# This will be the spring of automated watering for me...



## Cneufeld (Aug 10, 2018)

We bought our house a couple of years ago, have been tied up with internal renovations and other projects. But this spring, it's time to stop dragging hoses around.

I'm going to get a local company to help design the system, and then DIY from there. Any advice for a newbie? Like if you were just starting out, are there things you wished you knew enough to ask?

I'll upload the site diagram to this post this weekend... Probably keep this as a running project log. To start things off, I perhaps prematurely (last summer) ordered an Orbit 12 station controller (https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01D15HOTU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1), and paid a plumber to run a 1" PEX line from the main house line to the outside.

BTW, I'm also considering running some low voltage lighting cables at the same time, and there's a few flower beds that will want a drip irrigation system as well. And I'll have the joy of running stuff under a paving stone walkway... Any hints on that will be appreciated. I can see having to cross it a couple of times (one flowerbed is surrounded, and the walkway basically goes from the front of the yard to the back, with the house in the middle).

C


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## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

I have a Rainbird controller with module so I can control it from my phone. Thats the system that came with the house but I have a friend with a Rachio system that looks like an excellent setup as well. I would go with one of these for my controller.


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## Cneufeld (Aug 10, 2018)

At this point, the Orbit controller is a sunk cost; too late to return it as I bought it last year. So I'll be going with it for now, and looking at upgrading in the future if I need to. On the plus side, I can use an app on my phone to control it...

Thanks for the input!

Clint


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## wafflesngravy (Apr 8, 2019)

Some mistakes I made on mine. Use 1" lines instead of 3/4. Error on the side of more zones over too many sprinklers on 1 zone. I would design it with rotors, pop up sprinklers suck and need to be replaced waaaaay to often. Rotors last forever it seems.


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## Cneufeld (Aug 10, 2018)

So here's my lot plan. Ignore the shadows; had to take a picture as my home scanner isn't big enough...

Got my quote back, and they're specifying 46 spray heads (mostly Rainbird 15VAN heads) on 1804-SAM bodies. Any thoughts on those vs. the HE-VAN?

They also specified the Rainbird 100-DV valves (10 of them). Thoughts on those, or are they good?

Local prices seem to be about 30% higher than I can get online. I'd like to support a local business, but I also like my wallet. Some of the stuff (valve boxes) were 50% more.

@wafflesngravy, were you suggesting running 1" lines throughout the yard?

My water pressure was ~62psi, and I was getting 8gpm. But that was a 1" line from inside the house through a hose bib that's set up temporarily. Not sure how much the hose bib inhibits the water flow. It's a 5/8" meter, and a 3/4" line coming into the house.

C


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

The incoming line is 3/4 copper or PEX?


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## Cneufeld (Aug 10, 2018)

g-man said:


> The incoming line is 3/4 copper or PEX?


It's copper. The 1" line from the meter to where my valve box(es) will be installed is PEX.

C


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

1in PEX equals around 3/4in copper in gpm. I think you should keep your design gpm at around 10gpm per this website.

https://www.irrigationtutorials.com/gpm-psi-municipal-water-source/

One issue in my city water that is not explained the the irrigation website is the drop in pressure / flow during the peak of summer at 6am when everyone is watering their lawns. Designing for less flow allows you to still water without a coverage issue.


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## Cneufeld (Aug 10, 2018)

g-man said:


> 1in PEX equals around 3/4in copper in gpm. I think you should keep your design gpm at around 10gpm per this website.
> 
> https://www.irrigationtutorials.com/gpm-psi-municipal-water-source/
> 
> One issue in my city water that is not explained the the irrigation website is the drop in pressure / flow during the peak of summer at 6am when everyone is watering their lawns. Designing for less flow allows you to still water without a coverage issue.


That's about what I figured, based on the reading I did. The company that did my initial plan had some zones up to just over 11, as far as I can figure. I know that it's based on how large of the arc is that you're covering with the VAN nozzles, but still... That seemed somewhat high to me?

C


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## Cneufeld (Aug 10, 2018)

I also have an 8 pack of 42SA+ rotor heads that I picked up last year rather prematurely... Thoughts on using those in the plan? If not, I can just sell them locally...

C


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## Cneufeld (Aug 10, 2018)

Here's some pics of my backyard. And my ghetto "mobile rotor" base so I could test the placement of the rotor heads from last year.

I'd like to water the "hell strip" between sidewalk and road, but there's a couple of issues with that thought. First, that's not my property (belongs to the city), so I'm not really supposed to do anything besides mow it.

Second, the city has let us know that they're going to be doing sidewalk replacements over the next few years. Which means anything going under the sidewalk will be destroyed.

And third, I hope that sometime before that happens, we get a chance to put in a retaining wall rather than the slope that's there now.

C


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