Here’s my installation on the 3/4" irrigation branch off my main 1" water supply.
All of the irrigation was already fed off this 3/4" branch close to where the supply enters the house (the previous owner had a water softener so this provides unsoftened water).
I used 3/4 x 1" reducers to expand from the 3/4" up to 1" for a span of about 24", and then back down to 3/4".
There wasn’t enough give in the pipes to slip the fittings into the sharkbites, so I had to cut the 1" pipe and re-connect with a no-hub fitting.
The flow meter is calibrated. It was able to detect the flow in most of my zones. I have a couple very small drip zones for things like patio containers, and one smaller zone for a lemon tree. Those don’t register. However, the rest do. Looking forward to seeing how much water I’m actually using!!
If I could change one thing about the flow meter in terms of installation, I’d ask that the body be made out of PVC and/or have threading fittings. With no give in the pipes to slip the sharkbites on, I had to cut and rejoin further down the line. If I could have screwed PVC unions onto both sides I would have been able to avoid that. Not a biggie though.
Looks awesome @tygunn and thanks for the feedback! Look for updated flow meter firmware with low flow measurement improvements in the next couple days. I’d suggest trying to re-calibrate the low flow zones on Friday and let us know if it picks up anything new. You may also try increasing your pressurize time to pick up flow on any large drips zones that may take longer to fill (mine takes 3 minutes).
Awesome, I’ll give a try at recalibrating the low flow zones once the firmware update is out.
I doubt my containers zone will register as it only has a handful of drippers. But the tree zone that didn’t calibrate would likely work since it uses large lengths of tubing with inline emitters.
Thanks Brad, I was able to calibrate the “Front Lemon” zone which previously was not able to calibrate.
It looks like my flow meter is now reporting as disconnected though, so I can’t try re-calibrating the other zones which wouldn’t calibrate previously. I’ll try later.
Sure, I’d love to take a look. I have to admit, I was skeptical about the sharkbites but that was the EASIEST connection of a plumbing related device I’ve ever made. Pushed on the fittings and no leak. No messing with teflon tape, pipe dope, etc.
