I am planning to connect 3-4 sprinklers to one faucet via a 4-way
adapter and have one technical question/doubt: The hose connecting the
adapter to the faucet would carry 3-4 times more water than individual
hoses connecting it to sprinklers. What capacity should these hoses be?


Naively, I was thinking 3/4" hose to faucet and 5/8" hoses to
sprinklers. Or would another combination make more sense?

Thanks.

In article , AKT
wrote:

I am planning to connect 3-4 sprinklers to one faucet via a 4-way
adapter and have one technical question/doubt: The hose connecting the
adapter to the faucet would carry 3-4 times more water than individual
hoses connecting it to sprinklers. What capacity should these hoses be?


Naively, I was thinking 3/4" hose to faucet and 5/8" hoses to
sprinklers. Or would another combination make more sense?

Thanks.

I don¹t know about you but I just try things. Water pressure Etc etc..





Bill

--
Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA

In article
,
Bill wrote:

: I don¹t know about you but I just try things...

I have always benefited for trying to learn from others' experience to
start with; of course, over time mine gets added.

Depends on what kind of item too. I dread the thought of accumulating
bulky and expensive hoses just to try them.

My situation is not all that exceptional - wanting to run 3-4
sprinklers at one time. If someone has figured somethings out, I don't
mind learning from them.

AKT wrote:
I am planning to connect 3-4 sprinklers to one faucet via a 4-way
adapter and have one technical question/doubt: The hose connecting the
adapter to the faucet would carry 3-4 times more water than individual
hoses connecting it to sprinklers. What capacity should these hoses be?


Naively, I was thinking 3/4" hose to faucet and 5/8" hoses to
sprinklers. Or would another combination make more sense?

Thanks.

Running 3-4 sprinklers at once will greatly reduce the coverage of them.
Is this what you really want?

"AKT" wrote in message
...
I am planning to connect 3-4 sprinklers to one faucet via a 4-way
adapter and have one technical question/doubt: The hose connecting the
adapter to the faucet would carry 3-4 times more water than individual
hoses connecting it to sprinklers. What capacity should these hoses be?


Naively, I was thinking 3/4" hose to faucet and 5/8" hoses to
sprinklers. Or would another combination make more sense?

Thanks.

The rate of flow, thus the sprinkler coverage depends on the ID of the hose
(carrying capacity), and the pressure "seen" at the sprinkler. In this
case, the limiter is not the hose carrying to the adapter, rather, the
faucet outlet itself. A typical faucet cannot deliver enough water for
appreciable coverage for 4 sprinklers. The reason being is that total water
coverage is limited by the faucet's ability to deliver:
1. Sufficient pressure
2. Sufficient water volume
The amount of water delivered by the faucet also affects pressure. The more
volume, the less pressure, and, vice-versa given the amount of flow alloted
by opening the faucet.

For maximum flow, use the largest available hose. Doesn't matter regarding
feed hose to adapter or the other 4 hoses. Reason being is the faucet
(source of water) can't keep up with sufficient pressure to allow sufficient
sprinkler coverage. At the same time, using 5/8" hose to adapter, and 1/2"
hose to sprinkler may keep some sprinklers alive (moving) providing
sufficient pressure.
--
Dave

FDR fdr@kjdfgkdfkl wrote:

: Running 3-4 sprinklers at once will greatly reduce the coverage of them.
: Is this what you really want?

Sort of, in the following sense. At present I have one sprinkler and
the lawn size/shape is such that it can neither cover the whole lawn,
nor run at full strength without overshooting widely. So, I am not
really using all available water pressure - I have to turn down the
water at the faucet. I move this sprinkler many times to cover the
area..

My idea was to run a few sprinklers in the remaining areas
simultaneously, using an adapter with individual flow control for each
arm. None would need to cover a big area. "Reduced coverage" is indeed
what I'd need from many of them.

My worry was to get the hoses right, because one would have to carry as
much water as the remaining 3-4 combined. But I'll try to digest
Dioclese's post first.

On Aug 20, 3:03 pm, AKT wrote:
I am planning to connect 3-4 sprinklers to one faucet via a 4-way
adapter and have one technical question/doubt: The hose connecting the
adapter to the faucet would carry 3-4 times more water than individual
hoses connecting it to sprinklers. What capacity should these hoses be?

Naively, I was thinking 3/4" hose to faucet and 5/8" hoses to
sprinklers. Or would another combination make more sense?

Thanks.

Ummm, what kind of sprinkler are you using? A simple oscillating
sprinkler will not cover a large or oddly shaped yard, but an impact
sprinkler (wap...wap...wap...wap-
toktoktoktoktoktoktokwap...wap...wap...wap) might do as good a job as
multiple simple sprinklers. You can set those up to cover an amazing
array of sizes and shapes.

Chris

Chris wrote:

: Ummm, what kind of sprinkler are you using? A simple oscillating
: sprinkler will not cover a large or oddly shaped yard, but an impact
: sprinkler (wap...wap...wap...wap-
: toktoktoktoktoktoktokwap...wap...wap...wap) might do as good a job as
: multiple simple sprinklers. You can set those up to cover an amazing
: array of sizes and shapes.

This is an urban situation. I need to avoid water on:

(1) A wavy path in the middle that everybody walks on. I can't have
water going across, so at least two sprinklers.

(2) Neighbors who like to sit just on the other side of the fence.
(Impact design would be good, as the water stream would remain low.
Oscillating is bad as wind can always carry water to them.)

(3) Flower beds should not be hit hard. (Oscillating is more forgiving
here.)

At present I have an old oscillating model. It does cover a pretty good
chunk, but leaves two areas which could be covered by adding small
fountain type sprinklers.

This one is working but getting rather old and I am thinking of
replacing it by a Gardena 350/T if and when I see one on an end of
season sale. The Gardena would also have more adjustments.

As I need at least two, I would also like to experiment with an impact
type. (Anyway, for reasons given above, I should have oscillating one
one side of the path and impact on the other.) However, to be honest,
they seem intimidating and fragile to me. Therefore I was thinking of
Gardena Turbo Drive
http://www.amazon.com/Gardena-Turbo-...-6/dp/B00004SD
YF/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1219291027&sr=8-2 although I am not
sure if it is an honest impact design or not.

I also thought about Gilmour 996D
http://www.amazon.com/Gilmour-Patter...96D/dp/B0002YV
80A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1219291237&sr=1-1, because of its
claimed ability to trace an uneven pattern, but I am afraid the
mechanism could prove fragile.

Leftover patches as well as the smaller gardens in front could be
covered by turret/fountain type sprinklers.

On Aug 20, 3:03*pm, AKT wrote:
I am planning to connect 3-4 sprinklers to one faucet via a 4-way
adapter and have one technical question/doubt: The hose connecting the
adapter to the faucet would carry 3-4 times more water than individual
hoses connecting it to sprinklers. What capacity should these hoses be?

Naively, I was thinking 3/4" hose to faucet and 5/8" hoses to
sprinklers. Or would another combination make more sense?

Thanks.

don't forget, resistance is proportional to length of hose. if it's
just a foot of hose to the adapter, that's quite different than 50
feet.

"z" wrote in message
...
On Aug 20, 3:03 pm, AKT wrote:
I am planning to connect 3-4 sprinklers to one faucet via a 4-way
adapter and have one technical question/doubt: The hose connecting the
adapter to the faucet would carry 3-4 times more water than individual
hoses connecting it to sprinklers. What capacity should these hoses be?

Naively, I was thinking 3/4" hose to faucet and 5/8" hoses to
sprinklers. Or would another combination make more sense?

Thanks.


Take a good look at your faucet. "Hose bibs" are often designed to limit
water flow. Regular valves have much less restriction and can pass a lot
more water. A gate valve would work even better, I use 3/4 gate valves in a
few places. I've found that while gate valves have much less restriction,
they also tend to drip.

I can run two impact sprinklers from a 5/8 hose easily with only 40psi at
the faucet. City water us usually higher, you should be able to run three
impact sprinklers from a 3/4 hose on city water.

Zootal wrote:

: Take a good look at your faucet. "Hose bibs" are often designed to limit
: water flow. Regular valves have much less restriction and can pass a lot
: more water. A gate valve would work even better, I use 3/4 gate valves in a
: few places. I've found that while gate valves have much less restriction,
: they also tend to drip.
:
: I can run two impact sprinklers from a 5/8 hose easily with only 40psi at
: the faucet. City water us usually higher, you should be able to run three
: impact sprinklers from a 3/4 hose on city water.

Thanks. I am thinking of one impact and one oscillating as my main
sprinklers (just to gain experience with both types), plus 1-2 small
extra fountain types for small patches not reached by the main ones,
mainly due to peculiar geometry or obstruction.

Do you by any chance also have opinions about which hoses, impact
sprinklers and oscillating sprinklers are the best?

Tentatively I am thinking of: (1) Gilmour hoses. Would love Dramm
colors but not easily available and expensive as well. (2) Gardena
350/T oscillating. Either Gardena "Turbo" or Gilmour 996D for impact.
The former is familiar to me from watching from a distance and I love
its quietness; the latter is intriguing because it supposedly can trace
any odd pattern, not just circle or rectangle.

wrote:

: don't forget, resistance is proportional to length of hose.

Thanks. I do appreciate that and plan to buy a set (a mix of 50's and
25's) so any spot can be reached with the shortest possible length.

"AKT" wrote in message
...
Gilmour 996D for impact...snip... the latter is intriguing because it
supposedly can trace
any odd pattern, not just circle or rectangle.



I use this near daily and love it.
You really can can adjust the pattern to fit any conceivable area and not
waste a drop.



--
Toni
Hills of Kentucky
USDA Zone 6b
http://www.cearbhaill.com

Do you by any chance also have opinions about which hoses, impact
sprinklers and oscillating sprinklers are the best?

I use oscillating sprinklers as well, and have found that they tend to pump
out more water then your standard 1/2" impact sprinkler.

Avoid the cheap $1.99 plastic impact sprinklers. You get what you pay for.
They tend to have problems such as the adjusters slipping, not returning
reliably and therefore sticking in one position, difficulty adjusting flow
so that it evenly distributes water. Some squirt out a single stream that
drops 50% of the water at the far edge of it's watering zone, soaking the
ground in a doughnut shape while the inside stays dry.

The cheap metal ones for the most part work OK, though they tend to be
sensitive to low pressure.

I have a couple of more expensive 1/2 impact sprinklers - metal, Orbit I
think, or Rain Bird, I forget which. They cost $15-$25 or so. You can get
them on eBay rebuilt for cheaper. Their return mechanism is different from
that used by the cheap sprinklers, and much reliable.