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Auto Irrigation........ holidays almost upon us.

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  • #1

    Auto Irrigation........ holidays almost upon us.

    Hi All,

    holidays coming up again and same dilema for watering greenhouse at the potentialy hottest time of the year, normally my neighbour does it for me but may not be able to this year. I have a drip feed irrigation system that works on gravity from the water butt, a great system but totally uncontrolable, once the tap is switched on that's it 24/7 water flow until the barrel is empty....... does anyone know of an electronic timer that will work well with the gravity feed of a water butt as I'm assuming that all the advertised ones on the market require mains water pressure for correct operation. I did a quick search thru past posts and there's some great ideas and hard work gone into producing systems but nothing about timers for water butts.
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  • #2
    Battery powered ones work well for me.

    I've an AC1+ Pro Hozelock battery powered (two LR14 / C type batteries) timer. I bought a kit, contains 13mm "mains" pipe, then 4mm feeder pipes, 10 'T' drippers, 10 end drippers, cable clips and a whole punching tool. Think it was between £30 and £40.

    It's really good, each dripper (you can buy sprayers too) is pressure controlled, so if left on for an hour it'll give 4L of water.

    You can specify times of watering, and the length of time.

    They do make a digital timer too, which is even more flexible.

    It'd work off a water but if you were able to fix a standard (hozelock?) screw thread on the waterbutt some how? Or if you have an outside tap, straight off that

    I've mine setup off a 4 way extension thingy-ma-jig.

    Edit:

    Have a look through the undercover forum too - I know some people have used a solar powered timer from an IBC tank (large water container).
    Last edited by chris; 06-07-2011, 05:01 PM.

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    • #3
      This suggests it works from a water butt
      Watering and irrigation battery garden irrigation timers

      I also use the mains tap with Hozelock battery powered timers (2 of them, one for the tomato bed and one for the pots on and below staging) - it's expensive to start up but I couldn't do without it (not there during the week!).

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      • #4
        Chris/salilah,

        thanks for the info, I'm sure I could rig something up to attach a timer to the water butt but i don't want to take a chance that the timer wouldn't work due to lack of pressure as most timer specs that i've checked require a minimum of 0.5 bar, I checked out the link and yes salilah it would appear that the product they offer would be suitable however when i checked the Gardena website the unit in question has no reference to waterbutt compatability............... thanks for taking the time out to look into this but it looks like i need to do some more research myself..... Cheers.

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        • #5
          Check this thread out - http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...mer_17544.html looks like there is some useful information in it.

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          • #6
            Is your greenhouse at home or on the allotment?
            If at home, could you not consider longer-term using a tap for mains water?
            S

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            • #7
              I have a twin outlet Gardenline (Aldi's cheapy) battery operated timer fitted to mains near the fruit cage,so I have just been out,removed it & fitted it to the tap on my garage roof water butt,the valves on each side opened & closed perfectly.Although I would say the flow rate with both open at the same time was a bit dismal,but as each can be programed separately it should not cause you a problem
              He who smiles in the face of adversity,has already decided who to blame

              Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity

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              • #8
                OK, some more great feed back;

                Salilah, unfortunately I don't have a mains supply ay the back of the house where the greenhouse is situated as the kitchen is at the front, I had considered running a supply fron the loft but the resulting pipework running down the wall may not look too pretty!!

                BB, thanks for taking time out and experimenting with your timer to prove it would work on gravity from the butt, I checked out the Aldi web site but couldn't find any gardening products, maybe I'm doing something wrong!! so before dashing off to physically check out the local Aldi I read Chris's response......

                Chris, great research, the solution was right there in the thread, the Darlac water Timer seems to fit the bill, coupled with faucet type tap also available from Amazon then I guess the problem is solved.
                If anyone is interested then i've included the web links so you can check out these 2 products.

                Again, many thanks for all your great efforts....... great job.

                Cheers all.

                Water Butt Tap (with 1 Nut & 2 Washers): Amazon.co.uk: Home & Garden


                Darlac Electronic Water Timer: Amazon.co.uk: Home & Garden

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                • #9
                  Good stuff, glad to help - this forum is a huge source of knowledge

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