3/16/2024 0 Comments Orbit sprinkler heads lowesAbout all the pressure/flow it takes to pop the sprinkler heads up is all it takes to cover the garden. The flow out of the sprinklers is just a trickle, really. I have the system watering for 15 minutes at 3:45pm every night. I think that 2 days should be a good increment. I am going to check my program tomorrow morning. If it works OK I will just use that = a lot less work than making the 5 runners I originally planned for. I am going to try it and see how it does. This is enough hose that I can snake it around the garden pretty well. I also found a 75ft soaker hose for about $16-18. I have the faucet side figured out but now I can't attach the rest of the supply hose (regular garden hose) to the valve section. The valve came with pipe fittings (the glue-on type to PVC) but I can't really use them in this install. Speaking of the barb to 3/4" thread adapters - I picked up 2 of them for the connection to my valve. They did have a 1/2" barb to male 3/4" threads, just not the female hose adapter. That is 3 pieces to make one connection from the 1/2" flex pipe to the faucet. So to do that I had to get an adapter to go from the 1/2" hose with a barb on one side and 1/2" male threads on the other then to a barrel 1/2" female connector to a 1/2" male threaded adapter to a female hose connection - 3/4" threads with a gasket. In any event, my system is going to connect to an outside faucet just like a normal hose. I picked up a 50ft run of the 1/2" flex pipe Lowes sells by Orbit thinking this would be a better option than cutting up a cheap hose (may last longer - our black pipes of similar material at the cabin for supply lines have been in for decades, a cheap hose may last 2-4 seasons). Something I couldn't find was a female hose adapter to 1/2" barb. I spent some more time at Lowes today detailing my system. I skipped the rain sensor - my personal thought is that was a $17 option that I could make it without. Remember the rule on in ground systems, the supply pipe can not be too large as the sprinkler will only distribute x amount but the supply pipe CAN be too small. I designed my (orchard) system from the start as a low volume system but for the zones feeding the garden I am going with 1" PVC at full pressure since the sprinkler heads will need all the flow they can get. Not really necessary on a "properly designed system" but if you are like me and are not a landscape professional it provides another adjustment point. That would provide you with a flow adjustment for each zone. In your application I would encourage the placement of a shutoff valve on each zone. If you go with low volume drip system you will need to use a pressure reducer. I just reduced the flow at the outlet down to 1/2" poly pipe that runs down to the orchard (250 ft away). I am using one valve to run a drip irrigation system in my orchard. I have the six channel Orbit with three manifold system. Rain sensors - do any of them measure how MUCH rain? Or is it strictly a "rain/no rain" figure? This question is directly related to the delay post-rain - if I get 1/4" of rain or 2" of rain I'd like to keep the watering tuned in to that, or even better - base it off soil moisture as this would give the best measurement for a control signal.ĮDIT - I found an answer to my second question - they have an adjustment for 1/8", 1/4", 1/2", 3/4", and 1"+ increments. I figure I can plumb this in to a circuit that hooks up to a garden hose faucet - much smaller than 3/4" line, but the only options were that or 1" = overkill for the water flow I need in my garden (a drop in the bucket compared to an in-ground lawn system would require).ĭoes anyone have any experience with the Orbit systems? Any comments on reliability? Of the full systems Lowes had (Rain Bird and Orbit) I got a 6 channel Orbit with a 3/4" valve. The full-featured sprinkler system controllers looked more promising = they have room for expansion, have much more flexible programming options, and some can even use rain sensors to keep the system from running if there is natural water - a huge bonus. I almost bought a simple screw-on faucet timer but I realized it had too many limitations. Lowes had a few systems that looked like they would work. I have been wanting to get some kind of watering system for my garden for a couple years now - specifically to keep it watered when I get real busy at work or take off for vacation. I was at Lowes today looking for parts for a few projects and came across the sprinkler system section.
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