Sprinkler heads screw onto a riser with 1/2" or 3/4" pipe thread (NPT). Rain Bird’s 1800 Series and Toro’s 570Z spray heads take 1/2".
What are you holding?
How wide is the riser across its threads?
Look for the model on the head’s cap or body, or dig around the head and unscrew it to see the riser. Then hold a coin against the riser’s threads.
Your thread size
1/2" on Rain Bird 1800 and Toro 570Z
The inlet under these spray heads is 1/2" pipe thread, and some of the taller models have a side inlet too.
On the package: 1/2 in. FNPT inlet
Available on Amazon
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Start overYour thread size
1/2" NPT
The riser takes heads with a 1/2" inlet, such as Rain Bird’s 1800 spray heads and its 32SA and CP3504PC rotors.
On the package: 1/2 in. MPT riser
Available on Amazon
See also
Start overYour thread size
3/4" NPT
The riser takes heads with a 3/4" inlet, such as Rain Bird’s 42SA+, CP5004PC, 52SA and 5000 Series rotors.
On the package: 3/4 in. MPT riser
Available on Amazon
See also
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Rotors come in both sizes: Rain Bird’s 32SA and CP3504PC are 1/2", and its 42SA+, CP5004PC, 52SA and 5000 Series are 3/4". The riser under the head tells you which: about as wide as a nickel is 1/2", a little wider than a quarter is 3/4".
Inlet sizes by model
| Head | Type | Inlet |
|---|---|---|
| Rain Bird 1800 Series (1802, 1804, 1806, 1812) | Spray | 1/2" NPT female; side inlet also on 1806 and 1812 models |
| Toro 570Z pop-ups and 570S shrub head | Spray | 1/2" I.P.S. thread; side-inlet option on 570Z pop-ups |
| Rain Bird 32SA, CP3504PC | Rotor | 1/2", bottom |
| Rain Bird 42SA+, CP5004PC, 52SA | Rotor | 3/4", bottom |
| Rain Bird 5000 Series | Rotor | 3/4" NPT female, bottom |
For another brand, look up the inlet size on its spec sheet. A replacement head has to match the riser it goes on, so check the old head’s model or the riser’s width before choosing one.
Risers and extensions
- Cut-off risers: Rain Bird’s RISERCO6 (1/2") and RISERCO075 (3/4") are 6" PVC risers with male pipe thread at both ends, cut to height with a hacksaw or pipe cutoff tool. The RISERCO6 has cutoff steps at 1", 2", 3", 4.5", 5" and 6", so the cut end still has clean starting threads.
- Fixed risers: Rain Bird’s 1/2" PVC risers come 2", 3" or 12" long, with male pipe thread at both ends.
- Spray head extensions: the Rain Bird 1800EXT raises a Rain Bird spray head another 6-1/2" and fits all its spray heads and nozzles except bubblers. Use no more than two on one sprinkler.
- Toro 570 heads are meant to sit on polyethylene risers, or on a barbed elbow with thick-walled poly pipe. The 12" pop-up goes on a barbed elbow so the trench can be shallower.
Swing pipe (funny pipe) fittings
Rain Bird’s swing pipe is a flexible 1/2" pipe sold in coils. Its elbows twist into the pipe with no glue or clamps, and the other end is pipe thread for the head or the line:
| Part | Ends |
|---|---|
| SWGE050S | 1/2" barb x 1/2" male pipe thread |
| SWGE075S | 1/2" barb x 3/4" male pipe thread |
| SWGF050 | 1/2" barb x 1/2" female pipe thread |
These elbows are rated to 80 psi and aren’t for drip tubing, which has its own fittings: see drip tubing sizes.
Fitting a Toro 570 head
For Toro’s 570 spray heads, follow the steps below. Other heads come with their own instructions.
- Wrap the riser’s threads with PTFE tape only. Other sealing compounds can damage the head’s plastic.
- Hold the head by its body, not the cap, and screw it on hand-tight.
- Set a pop-up so the top of its cap is level with the finished soil.
- Flush the line with the cap and riser assembly out, then put them back with the nozzles.
Turn off the water to the sprinkler system, and the controller if there is one, before you take a head off, so no zone starts while you work.
Connecting a garden hose instead?
Hose thread vs pipe thread