Drip system.....drip rate help

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SandNukka15

SandNukka15

Goliath Tigerfish
MFK Member
Nov 18, 2010
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Towanda PA
It seems as if im dripping more then im supose to..... i had flow regulators of 100gpd on my 600 and 50 gpd on my 270 but when i dripped into a 5 gallon bucket to calculate it was way off.....then realized that maybe i miscalculated the flow regulators.....so i added drip emitters the kinds u get from a drip irrigation system and set them to the same rate. Still seems to be dripping more then its supose to....

Those who have drip systems want to elaborate on how they have theirs set up with some pics?.....thanks!
 
I don't have a drip system, but this sounds like mechanics to me. Pictures always seem to be helpful on mechanics issues, so I think you might want to post pictures.

You said "when i dripped into a 5 gallon bucket to calculate it was way off", but you didn't say what you found. How long did it take to fill the bucket on each tank?

You then "added drip emitters" and it "still seems to be dripping more then its supposed to." How much is it now dripping with the added drip emitters?
 
SandNukka15 said:
It seems as if im dripping more then im supose to..... i had flow regulators of 100gpd on my 600 and 50 gpd on my 270 but when i dripped into a 5 gallon bucket to calculate it was way off.....then realized that maybe i miscalculated the flow regulators.....so i added drip emitters the kinds u get from a drip irrigation system and set them to the same rate. Still seems to be dripping more then its supose to....

Those who have drip systems want to elaborate on how they have theirs set up with some pics?.....thanks!
Click to expand...

I'll get you some pics of my setup tomorrow ( can't load on mobile). drip irritation emitters are nice. Not terribly accurate though as most people are over doing it because they exceed the pressure rating. The first thing you have to do is test your house water pressure. I damn near killed off a tank of female rays when I blew an emitter off of a line because my pressure was 120 PSI. That was before my drip was heated. It crashed the temp quickly. The main line pressure was too much for those little home Depot emitters and it popped one off the line. Careful. I am right at 60 PSI now, post a new regulator at the street. My emitters are way more flow than the rated GPH. If your pressure is <65 PSI get a small pressure regulator and aim for 30-40. The emitters are rated at 25 but will handle more just fine. Over 60 and you will be out doing the designed flow.

Those quick disconnect fittings make life really nice as well. You can keep adding tee's and add an x GPH emitter at each center of the tees. I have mine with ball valves as well so it's adjustable on a 1/4" ID line. Heated, dechlorinated and adjustable flow are game changers for a drip.
 
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JK47 said:
I'll get you some pics of my setup tomorrow ( can't load on mobile). drip irritation emitters are nice. Not terribly accurate though as most people are over doing it because they exceed the pressure rating. The first thing you have to do is test your house water pressure. I damn near killed off a tank of female rays when I blew an emitter off of a line because my pressure was 120 PSI. That was before my drip was heated. It crashed the temp quickly. The main line pressure was too much for those little home Depot emitters and it popped one off the line. Careful. I am right at 60 PSI now, post a new regulator at the street. My emitters are way more flow than the rated GPH. If your pressure is <65 PSI get a small pressure regulator and aim for 30-40. The emitters are rated at 25 but will handle more just fine. Over 60 and you will be out doing the designed flow.

Those quick disconnect fittings make life really nice as well. You can keep adding tee's and add an x GPH emitter at each center of the tees. I have mine with ball valves as well so it's adjustable on a 1/4" ID line. Heated, dechlorinated and adjustable flow are game changers for a drip.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

Ill try to post pics of my set up tommorow.... i have the carbon drip splitting with a T as well but this is so it can drip to both my 600 and 270 ....i put the quick disconnect flow regulators back on and now its so called doing 50 god on the 270 and 100 gpd for the 600.

I had a preasure regulator on my rodi unit when i had my saltwater set up but sold that system off wish i could remember the preasure rating.

JK47 what size tanks and hiw many gpd drip are u doing?.....i find it a hasstle to know when to change out the filters without testing the water and guessing when its been running for the 20,000 gallons its recomended for when drip is off
 
I use a regular water faucet. When I first set up my drip, I correlated water flow and "clicks " on my injector pump. The faucet allows me to adjust it rather nicely.
On a side note, and you may totally know this already: There's an online calculator (can't find it right now), where you enter your tank size and drip flow, and it'll tell you the % water replacement in your tank in a single day and a week. That helped me. I'll have to see if I can find it.
Good luck!
 
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HarleyK said:
I use a regular water faucet. When I first set up my drip, I correlated water flow and "clicks " on my injector pump. The faucet allows me to adjust it rather nicely.
On a side note, and you may totally know this already: There's an online calculator (can't find it right now), where you enter your tank size and drip flow, and it'll tell you the % water replacement in your tank in a single day and a week. That helped me. I'll have to see if I can find it.
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Could be this one
http://www.angelfish.net/DripSystemcalc.php
 
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The added benefit of a faucet at the beginning of your drip - be it filters or injector - is that my entire system is not under pressure. If a drip emitter pops off in other setups, you may have a massive flow rate going.
 
I just buy the regulators from thefilterguys.biz. Costs more, but I've never had a problem. I drip 60 GPD.
 
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