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Jcotrel1
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# Posted: 11 Apr 2020 09:17am
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Hi folks,
Hope everyone is safe and well.
I'm thinking about getting a Soaker hose to water my plants. Looking for recommendations on a timer to put on the outside spigot. My concern is if the timer fails, my well would continuously run.
Any thoughts?
Thanks!
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ICC
Member
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# Posted: 11 Apr 2020 09:49am
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Is anyone who has tried a soaker hose happy with the watering results?
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Nobadays
Member
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# Posted: 11 Apr 2020 09:51am
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I've had good luck with Orbit single zone timers... worked for years and still going. I would avoid Melnor, that said I had a 4 zone work for two years then one zone quit.... replaced it and had 3 fail in a row. Called Melnor after the second failure (guaranteed for 7 years) and basically had to beg them to let me ship it back to them so their engineers could diagnose the faults. I took one apart and it was very poor workmanship, bad solder joints.
So in failure the valves will close. They are normally closed with the juice from the batteries powering the solenoid to open them during the prescribed watering time. I can't imagine a failure where it would run your pump dry.
@Irrigationguy.... May have more to say
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Nobadays
Member
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# Posted: 11 Apr 2020 09:57am
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Quoting: ICC Is anyone who has tried a soaker hose happy with the watering results?
No.... Our primary home is in AZ and water is spendy, and we like to garden. Low volume irrigation systems are the way to go. We put water where it is needed right at the plant rather than watering dirt. We do use small spray heads to direct the water for things like spinach, chard, carrots, etc. We are careful and try to only water plants. We use drips on tomatoes, eggplant, etc.
We are putting in cold frames and a small greenhouse here in CO and will water with grey water and from rain barrels.... same methods.
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Irrigation Guy
Member
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# Posted: 11 Apr 2020 10:22am
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Soaker hose is trash and breaks down in the sun and is a pain in The butt to repair. buy a name brand 17 mm drip line like netafim. Orbit and rain drip make decent hose timers. You can also buy a sprinkler zone valve and get a DC latching solenoid with dc timer. Hunter makes one it’s called a Node and is much more flexible in its programming than hose bib timer. A Bluetooth model is also available. All of these things can fail in the open position. It’s usually from some piece of debris getting stuck in the valve. You can install a Vu-flow filter before the valve to help with that. Also if running you well dry and burning out your pump is a concern consider a cycle sensor which detects rapid cycle and or run dry conditions and shuts down the pump for a predetermined amount of time to protect it.
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Jcotrel1
Member
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# Posted: 11 Apr 2020 10:45am - Edited by: Jcotrel1
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Good info. Thank you!
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ICC
Member
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# Posted: 11 Apr 2020 11:03am
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I thought the soaker hoses were trash; wanted to hear from someone else. I use drip irrigation a lot around my place. In 30 years I have had two valves fail to seal closed because of dirt, as was mentioned. Failures were many years ago before I installed filters before the valves and branches. The water flow was not huge, but was noticeable after a few days as the earth became soaked.
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Irrigation Guy
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# Posted: 11 Apr 2020 11:20am
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I probably install 10 miles of drip line a year mostly for residential landscapes but we have done a number of farms and nurseries. What’s nice about the drip is that it has regulated emitters so you know how much water you are putting down in a given period of time. There are calculators online to help you figure out application rate and run times. Soaker hose doesn’t give you the same amount of what at the end of the line compared to the beginning due to pressure loss.
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Nobadays
Member
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# Posted: 11 Apr 2020 09:24pm
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Quoting: Irrigation Guy All of these things can fail in the open position. It’s usually from some piece of debris getting stuck in the valve.
Hadn't thought of debris causing the valve to remain open. We use low flow drips so have always had screens on the faucets. Probably why no open valve fails. Good info! Thanks!
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