Irrigation sickle flow problems help!

[MeanGreen420]

Omg these Sickles have a turn knob on top and I can not for the life of me get them to do an even flow. If I turn one down because it's getting to much another random container will fill more.

 

[Anthem]

Omg these Sickles have a turn knob on top and I can not for the life of me get them to do an even flow. If I turn one down because it's getting to much another random container will fill more.

First of all, this is in general but make sure all of your lines are the same length that can cause the problem

 

[MeanGreen420]

First of all, this is in general but make sure all of your lines are the same length that can cause the problem

Yes sir did that first everything's measured. Is there a premium type sickle you know of that actually has notches or something showing flow settings?

 

[MeanGreen420]

About to just get it close enough and call it Gucci. I got ocd but this has about broke it. Been adjusting for 2 days. I've ran it about 20 times.

 

[Anthem]

About to just get it close enough and call it Gucci. I got ocd but this has about broke it. Been adjusting for 2 days. I've ran it about 20 times.

I tried making a home made system and ran into similar problems. The situation you are having I am aware of, it has nothing to do with the sprinkler heads but the pump itself. Domestic water pressure is well over 50 PSI with is about the minimum I can see needed to balance out the flow rate. It is the pump not the sprinkler heads that causes the problem. If you want to test just hook up straight to a hose or at least this is what I found to be true.

 

[MeanGreen420]

I tried making a home made system and ran into similar problems. The situation you are having I am aware of, it has nothing to do with the sprinkler heads but the pump itself. Domestic water pressure is well over 50 PSI with is about the minimum I can see needed to balance out the flow rate. It is the pump not the sprinkler heads that causes the problem. If you want to test just hook up straight to a hose or at least this is what I found to be true.

Using a little aqua 160 pump thought it be good enough.

 

[MeanGreen420]

I got a bigger one about twice as big as this one. What gph you think would come close to the 50 psi?

 

[Anthem]

Using a little aqua 160 pump thought it be good enough.

If you want to do it on the cheap take off the emitters and just try running straight tubing to each plant. I would do 2 to each plant for safety purposes

 

[Anthem]

I got a bigger one about twice as big as this one. What gph you think would come close to the 50 psi?

That is the problem those are low pressure pumps, they all are low pressure. There is a different between volume and pressure. They will just stall out once you add the emitters

 

[MeanGreen420]

If you want to do it on the cheap take off the emitters and just try running straight tubing to each plant. I would do 2 to each plant for safety purposes

We put these emitters in the middle of pot? Auto waters new to me I usually just dump a gallon tea pitcher on them. I did try with emitters off and still got uneven flow.

 

[MeanGreen420]

Close enough I say. He'll there gonna get a half dose Water once per day instead of full dose once every 2 days. Should be good enough I hope.

 

[Anthem]

Close enough I say. He'll there gonna get a half dose Water once per day instead of full dose once every 2 days. Should be good enough I hope.

Your 2 on the left are lower than the right and the reason is simple. You pulled a Y off of one main. You really need some sort of a bulkhead with like 8 outlets to get it dialed in. Close enough is great for Horse shoes and hand garnades.

 

[MeanGreen420]

Your 2 on the left are lower than the right and the reason is simple. You pulled a Y off of one main. You really need some sort of a bulkhead with like 8 outlets to get it dialed in. Close enough is great for Horse shoes and hand garnades.

Crap man I was hoping to leave the manifold in storage. I got a 4 way split for the first two and then a T on the end for the last two.

 

[MeanGreen420]

@Anthem

 

[Anthem]

@Anthem

Close enough it up to you. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Orbit-8-Port-Adjust-Flow-Manifold-1-Tag-68000/202314129 and you need a vacuum break so the Rez does not empty into the grow

 

[jguit]

I got a bigger one about twice as big as this one. What gph you think would come close to the 50 psi?

You need to know the 'feet of head' to get an idea of the PSI of the pump, GPH doesnt tell you that.

Convert foot of head to psi - Conversion of Measurement Units

Do a quick conversion: 1 feet of head = 0.43341651888775 pounds/square inch using the online calculator for metric conversions.

www.convertunits.com

How to Convert Feet to PSI When Calculating Water Pressure

As we work with water pumps, we find that pressure is presented to us in two common units: PSI (pounds per square inch) or feet of head. As we size a pumping system, we'll want to accomplish building pressure (PSI). The relationship between PSI and feet of

www.absolutewaterpumps.com

 

[fo0]

your lines aren't the same length. that is why the furthest two have less water than the closer two. (closer to the pump)

 

[MeanGreen420]

your lines aren't the same length. that is why the furthest two have less water than the closer two. (closer to the pump)

I cut them all 10 inch. But it still wants to act up

 

[Deadstill]

I'm a big fan of hydroponics and have a considerable amount of knowledge on this particular subject as I also used to be an automotive technician. You need to think of it as a hydraulic system. The length of the lines doesn't matter so much as having an appropriate strength pump. Important factors to consider, as others have stated, is the "head height" usually listed on the pump, along with the volume. "Head height" means how many feet above the pump, the pump will pump water to. You need to factor every single raise of your hose. Let's say your hose raises 2 feet above the pump just to get the water out of the reservoir. Then let's say there's an additional 1 foot raise for every outlet. You need to add up all of those lengths and make sure your pump is rated to at LEAST that height, preferably >50% of what you actually need.

I use zip ties on all of my hose connections because there's usually pretty significant water pressure that they will start leaking eventually if not properly secured.

Just as an example I use an 800gph for my 36 plant NFT system. My particular 800gph pump only has a 10 foot head height, so you might want to consider buying a beefier pump. You can always control the volume with valves and such, but having the appropriate water pressure/head height is the most important thing to consider.

 

[MeanGreen420]

I'm a big fan of hydroponics and have a considerable amount of knowledge on this particular subject as I also used to be an automotive technician. You need to think of it as a hydraulic system. The length of the lines doesn't matter so much as having an appropriate strength pump. Important factors to consider, as others have stated, is the "head height" usually listed on the pump, along with the volume. "Head height" means how many feet above the pump, the pump will pump water to. You need to factor every single raise of your hose. Let's say your hose raises 2 feet above the pump just to get the water out of the reservoir. Then let's say there's an additional 1 foot raise for every outlet. You need to add up all of those lengths and make sure your pump is rated to at LEAST that height, preferably >50% of what you actually need.

I use zip ties on all of my hose connections because there's usually pretty significant water pressure that they will start leaking eventually if not properly secured.

Just as an example I use an 800gph for my 36 plant NFT system. My particular 800gph pump only has a 10 foot head height, so you might want to consider buying a beefier pump. You can always control the volume with valves and such, but having the appropriate water pressure/head height is the most important thing to consider.

Thanks Bubba your the second one to suggest pump. I'll grab a bigger one. What do you do so they don't siphon water after pump turns off. I looked it up and it showed just poking holes in line at top where it comes out reservoir and that works fine but maybe an actually fitting specifically for that would be better. Like a one way check valve.