Need Drip Irrigation Setting

[emil]

@wfm8p

It seems like it would be so simple to have calculation of water usage using gph of emitter times # of emitters per zone.

@wfm8p, have you seen this online custom nozzle calculator that we’ve built? Additionally, this thread discusses this concept in detail.

@ar-t

Do you guys have any experience with drip, in the real world?

@ar-t, yes we do – I personally have installed, maintained and repaired thousands of systems. Happy to personally chat with you or your friend over a call. If you’re interested, please schedule a call with me.

@ar-t

We played games with the settings for his drip zones. It didn’t seem to matter what we did: the schedule stayed the same! And it was way too short.

What duration were you seeing? I’d be happy to review the settings and run the numbers. Do you know what type of schedule he was using; Fixed or Flex?

@ar-t

You will have to continue to address his problems, with him. I am just giving what I hope is an honest and unbiased comment on how I think it works.

Happy to follow up on his support ticket. Maybe you can direct message me his name?

@ar-t

Case in point: drip tube with emitters that flow almost 1 gpm, in clay (with really shallow roots, which is a limit of living in this part of Texas), and on a sharp downward slope. What is the controller going to do? Is it going to figure out “Hey, this is putting out water too fast, and is going to run off, if it runs constantly.” Or, is it going to cycle on and off, to prevent exceeding the percolation rate of the soil?

We don’t enable Smart Cycle on drip zones, but the work around is to create a custom nozzle and set it as a lawn nozzle.

@ar-t

Is it going to figure out “The root depth has been input as 2.5”, so it is going to figure out it REALLY needs constant watering, as in daily? It sure doesn’t look that way.

Yes, if you’re using a Flex Daily schedule and the weather station’s data confirms that ET for the day validates the need to water on a daily basis; i.e. allowed depletion is reached.

@ar-t

…but when his drip system runs, it all runs down the street. His last controller did not do that. It also did not underwater. Clearly, something is wrong, and your tech guys don’t seem to be able to help.

Sounds like a misalignment of soil and nozzle settings. Will need to review the support ticket to understand what was recommended to the user and how the system is currently configured.