Which sprinklers will be best?

Discussion in 'Lawns' started by Gn0me, Jun 2, 2019.

  1. Gn0me

    Gn0me Gardener

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    With my very little knowledge, I'm thinking it will be easy and a good idea to insert some sprinklers with spikes up the left side of the garden to water the lawn. I will then simply connect the hose to them when needed.

    The main and most important reason for this idea is so that it won't spray into next door as the jets don't need to pulsate so high unlike the portable one you can see in the photo.

    I'd like to simply turn on the tap with minimum setup and know it's all set to cover the lawn without affecting anyone else.

    Can you tell by the photo if this way will work and cover the whole lawn?
    Can you specifically recommend any and advise on how many I would need?
    I would say they need to be able to pulsate 180 degrees only and to just over 4 metres.
    Since the lawn is 13 metres then would 2 be enough or do they not work like that?

    I'm really trying to find out if my lawn has some underlying problem (Liz The Pot and Verdun have been very helpful in another thread for this) and wonder if neglecting my watering duties have not helped!

    Thank you.
     

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  2. Doghouse Riley

    Doghouse Riley Head Gardener

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    If you've some DIY skills, you could install something like this.
    The equipment cost me around fifty quid and took less than half a day to get them up and running.
    This was nine years ago. Still working OK, they need no maintenance.

    P1020979.JPG


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    P1020984.JPG


     
  3. Gn0me

    Gn0me Gardener

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    Thanks for that!
    I could use something like that.
    Would these ones cover a 180 degree area and spray/pulsate out by 4 metres in the radius?
    Thanks again.
     
  4. Doghouse Riley

    Doghouse Riley Head Gardener

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    It depends on your water pressure, how great will be the spread. Mine's about three metres or so...You can adjust the coverage from 360 degrees down to next to nothing. I have a 45 degree quadrant that stays dry in the furthest one so that our tea-house doesn't get watered.

    The heads can be bought for around a fiver each on eBay. Everything else you can get from a plumber's merchants.

    If you look at my photo of the "dry run," alright...wet run... You will see that the supply needs to be equidistant from my two sprinkler heads, to ensure an even distribution of water.
     
  5. Gn0me

    Gn0me Gardener

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    Just to give you an update:

    I have bought two garden sprinklers from Screwfix. When one is connected, it works fine but when both are, they don't work properly. This must be because of not enough pressure is being created.

    I thought my water pressure was fine. It's certainly fine indoors. Apparently, Screwfix say you need 2.0 bar to operate the sprinkler but don't know for two.

    What I'm wondering, are there certain things I can replace to increase the pressure?
    For example, would it help if I replaced the hose connectors that have the built in water stop valves with ones that don't? Increasing the hose size? Replacing the garden tap with a special one? Using a more rigid pipe between the sprinklers?

    As said, when one is connected, it works fine, the sprinkler rotates 180 degrees back and forth and pulsates a decent distance but when both are connected, the furthest doesn't rotate and pulsates feebly whilst the nearest only rotates once but does not return.

    Very frustrating as this would have been perfect if it would work!

    Thanks very much.
     
  6. Doghouse Riley

    Doghouse Riley Head Gardener

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    The problem with water pressure is that it varies. In areas like South Manchester where we live, the pressure locally has fallen since I installed these in 2012. I think it's because of all the new builds over time which create a greater load and they don't uprate the pumps (they also reduce the pressure between midnight 5 a.m. so the many unfixed leaks aren't made worse. Sometimes my leccy shower won't work at 1.00am when I occasionally want to use it as the "low pressure" flag comes up.

    My sprinklers still work, as I removed the return springs. So I get the same coverage as the pressure doen't have to overcome the resistance of the springs. So after watering the garden, I have to now push them back down with my foot. No big deal. Doesn't bother me.

    If I were bothered I'd, install a water tank of a few dozen gallons in the garage, with a toilet ballcock mechanism to keep it topped up and connect a small electric pump between it and the sprinkler supply. I could then put the return springs back in.

    It wouldn't cost that much.
     
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