Maintenance · 3 min read
End-of-Season Shutdown: A Simple Checklist
Quick checklist to button up your misting system for fall and winter — and what you can leave to us if you'd rather not.
Even before the first hard freeze, it's worth shutting your misting system down for the off-season. A proper shutdown saves wear-and-tear on the pump, extends nozzle life, and gets the system ready for a clean spring restart. Here's a quick checklist.
Late-season shutdown checklist
- Run the system one last time at full pressure to flush out any mineral deposits in the nozzles before they dry in place. (Here's why that matters: how to keep nozzles from clogging.)
- Close the dedicated water supply valve feeding the misting line.
- Briefly run the system with supply closed to bleed any pressure from the line.
- Open the drain valve at the lowest point in the system to gravity-drain the lines.
- Wipe down the pump enclosure and check pump oil. If oil is dark or there's any moisture in the bottle, schedule service.
- Remove or cap exposed nozzles only if you live somewhere that birds, bugs, or debris might fill them over winter.
What to leave to a pro
A compressed-air line blow-out and a pump oil change are best done by a technician with the right adapters and oil spec. Both are inexpensive, quick, and they push the freeze-damage risk to essentially zero.
Don't forget winterization
Off-season shutdown ≠ winterization. Shutdown is a comfort/seasonal move. Winterization specifically protects the system from a hard freeze. Read our full winterization guide for the details, or have us handle it — our maintenance team can knock out both in one visit.