We have tried cleaning, replacing valves three times, and nothing has worked. We have 7stations. Number one stays on unless we shut off the main water line. We finally canceled it and hooked up an irrigation timer (that usually connects to a faucet.) We turn it on manually and the pipe jerks so we know it is working properly. When we turn it off, the pipe jerks so we know water is on and off but Number one is still running. We are at our wits end. Anyone out there who can give us an answer?????

Hi, Sorry! I've been laying out my tubing, and figuring out 1/2" tubes also come in 1/2" ID sizes. Back & forth to the store for different sized adaptors ... I have a 25 psi regulator on the water source set-up. I'll also get a pressure gauge, you're right, it would be good to know the pressure to the house anyway. I never thought about the flow rate ... I'll measure it all in a bucket before I start actually watering - jeez! Sort of important - thank you. :) I have 4 - 1/2" hoses, with no more than 40' or so of each. They will each have varying lengths of 1/4" hose running off them, no more than 10-12'. I have several 1 GPH heads along each hose, most at least 18" or so. Only one 1/2" hose station, the one for the shaded bed where the valves are located, will have heads running directly off of it, but only 8 or so; it's not a long line. So, just to be clear - I add the # of GPH's, and they need to be under 80% of hose bib total ... I've got some calculating to do! I'll be running each station for a different length of time, for a different # of days (vines vs. succulents vs. shade, etc). I have 153 plants so far, so I've already exceeded that, right? I'll have to water on different days. I'm not setting up the anti-syphon valve system, including attaching my hose to a separate valve, until I have the irrigation hoses all laid out and working, and the watering timed right, just to be safe. The current manual set-up is cheap enough, although not very sturdy, and my kitchen timer goes up to 9 hours. I don't even have my shaded bed planted yet; I'll wait for the permanent valve set-up (so I know what I have to hide). When I do get it set up, then I'll add the multi-station timer to work with the solenoid/anti-syphon valves, and the kitchen timer won't be used any more. It'll work for this manual system for now, so when 1 station is done being watered, I can turn off that valve, and then the next valve can be shut off when that's done and so on - that is if they're all being watered at the same time, which I don't think I can do with the pressure issue. OK, I'm off to finish the hoses and do some math - I always liked a good word problem! Thank you!

- I'm not familiar with a 'gate valve'? a gate valve is a screw valve that raises or lowers a flat gate inside the valve against a seat,...... outside taps that you turn a wheel on top of the faucet are gate valves, they are cheaper than ball valves, less reliable, less durable, but cheaper. - By 'clean out fitting' do you just mean a simple fitting I can disconnect? A clean out fitting is a section of pipe, that joins two sections of pipe together, that has a threaded fitting in the side, usually at 90 degress to the fitting, with a curve. Under your sink for example, you have a trap, usually, at the bottom of the trap, there is a threaded cap that allows you to undo it and clean out hair clogs. That is a clean out fitting. Under the toilet, should be another, that allows you to open the fitting and run a snake through the pipe to clean out clogs. For an example, http://www.doityourself.com/icat/dwvflangcleanoutgard Wrapping the threaded plug of the clean out fitting with teflon tape makes it water tight with out having to torque the cap in place. In the fall, unscrewing this cap, and opening a drain at the bottom, ( cheapest is just another PVC or CPV clean out fitting) drains the system in the fall, allowing air in and allowing the water to fall out. White CPV is cheaper than black PVC, but more fragile, however, more UV resistant. Serious farmers invest in steel or aluminum pipe, but for us, CPV is fine, after all, we are not planning on running a tractor over it, or irrigating 160 acres every two days. - The manifold is interesting. I can see that really being handy at the garden end to connect different hoses to different rows. I would just use a 'T' type connection for setting that up, I assume? Yup, you would just use a T fitting, ( best is several T fittings daisy chained together) with an end cap adapter that allows the fitting of a three quarters of an inch threaded pipe. This lets you buy a cheap tap to allow you to connect to a half inch garden hose and screw it into the fitting with teflon tape wrapped on the threads. - Is an RV pump submersible or above ground? RV pumps are simple in line diaphram 12v pressure pumps. They are designed to pressurise the water from poly tanks in an RV, Boat, etc and move it up to a faucet. They dont have a lot of lift, dont create a huge amount of pressure, but are relatively cheap and can run off a solar array. They do suck a lot of 12v power however, so a 30W panel, coupled to a 120 20AH battery will only let you run the pump for about 2 hours. There are some in tank models, but they are more expensive. I use one because the former tenants rigged one to run water from the cistern for the trailer, before they froze the pipes and had them burst. It was either use it to water the garden, or add it to the junk pile,.... ( 5 ten ton truck loads of junk, 12 2000lb trailer loads and several more to go, which is why we managed to buy the 40 acres cheap). -I've seen a drip system layed out with individual drippers, but that doesn't seem practical for a large vegetable garden. Do the emitter hoses you're talking about have holes in them so it could be layed out along a row of beets say? Emitter hoses are quarter inch hoses that are tapped into a half inch or three quarters of an inch feeder line. One can attach spray nozzels, mister nozzles, drip nozzels, etc, at the end of the emitter hose for more suitable to the plant water delivery. If for example, you have a row of beets, what you would do is run the feeder hose down the middle of the beets, and punch in holes where the beets are on both sides of the hose. If the beets are say two rows, 6 inches away from each other, you would punch in the holes, snap in a fitting, ( I prefer to use the valve fittings rather than simple junction fittings, a short length of hose, then a valve fitting, then another length of hose, I am Scottish after all and it is a low pressure system), add 5 inches of quarter inch emitter hose and pin it down near the bulb of the beet. If on the other hand, you have planted your beets French intensive style, then unfortunately, you are going to need pressure and spray emitters to cover the bed. - If so, any idea of a supplier? I've never come across anything like that locally. I contemplated drilling holes in a bunch of garden hose as a winter project, but that would be rather tedious! LOL. Most Home Depots, Lowes, etc carry the feeder hose, emitters, etc in the underground sprinkler section. Most agricultural irrigation supply houses will also carry the stuff for cheaper if you buy in bulk. You can probably also find suppliers on the web, with a Google search for drip irrigation, even though I have not looked. The trick is to go modular and realistic. If the goal is a subsistance garden to feed your family fresh heathy foods, build the manifold and this year, run flood irrigation off half inch garden hoses on the existing crops. In the fall, fence the garden and over the winter, build some formal raised beds. A cheap source of wood is used pallets, line them with tarpaper and use a good wood stain inside and out. I prefer to buy bulk rough sawn 2 x 6 s from the mill, In the early spring, install, fill and plant the raised beds, ( all equal length and width), set up proper drip irrigation with individual feeder tubes (or spray nozzels and a pressure system if French intensive ), flood irrigate the rest and just keep adding to the system until it is done. For crop rotation, as you rotate crops, you also rotate the custom drip system bed by bed. If the goal is a truck or market garden, in which you sell the crop, then spend the money for a proper irrigation system, it is deductable against farm income, a capitol investment which is deprecable, exempt from many taxes, (Provincial, Federal, etc) when bought as such, and in many cases, also low interest financiable through grants and subsidies.

Kswl, I'm so sorry, but amazed you've come through this with your sense of humor intact. You have a great GC! Buy his wife flowers. Here in SC we've got a bit of a situation here at the marina. It's gotten down into the teens for a couple of nights running, and while the marina staff turned off the water to the docks Sunday and opened all the valves at each and every spigot on our power stands,the pipes didn't drain sufficiently and there are shattered water pipes on every dock and the main dock. I think they're going to have to replace all the water lines. Meanwhile we have no water to the boats. On our own boat we're having problems with our water pump, and we've got to keep our hot water heater running, because we're afraid our own water lines will freeze. We can't run water continously because our water tank is finite, only half full, and who knows when we'll have a water source again from the dock. I'm ready for this weather pattern to abate.