find the connections they say should be there downstream of the backflow preventer.”source ↗

“So I am trying to use the testcock upstream and I don’t think my air compressor is enough to break through?”source ↗

RockyMtnPrincess · r/lawncare · 1 upvotes

Where this came up

People with this problem also raised