Popup lawn irrigation and controllers

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841 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1908721 27-Nov-2017 22:33

kryptonjohn:

phrozenpenguin:

Three weeks ago got ground cultivated, irrigation installed, topsoil brought in, hydroseeded. Very glad got a firm to do it is as it took three guys all day for 100m2, with digger and various tools. Wasn't cheap but 3 weeks later we have a lawn-in-progress, and wouldn't have if I had tried to do it alone.

We went for MP Rotators as heads but a very simple 2 zone $80 Mitre10 controller, running off the tap. I'm looking at OpenSprinkler but can always add later. The shape of your section will have a big impact on how many heads you need, and that and the water pressure will impact how many zones you need. I've only heard good things about the MP Rotators and the tap controller was recommended as you can do e.g. 5 mins every 3 hours, which many digital ones can't. Are you considering going for tap connection or direct off mains. We went for tap due to small area and good pressure, but mains is recommended for larger areas and maximising pressure.

I agree 7m3 is not a lot of soil for your area; we had 7.5m3 for 100m2 area and could easily have done more.

Thanks. For your MP Rotator setup, do you recall what your flow rate (aka 9L bucket time test) was? I can run off a tap that comes into the house from the street so it's before the pressure regulator so theoretically should have plenty of flow but it's poor - about 23L/min so can only run a few sprinkers at a time.

Are you in Auckland? If so can you say who did your seeding?

I think we are about 23L/minute as well. We have 4 heads on one zone and 6 on another, but none of them have to do massive distances.

I'm not in Auckland and used a small local firm so can't advise on Auckland firms.

kryptonjohn

2523 posts

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#1908723 27-Nov-2017 22:46

richms:

Solenoids are normally 24V AC and you can have a massive run before voltage drop is a problem.

Oh yeah. I'd been looking at the dc ones which are used on battery powered controllers. And the dc latching ones are twice the price too. That's quite a benefit to running AC.

I have an irrigation caddy too, but its all packed away because the single on tap timer is good enough for the hanging baskets and I will be looking at removing lawn rather than watering it. Once I get some actual plants in will redeploy the smarter one, but for now just saturating the baskets once a day is all I need.

There will be no thread issues on the proper inline valves etc, the only messed up thread the USA has is on the actual garden tap, so any on tap gear will be useless unless you also get a US tap.

The irrigation caddy uses an AC transformer power supply, but the ebay seller was able to ship 2 with a AU plug and 230v to shipito for me at a great price on "reconditioned" ones that looked as new.

The stuff here (Hunter, Pope etc) all seems to have 15mm BSP threads and 19mm barbs (and pipe) but the US stuff was 1/2" NPT and 1/2" so I expected I'd need adapters?

Cheers

JohnO

kryptonjohn

2523 posts

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#1908726 27-Nov-2017 23:21

Ordered an IrrigationCaddy. They only had the wired internet version in stock but half price US$49.

So... most 24VAC irrigation solenoid will do such as https://irrigationexpress.co.nz/hunter-pgv-solenoid-valve.html ?

Cheers

JohnO

richms

28187 posts

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#1908731 28-Nov-2017 00:17

kryptonjohn:

The stuff here (Hunter, Pope etc) all seems to have 15mm BSP threads and 19mm barbs (and pipe) but the US stuff was 1/2" NPT and 1/2" so I expected I'd need adapters?

Cheers

JohnO

I have some valves from there which I assume were their 1" thread and went straight onto one of the sizes of adapters to irrigation pipe I got from bunnings a while back. Not tried with the smaller stuff. Only encountered the stupid thread issue when I got a kids sprinkler from there. Would you believe that they dont have the standard of the gardena style snap on fittings and just thread things on to the end of their hoses like cave people?

Richard rich.ms

kryptonjohn

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#1908737 28-Nov-2017 06:16

OMG that's astonishing!

Talkiet

4793 posts

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Trusted

#1908823 28-Nov-2017 09:58

Watching with interest. I have about 450m2 of lawn that needs regular watering and dragging hoses and sprinklers around is getting old real fast.

Seems like I should look to get most of the pipe/fittings locally, and perhaps import a bunch of the MP rotator heads from the US? I think I'll need 3 zones. Mains water pressure is about 550kpa.

Alternatively, is this something that experts charge reasonably for (materials + $40/hour?) or are they generally priced as a gold plated solution?

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

kryptonjohn

2523 posts

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#1908832 28-Nov-2017 10:15

Talkiet:

Watching with interest. I have about 450m2 of lawn that needs regular watering and dragging hoses and sprinklers around is getting old real fast.

Seems like I should look to get most of the pipe/fittings locally, and perhaps import a bunch of the MP rotator heads from the US? I think I'll need 3 zones. Mains water pressure is about 550kpa.

Alternatively, is this something that experts charge reasonably for (materials + $40/hour?) or are they generally priced as a gold plated solution?

Cheers - N

Agreed. Hose, tees, clamps etc are pretty cheap locally.

Controllers are expensive locally but some (IrrigationCaddy) are cheap online from USA.

The local MP Rotator nozzles and popup bodies (you need both) vary significantly in price but I think the price from https://irrigationexpress.co.nz/ ($15.08 + $6.24) + GST is competitive with online prices overseas.

[edit] = maybe I was wrong about the MP Rotator online USA prices - these guys look sharp and while shipping initially looks expensive, it seems to apply a discount at checkout for ordering multiple items.

https://www.ebay.com/usr/sprinkler_wholesale_international

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plas

455 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1908875 28-Nov-2017 10:53

kryptonjohn:

Hi- so the pi version if you mount the device inside the house how far can you run the cables to the solenoids? I'm guessing they require a bit of current and won't like too much voltage drop? Or do you run a dc power cable to your pi in a weatherproof box outside near the solenoid valves?

Do you use dc latching solenoids like these? https://irrigationexpress.co.nz/hunter-pgv-solenoid-valve-with-dc-latching-coil.html

I think OpenSprinkler Pi is going to work for me.

Cheers

JohnO

I use OpenSprinkler bee + Openhab which allows me to control the system from my dashboard and you can script in rain delay, or soil moisture levels etc. For valves I'm just using the Orbit valves from Mitre10 (cant find on their site for some reason, but they were $49 each).

http://www.tiw.co.nz/product_pcid_158.html

phrozenpenguin

841 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1909038 28-Nov-2017 15:37

plas:

kryptonjohn:

Hi- so the pi version if you mount the device inside the house how far can you run the cables to the solenoids? I'm guessing they require a bit of current and won't like too much voltage drop? Or do you run a dc power cable to your pi in a weatherproof box outside near the solenoid valves?

Do you use dc latching solenoids like these? https://irrigationexpress.co.nz/hunter-pgv-solenoid-valve-with-dc-latching-coil.html

I think OpenSprinkler Pi is going to work for me.

Cheers

JohnO

I use OpenSprinkler bee + Openhab which allows me to control the system from my dashboard and you can script in rain delay, or soil moisture levels etc. For valves I'm just using the Orbit valves from Mitre10 (cant find on their site for some reason, but they were $49 each).

http://www.tiw.co.nz/product_pcid_158.html

Fantastic - thank you. This is exactly what I was looking for. This will link things together nicely. I've got some reading to do - but any gotchas I should be aware of?

kryptonjohn

2523 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#1909041 28-Nov-2017 15:44

plas:

I use OpenSprinkler bee + Openhab which allows me to control the system from my dashboard and you can script in rain delay, or soil moisture levels etc. For valves I'm just using the Orbit valves from Mitre10 (cant find on their site for some reason, but they were $49 each).

http://www.tiw.co.nz/product_pcid_158.html

So with those valves... Are they 24VAC and did you just chop the plug off and wire it directly to your controller?

Cheers

ermat

172 posts

Master Geek

#1909158 28-Nov-2017 19:18

Great thread guys. I would really like to irrigate my new lawn and the pi set up sounds the business.
Only trouble is I'm flat out doing 100 other things finishing the build on my new house.
Can the experts here give me a short list of "must do's" with regard what i need to get organised.
What do you recomend regards sprinklers etc.

I have a rectangular lawn strip approx 30m long, by 3.5m wide.

ermat

172 posts

Master Geek

#1909162 28-Nov-2017 19:33

kryptonjohn:
richms:

Solenoids are normally 24V AC and you can have a massive run before voltage drop is a problem.

Oh yeah. I'd been looking at the dc ones which are used on battery powered controllers. And the dc latching ones are twice the price too. That's quite a benefit to running AC.

I have an irrigation caddy too, but its all packed away because the single on tap timer is good enough for the hanging baskets and I will be looking at removing lawn rather than watering it. Once I get some actual plants in will redeploy the smarter one, but for now just saturating the baskets once a day is all I need.

There will be no thread issues on the proper inline valves etc, the only messed up thread the USA has is on the actual garden tap, so any on tap gear will be useless unless you also get a US tap.

The irrigation caddy uses an AC transformer power supply, but the ebay seller was able to ship 2 with a AU plug and 230v to shipito for me at a great price on "reconditioned" ones that looked as new.

The stuff here (Hunter, Pope etc) all seems to have 15mm BSP threads and 19mm barbs (and pipe) but the US stuff was 1/2" NPT and 1/2" so I expected I'd need adapters?

Cheers

JohnO

1/2" npt and below is the same thread pitch as bsp. Anything bigger than 1/2" npt has a different thread pitch to the equilivent bsp size.

dgashby

71 posts

Master Geek

#1909186 28-Nov-2017 20:25

kryptonjohn:

Hi- so the pi version if you mount the device inside the house how far can you run the cables to the solenoids? I'm guessing they require a bit of current and won't like too much voltage drop? Or do you run a dc power cable to your pi in a weatherproof box outside near the solenoid valves?

Do you use dc latching solenoids like these? https://irrigationexpress.co.nz/hunter-pgv-solenoid-valve-with-dc-latching-coil.html

I think OpenSprinkler Pi is going to work for me.

Cheers

JohnO

The OpenSprinkler Pi version is designed to run with AC solenoids. I chose to set everything up in the corner of my garden shed. We've got an 18m well with a Davey submersible pump sitting at the bottom. The photo below shows the pressure vessel and pressure switch underneath, and the OpenSprinkler units and solenoids valves. As soon as a valve opens, the pressure sensor detects the drop in pressure and activates the pump.

Wifi for the Pi3 in the metal garden shed is pretty much nonexistent but I had already considered that and buried two lengths of conduit back to the house before pouring the slab for the shed so I've got the satisfaction of having a 1Gb LAN and Internet connected garden shed :-)

I've got five zones but am only using 3, one 40mm main line for out the front, one 40mm main line for out the back, and a 25mm line that supplies a whole heap of dripper lines located in garden beds and around trees.

phrozenpenguin

841 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1909194 28-Nov-2017 20:37

ermat: Great thread guys. I would really like to irrigate my new lawn and the pi set up sounds the business.
Only trouble is I'm flat out doing 100 other things finishing the build on my new house.
Can the experts here give me a short list of "must do's" with regard what i need to get organised.
What do you recomend regards sprinklers etc.

I have a rectangular lawn strip approx 30m long, by 3.5m wide.

Do you already have a lawn in decent shape? If so I would speak to The Irrigation Warehouse - send them a plan and answer a few questions and they can tell you what you need - and don't buy a controller from them, if you want OpenSprinkler. MP Rotator sprinkler heads seem to be the go-to.

If you don't have a lawn already I would look at getting some quotes for someone to do the whole job.

ermat

172 posts

Master Geek

#1909196 28-Nov-2017 20:47

Thanks for you thoughts Phroz.

I should have mentioned, it will be a new lawn. Just a new build site currently.

I would prefer to do the work myself having some experience in pipework etc. Also must be cheaper to do myself. I just need to work out a plan and equipment options.

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