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This is why it is so important for you to actually go through this whole tutorial and do the design right. (No that spacing is not an error, if the sprinkler radius is 12 feet, then you space the sprinklers 12 feet apart, not 24 feet. More on this later in the tutorial when we discuss sprinkler spacings and placement.) Don’t try to guess or assume “it will work.†I hear from tons of people wanting to know how to fix a system that they just threw together, and now it installed and there are dry spots all over the place.
For an emitter the product specification tables would include only operating pressures (PSI) and a flow rate in gallons per hour (GPH) for each of those pressures. (Radius of throw isn’t applicable to drip emitters.) Can’t find a performance chart or specification for the sprinkler or emitter? Then I would suggest you find another brand and model.
My experience is that most products sold retail without specifications are poor quality “knock off†products, often made by a “copy cat†production plant that makes knock offs of anything they can find with expired patents that will fit into their molding machines. This week they make sprinklers, next week it will be cd cases.
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They are then sold in bulk cheap with no support or guarantee. For spray type sprinklers, rotary nozzles, and rotators most designers use an operating pressure of 30 PSI, unless a lack of available pressure forces a lower level. The vast majority of spray type heads and rotary nozzles/rotators are designed to operate most efficiently at 30 PSI.
Check the manufacturer’s performance chart for the sprinkler. Additionally, almost all spray type heads have a radius adjustment screw that allows you to reduce the watering radius for using the sprinkler in smaller areas. (When you adjust the radius using the adjustment screw on a spray head, you are actually reducing the pressure at the nozzle by means of a small valve inside the nozzle.
This can also be controlled by using the radius adjustment feature to reduce the pressure. If all the heads are misting a better solution is to throttle the sprinkler zone control valve (cheapest solution) which will reduce the pressure at all the sprinklers on the valve circuit. residential irrigation system. A better solution is to install a pressure regulator on the mainline to reduce the pressure in the whole sprinkler system, or use special pressure regulating sprinkler heads or nozzles made by some sprinkler manufacturers.
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But they cost a lot more than throttling a valve. If you have a water source with reasonably steady pressure, like most municipal water systems, throttling a valve or adjusting a nozzle will be “good enough†for most people. For rotor type sprinklers the higher the operating pressure the better, within reasonable limits.
As a general rule, most rotor type sprinklers do not work well with less than 30 PSI operating pressure. The optimal pressure is easy to determine for rotors using the following rule, keep reading! “Stryker’s Rotor Spacing Rule†states that the spacing in feet between rotor-type sprinklers can’t exceed the pressure in PSI at the rotor.
I like to aim for at least 5 PSI higher than the minimum, so for that 35′ spacing I would aim for 40 PSI. There is a lot of competition in the sprinkler business to see who can get the greatest radius from a rotor-type sprinkler. Manufacturer’s literature and packaging tends to wildly exaggerate the maximum spacing of rotors.
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Even the most gentle breeze will shorten the real-world watering radius (water droplets are very light). If the package says the rotor has a radius of 35 feet at 30 PSI– that all wonderful, but don’t try to install those rotors 35′ apart! In the real world you will not get that distance (unless you are watering inside a building.) If you have 30 PSI do not space the rotors more than 30 feet apart.
I came up with this rule many, many years ago - lawn sprinkler system installation. So it got my name. That’s how it works!) Rotor Spacing Example: If you want to space the rotors 30 feet apart then you will need to use a pressure of at least 30 PSI for the rotor. If you want to space rotors 40′ apart you will need 40 PSI for the sprinkler head pressure.
Many tricky problems occur with sprinklers when they are spaced greater than 55 feet apart. Remember that cost is consistent regardless of spacing so it will not save you money. Bigger sprinklers cost a lot more money as well as the larger pipe, plus you almost always need a booster pump to get enough water pressure, so you have pumping costs (pumps are expensive to buy, maintain, and operate.) Most emitters operate best at around 20 PSI.
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(I’ve found that many pressure compensating emitters are not a whole lot more “pressure compensating†than standard emitters are. Keep in mind that at pressures over 45 PSI emitters may blow apart. Barbed emitters installed in poly tubing may pop out of the tubing at pressures over 30 PSI. Sometimes you need to use sprinklers that require high pressure such as rotors, with sprinklers that use low pressure on the same irrigation system. lawn sprinkler system installation companies.
The low pressure sprinklers (or emitters) are installed so that a separate valve turns them on and off, and a special pressure reducing valve is used. These valves have a built-in pressure regulation device that reduces the pressure down to the correct amount for the lower pressure sprinklers or drip emitters.
Remember– the pressure you enter in your table is the pressure for a single sprinkler head. So if you will have 10 sprinklers and they each require 30 PSI you still only write “30 PSI†on your pressure loss table. Also the value you enter should be the highest sprinkler head pressure requirement.
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