Question
Last fall a "pro" winterized my Toro system.  He is not the most dependable so I want to start it up myself. After closing two exhaust valves on the backflow preventer I opened the main water valve slowly.  It seems that the system is not filling up, the water is just flowing out the backflow preventer, ( under the umbrella top).  What am I doing wrong.  Thanks for your help

Answer
Hey Jeff, I hope this helps. What is happening, is that the poppet is not popping up and seating on the bonnet. Try turning the valve on quicker, to get the water to pop up the poppet, and seat it. If you do this, and it is still not seating, the bonnet, or the poppet might have frozen and cracked, and needs to be replaced. Sometimes the main water line that feeds your valves, might have manual drain valves installed. In the winter, these are opened to allow the water to drain out of the system. In the spring, they need to be closed. When you turn the main valve on. Check and make sure you don't get alot of water coming up from the ground in an area, it might be a drain that needs to be closed. Good luck and let me know if I can be of anymore help. Have a great day.