Don't Mix rotors and spray nozzles

One comnon problem I see with sprinkler systems are where gear-drive rotors and pop-up sprays are mixed on the same zone. Average precipitation rate of residential rotors is .5 to .60 inch per hour. Depending on the nozzle selection on pop-up sprays their output ranges from 1 to 4 inches pet hour. There are solutions. If the additional sprays are really needed, remove the spray nozzle and replace with multi-stream rotating nozzles that fit on spray heads. Products include: Hunter MP rotator, Rain Bird RVAN rotary nozzles, Toro Precicion Rotating nozzles. Hunter and Toro manufacture male thread and female models to fit Toro heads (male) or all other brands (Female thread). Making this change will even out the water application in zones

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@robertokc Any idea why this is a common issue? I know in the irrigation world it’s never good news to mix types of nozzles, I’m curious why this is something that happens frequently if that’s the general rule of thumb.

Dumb contractors and misinformed homeowners.

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I love that explanation :joy:

Do you think it’s a big enough problem that we need to provide a solution for it on our end, or do you think the best way to handle it is just actually fixing the irrigation?

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Just fixing the irrigation. If it is a head spacing issue, add a rotor or a spray body with an MP Rotator. Spray nozzles put out roughly 2-3 times the inches per hour as gear-drive rotors. But MP Rotators have a similar precipitation as gear drive rotors.

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No, you would not want to add a mixed sprays and rotors setting because it would lead to overwatering.