Ask me how I know I have an irrigation issue

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HoosierLawnGnome
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Ask me how I know I have an irrigation issue

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » August 25th, 2017, 11:28 am

:wave: :blackeye: :club:

Image

I run irrigation at night and this zone is the least visible, so I didn't notice until the signs of drought stress started settling in several weeks ago. The rings make it obvious. I've replaced the nozzles but they still put out way more water on the perimeter of the arc than they do between the perimeter and the center head. I'm having pretty strong drought stress where it doesn't cover well enough.

Part of the visual issue is also that the heads throw out big droplets at the perimeter that cause the grass to lay over more, making the grass appear darker - akin to striping.

However, my options are limited - the distance these heads need to throw is long, limiting the options I have on the nozzle I use on an older head. AFAIK, I only have one option at the range I need for this head and they just barely overlap as-is.

I'll probably have to replace the heads in this zone to a better option.

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rydaddy
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Re: Ask me how I know I have an irrigation issue

Post by rydaddy » August 25th, 2017, 12:30 pm

I feel your pain. This quest for a 'perfect' yard can be a real pain in the azz...

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rydaddy
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Re: Ask me how I know I have an irrigation issue

Post by rydaddy » August 25th, 2017, 12:33 pm

... sorry one more thing. I see irrigation issues in yards all the time. Oddly enough I look for it (I know, crazy) and I have not seen what you have going on before. Did you try going up or down a nozzle size also? What heads are you using...? FWIW I'm slowly replacing all my rainbird 5000's (4" tall) to hunter I-20 6"ers. It could be there is no discernible difference but I feel like there is. Call me crazy. Again.

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Re: Ask me how I know I have an irrigation issue

Post by llO0DQLE » August 25th, 2017, 12:42 pm

Frickin irrigation/watering hey? Always a biatch. Been driving me nuts the last couple years. I've been watering with hose end oscillating sprinklers and putting NRG rain gauges all over the lawn and moving my sprinklers around to get uniform coverage. Arrgghh...

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Re: Ask me how I know I have an irrigation issue

Post by greenrebellion » August 25th, 2017, 12:52 pm

That's why I went with Rain Bird Maxi Paws in my yard, less reliant on perfect head to head coverage and better dispersion between far away and short distances than many rotors. That said, they aren't super reliable (more prone to breaking) and are pretty old technology, so I'm probably the only one that has had them installed on a new irrigation setup in years. But the sound they make is hypnotic, so I love them!


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HoosierLawnGnome
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Re: Ask me how I know I have an irrigation issue

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » August 25th, 2017, 3:58 pm

They are rainbird 5500 heads with the longest throw nozzles. I can find exact model numbers but several of these were replaced last year prior to my renovation.

Just not good lol

I need to find something with a 30 ft throw radius that can screw onto the existing connector.

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Re: Ask me how I know I have an irrigation issue

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » August 25th, 2017, 4:20 pm

rydaddy wrote:
August 25th, 2017, 12:33 pm
... sorry one more thing. I see irrigation issues in yards all the time. Oddly enough I look for it (I know, crazy) and I have not seen what you have going on before. Did you try going up or down a nozzle size also? What heads are you using...? FWIW I'm slowly replacing all my rainbird 5000's (4" tall) to hunter I-20 6"ers. It could be there is no discernible difference but I feel like there is. Call me crazy. Again.
I just ran out and checked and I'm using 5000's not 5500's. So, I had exactly what you had. I replaced several spray bodies last year, using Rainbird 5004-PC bodies.

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Re: Ask me how I know I have an irrigation issue

Post by rydaddy » August 25th, 2017, 10:01 pm

What's the distance between your heads (on average). I have a sneaky suspicion that you already have your system dialed in and have done everything you can think of. But i'm just curious what nozzles, spacing, etc. are giving you such a weird result.

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HoosierLawnGnome
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Re: Ask me how I know I have an irrigation issue

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » September 5th, 2017, 9:49 am

rydaddy wrote:
August 25th, 2017, 10:01 pm
What's the distance between your heads (on average). I have a sneaky suspicion that you already have your system dialed in and have done everything you can think of. But i'm just curious what nozzles, spacing, etc. are giving you such a weird result.
Throw distance varies, in zones, but in this zone, they are about ~30' apart. I replaced all the bad heads and missing nozzles last year. I'm using the longest throw nozzles on Rainbird 5004-PC bodies. As you can tell, they don't quite cover head to head.

One thing I immediately did was jack up the watering time. That has helped the grass slowly recover. Temps have been dropping and we've had more natural rainfall so that has probably been more of the factor in the greenup.

Another factor could be pressure at these heads being lower. This zone is the furthest away, pressure could be dropping.

Another factor could be spray head height of 4". I'm cutting at 2.5" now, but had been at 3-4" over the summer, and one or two of the heads are 1/2" below soil level. That might mean minor blockage of some spray closest to the head, but I don't see flat grass around spray heads in this zone, so it's not horrible.

I went ahead and ordered new Hunter I-20 6" spray bodies for this zone and they should be here soon.

You can't really see it from here, but there's a clover infestation back there - and I'm waiting for the grass to be growing well enough to blanket spray with Triclopyr / 24D a few times.

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rydaddy
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Re: Ask me how I know I have an irrigation issue

Post by rydaddy » September 5th, 2017, 12:35 pm

10 months from now I wonder if you'll be sittin' pretty. No 'green' rings from aliens in your yard.

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Re: Ask me how I know I have an irrigation issue

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » September 12th, 2017, 5:45 pm

I replaced that zone with 6" Hunter I 20s last night. I have a pressure issue, as the furthest head just barely has enough to run, and the throw distance is short. I think the pressure was a bigger issue than the heads. Anyways, the new heads do a lot better job of evenly distributing the water, mostly due to their ability to protrude higher above the soil profile.

I do get some pressure loss if someone is inside running a shower, but to my knowledge nobody was taking one.

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