Subject: Re: [Shop-talk] Lawn sprinkler

From: Jimmie Mayfield <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 13 Aug 2016 12:24:02 -0400

Are you contracting someone to install or doing it yourself?  If 
contracting, your installer most likely already has a particular 
brand/model that (s)he tends to work with so you'll need to talk to them 
about what they plan to use.

My sprinkler system consists of 5 zones of rotors (Rainbird 3500 and 
5000) for the lawn areas and 2 zones of a mixture of drip and 
microsprayers for the landscaping and garden areas.  Whatever you 
choose, I strongly recommend you plan for future expansion.  So install 
an extra valve or two in each valve box.  Extra valves are trivial to 
add to your manifolds when everything is dug up but it's a devil to add 
a valve to an existing box once everything is closed-up and buried.  
Worst case is the extra valves never get used.

For your main sprinklers, you pretty much have 3 choices: rotors, impact 
rotors or sprayers.  Sprayers are the simplest...no moving parts...and 
you can buy spray heads for various patterns.  But for a given GPM and 
PSI, they have lower coverage area than rotors so you'll need 
comparatively more zones if you use sprayers.  They're useful if you 
have an odd-shaped rectangular area or if you want to spray your 
shrubbery from afar.  Rotors and impact rotors shoot a stream (some 
shoot multiple streams) in a circular pattern.  So they can cover a much 
greater area for a given PSI and GPM. Impact rotors have pretty high GPM 
requirements, though, so unless you upgrade your water supply line, 
chance are you don't have enough GPM available to drive more than a 
couple per zone.  That's why most residential homes use non-impact 
rotors.  Non-impact rotors are also silent so your neighbors might thank 
you for that.

Do...do...do install a drip system for your landscaping.  Note that drip 
tubing is not the same as the rubber soaker hose that you buy at box 
stores (that stuff is crap).  Drip tubing and drip emitters are 
generally pressure-compensating so emitters near the end of a run are 
guaranteed to output the same amount of water as emitters near the start 
of the run.

J

On 08/13/2016 09:31 AM, Robert nogueira wrote:
> I'm planning on having a lawn sprinkler system installed. I've noted that there are several types of sprinkler heads and would like some input on which type is the best. Any opinions?
>
> Bob Nogueira
>    
>
> Bob Nogueira
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From: Brian Kemp <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 13 Aug 2016 10:46:56 -0700

Bob - You asked a very broad question with lots of possible answers.  To 
gain a better understanding of sprinklers, I suggest you take a look at
http://orbit.homedepot.com/sprinkler_design
There are other design tools, but this is a good starting point.

For planting areas, I recommend drip irrigation.  For small grass areas 
and irregular shapes, pop up heads are good.  For large grass areas, I 
recommend gear drive rotors as they are quieter than the impact rotors.

If doing it yourself, you will need to find out your water pressure and 
flow.  If you have a contractor doing the work, he should do the same - 
connect a pressure gauge and time filling a bucket.  You will then need 
to plot the area you plan to irrigate and place the heads.  Next, you 
use the available water calculation and flow of the heads to group them 
in zones.  You want each zone to have the same class of sprinkler and 
similar conditions so that the watering needs match.

I recommend staying with a single brand for a given type of sprinkler so 
you can interchange parts if something breaks.

I recommend at least 4" pop-ups if you go that route.  The 2.5" ones 
don't clear the top of the grass unless you have a lawn like a golf 
green and people that have them likely have a lawn full of sprinkler 
divots - grass holes cut with the sting trimmer so the sprinklers will 
actually spray.  The price difference is small.

I recommend sprinkler heads in the lawn area be connected with a short 
length of flexible pipe.  This makes it easier to have the top of the 
head flush with the surface.  It also mean that if someone drives a 
truck over your sprinkler, they are less likely to actually break a 
pipe.  I use Toro funny pipe.

Automatic controllers are great so you can water early in the morning 
while you are still asleep and the water has time to soak in before the 
sun comes up.  Weather based controllers are also a great idea so you 
don't water your lawn in the rain.  They have a sensor you mount on a 
fence or the house that communicates with the controller to stop the 
sprinklers for a period of time after measurable rain or bump up the 
time if it is unusually hot and dry. If you are doing your sprinkler 
maintenance and have a big property, a remote control is really nice so 
you can turn the sprinklers on and off from beside the sprinkler head 
you are working on.

As Jimmy mentioned in his reply, plan for expansion.  At the end of my 
manifolds, I just stubbed out an additional supply pipe with a cap.  If 
I want to add an extra zone, I can just cut the pipe and add another 
riser for the valve.

The sprinkler valve in a properly designed system you be full open when 
running.  Each sprinkler head is normally adjustable.

If you live where it freezes, you want the capability to blow out the 
sprinkler zones to remove the water from the pipes.

If you have a situation where the sprinklers don't seem to spray well, 
look for a leak or broken pipe.

Good luck.  Once they work, sprinkler systems are great.

Brian

On 8/13/2016 6:31 AM, Robert nogueira wrote:
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From: Pat Horne <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 13 Aug 2016 13:50:28 -0500

Bob,

I totally agree with Jimmie, but would go a bit further. 

Don't forget to add extra wires for the extra valves, plus one or so if the
wires get damaged you don't have to dig up the yard to repair it, just move
to a different wire.

Depending on the price of the controller, I would also add enough control
zones to handle the extra valves. Some controllers have the ability to add
more zones on later, which would be an alternative.

Also, no matter who installs the system, take photos of the pipes and wires
so if there is a need to find them you will have a better idea of where they
are.

I have drip tapes around my trees and in the garden and they work great.
There is no spraying water into the air where some will evaporate and puts
it all on the roots.

Peace,
Pat

-----Original Message-----
From: Shop-talk [mailto:[email-masked]] On Behalf Of
Jimmie Mayfield
Sent: Saturday, August 13, 2016 11:24 AM
To: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: [Shop-talk] Lawn sprinkler

J

On 08/13/2016 09:31 AM, Robert nogueira wrote:
> I'm planning on having a lawn sprinkler system installed. I've noted that
there are several types of sprinkler heads and would like some input on
which type is the best. Any opinions?
> Unsubscribe/Manage:
http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/shop-talk/mayfield+shoptalk@sackheads.
org

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From: Brian Kemp <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 13 Aug 2016 14:11:15 -0700

Pat's advice about the wires is right on if the controller isn't next to 
the valves.  I had one zone that was initially intermittent due to a bad 
wire.  When it failed, I had to dig up wire to two different manifolds 
(the far one followed the path of the near one).  The bad install came 
as part of the house, but now both those manifolds have 1/2 PCV conduit 
protecting the wires.  One run has a LB junction at the end.  The other 
has a single gang box for the wire junctions.  Brown wire blends in with 
brown dirt, so it is tough to see if you dig.

Brian

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