LCM recently spoke with Sam Moore, a national field service manager with Toro, about preventing vandalism damage to irrigation controllers.

LCM: Have you seen many instances of controller vandalism in the field?

SM: Oh, yeah. Most of the time, vandals are trying to turn things on and when they don't succeed at that they just destroy the inside. I'd suspect that they are bored kids with nothing better to do.

LCM: So what can contractors do to prevent controller vandalism?

SM: If it's a residential/commercial controller that is wall-mounted, we encourage that they be mounted on an interior wall that is lockable, or in a location that is well-lit. Such as a restroom with an internal breezeway, something along those lines.

Another thing you can do is to mount the controller inside of a stainless steel enclosure that other devices would be mounted in, like lighting relays, and to lock that up. Residential security usually isn't much of a concern: you can mount them inside a garage.

If it's a radio-controlled product, use a low-profile antenna that isn't as obvious to vandals. Something we have on our Sentinal control system is a low-profile rubber antenna.

LCM: What about placement?

SM: Anything you can do to minimize the visibility of the controller is good, including painting it to match the background wall or the surrounding area, making it hard to see.

For controllers that are not wall-mounted, stainless steel can reduce or prevent vandalism. It's strange, but people will put controllers in city parks, golf coures, areas with lots of foot traffic, and I'll find that they are not locked. What the end-user can do is to make sure the boxes are locked.

I've also seen some build wooden sleeve that goes over the top so they are less visible. I wouldn't recommend it, but know some overseas controllers that are mounted in a vault below grade.

The first thing is to keep controllers out of sight and the next thing is to make sure they're locked.

LCM: Are there any products out there that are less vandal-prone?

SM: If you're in a high-vandalism area such as a downtown setting, you can choose a product that doesn't require field controllers, such as a decoder system where there is essentially nothing above ground. Several companies make those.