2 Biggest DIY Drip Tape Mistakes to Avoid
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- čas přidán 25. 07. 2024
- There are two huge mistakes often made when using Drip Tape that may end up costing a significant amount of time and money to fix.
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We sat down with Ed Powers from Irritec, a leading manufacturer of Drip Tape, to tell us more about how to avoid the two biggest mistakes he sees DIY gardeners commonly make when using Drip Tape.
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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 - Intro
0:42 - Too much Pressure
2:06 - Forgetting to Filter
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Excellent video, lot to learn
Intense summer sun in the south can deform drip tape and main lines causing stress and blow outs as well. I always run my system on a 5 minute manual every afternoon and check for problems.
That's very good advice, thank you for the comment! You have it exactly right too, in hotter climes the thermal expansion/contraction of drip tape can displace it and, like you noted, pull the tape off of fittings over time.
Checking it for problems with a short cycle like you do is a good approach -- that has the double benefit of running some cool water through it. Burying it under mulch (or even soil in some cases) can also help, though that has the downside of concealing issues sometimes.
Great comment, thank you again!
I have recently planted 10 small fruit trees , is drip tape suitable for trees and also can it be placed under tree mulch ? Thank you
Yes to both counts! Drip is is often use with trees (particularly young trees) and is frequently buried under mulch. Make sure foot traffic is careful around the buried tape. As the trees mature they may benefit from a second run of tape on the other side as well :)
I'm wondering why the Premium Drip Irrigation for Row Crops System which I already purchased has a 15 PSI flow regulartor if it's not the correct one. This video states we need a 10 PSI flow regulartor. I haven't set it up yet. Do I need to have it exchanged?
Hello LeiNani! Very good question -- drip tape typically runs at 8-15 PSI, depending on the wall thickness. In our row crop kits we use the thicker walled tape (15 Mil) so the 15 PSI regulator is a good choice for it. Drip tape used to be something used primarily by commercial farmers with very long rows. For transportation, costs of material and ease of installation, they often use very thin walled tape at 6 - 10 Mil thickness. At those wall thicknesses they'll usually regulate down to 8-10 PSI. For the most part, it's all about the wall thickness and the 15 Mil thick tape works great (and won't burst!) at 15 PSI :)
I just order an irrigation system from you. How height I will should put the water tank if I need to irrigate 18 line for 208 feets long?
Thank you for reaching out!
When it comes to barrel height, we find that the highest you can reasonably (and safely!) place it works the best. With that said, some emitters, like drip tape and coupling valves used as emitters, are more reliant on flow than pressure so you can try varying elevations and see where you get the best results. I see you emailed as well, we'll fire off an email with more information :)
If you could recommend one of your videos that could be a “follow along” type for very new to drip irrigation. WHat would it be?
Very good question Gracie, I'm glad you asked so the information will be in the comments. There are two videos that I think, in combination, would work. The first is the "How to Design a Drip Irrigation System (Beginners Step-by-Step DIY Guide)" video -- it will lay the groundwork to show you how to design the system. The second is a full step-by-step walkthrough of installing drip irrigation in raised beds. It's a long video as we wanted to actually show everything. That one is titled "How to Install Drip Irrigation for Raised Beds (Complete DIY System Guide)."
I'll link both here (cannot shorten a URL in CZcams comments unfortunately).
Design: czcams.com/video/FJF49lb23b8/video.html
Step-By-Step Raised Bed Guide: czcams.com/video/1w_e-DFXUsw/video.html
Though both videos are tailored towards raised beds, they work well for other system types as well as they use mostly the same parts and emitter types. :)
@@dripdepot thank you so much! I have a small garden. But think my success has been hindered due to not watering as much as 8 should. I’m afraid of drowning plants. But may not have watered enough in past years. Also I’m in zone 3B. So very short growing season! Cheers
Zone 3b? Brr! I lived in South Dakota for awhile so got to experience those short growing seasons for awhile too. Never had better strawberries though.
It's funny you mention this, because we see overwatering a lot more than we see under watering -- if you're under watering, it's fortunately a very easy fix to increase the watering cycle just a little bit. I think I probably overwater too, I've been reducing my cycles a bit each year (and so far, my plants have been as healthy each year, so I might try to go lower again this year).
I have an entire kit from drop depot. My drip tape pops off my permaloks constantly, despite the fact that I have the 10 psi flow restricter just after the filter. I found this video looking for a fix or a reason why this continually happens. Just as described it’s a real problem until someone notices. It happens every watering to at least 2 sometimes 5 tapes
I can confirm the tape should not pop off the fittings! Even at 15 PSI (and even a bit higher on the 15 Mil thick stuff) it should stay on the fittings until removed for any reason. If you can, send us this information at our Contact Us so we can get this up and running as it should with you -- just in case, here's the link: help.dripdepot.com/support/tickets/new
Let us know which fittings (takeoff adapters or end caps) and potentially a photo of the installation -- we'll take a look and see if it's something we can spot at a glance or if something is up with the fittings themselves.
Hi you are doing a great job. What is the cost of a role of your drip tape I need to make demands for it
Thank you for the kind words!
Drip tape can very by roll length, wall thickness, emitter spacing and brand, but as of this writing (4/19/2023), to give you a rough idea, we have 100' rolls for around $17.20 4100' rolls for as low as $259.00. That's for the thicker walled (15 Mil) drip tapes, thinner walled tapes will often be less per foot since they use less materials and can come on much longer coils (up to 10,000').
@@dripdepot coils of 10,000' with thinner walls will cost?. And what is the durability
Right now our 10,000' rolls go for a little as $285.00 and as high as $370.00 depending on brand, spacing, etc. In regards to durability, these coils have very very thins walls -- a Mil is a thousandth of an inch thick, so 6 Mil thickness is only six-thousandths of an inch thick. This makes it very easy to damage -- with that said, drip tape is also very easy to repair by using a coupling. 6 Mil tape tends to be used for just a season or two, whereas the thicker tapes (15 Mil) can last quite a few seasons (though minor repairs will be needed during that time).
Hi I'm new drip irrigation. I have run 1/2" pex pipe to my raised beds. Now I think I may have a problem addapting pex to your tube to tape. is there someone who can help. I have watched several videos' but im still confused and unsure of how to proceed.
We don't currently have PEX fittings, so I'll be somewhat limited, but I can definitely assist and have assisted others with the information. So, it will depend on whether you plan to go from PEX to Tubing or PEX to tape. Most likely all you'll need is two adapters: one a PEX x Threads and the other Threads x Tubing (or Threads x Tape if going directly to tape).
Going directly to tubing or tape will depend on a couple factors -- do you already have pressure regulation installed somewhere so you're at the lower pressure drip irrigation prefers? Likewise with filtration. It's no problem either way really, as there's easy and inexpensive solutions no matter which route you need to go here, just want to make sure everything is accounted for :)
i need connectors to go from 1/2" hose to 5/8" drip tape anyone know of a connector that would work ? why does nobody have 5/8 irrigation hose ? i see lot of people using pvc and making it work but it seems more costly than it would to be to buy a big roll of hose.
You bet, you can connect 5/8" drip tape to 1/2" tubing with this little connector here: www.dripdepot.com/search?q=1225 -- in regards to 5/8" tubing, a lot of the tubing out there labeled 1/2" really is 5/8", coming in at .600" inside diameter, .700" outside diameter. It's confusing for sure and largely comes from PVC size conventions -- for example, 1/2" PVC pipe is actually about .600" inside diameter (inside diameter can vary depending on wall thickness) and an outside diameter of 0.840". Basically, a lot of the 1/2" tubing/pipe sizes out there are actually closer to 5/8".
how long can you run drip tape and it still work correctly?
Do you mean overall life span? If so, it largely depends on the wall thickness of the tape -- for example, the very thin walled stuff (6 Mil) is often used as a one and done line by many commercial farmers. They'll use it for a season, tear it out and ship it off to be recycled. The thicker walled stuff can last for years -- how long depends largely on the care given it. Primarily, landscape maintenance equipment (lawn mower and weed eater have damaged many lines!) and foot traffic. With reasonably good care, we've seen the 15 Mil stuff last 5-10 seasons. Even then, damaged tape is pretty easy to fix with a coupling, but at some point there simply ends up being too many couplings. Limiting UV exposure as much as possible can also greatly extend the life span into the deeper range of that 5-10 season window.
Basically, unless you're using the very thin walled tape, with a little care you can expect a good lifespan from it :)
I had a new system in my greenhouse with a filter and my lines still get clogged how do we fix this his issue
Victor, do you know what is clogging the emitters (mineral build-up, organic debris like algae)? Also, what emitter types are they, misters/foggers, or drippers?
Misting nozzles, often used in greenhouses, have the smallest orifices irrigation -- they're prone to getting clogged by calcium/mineral build-up, probably more than any other emitter type. These are often unclogged by injecting solutions that lower pH enough to break up the build-up and flush it out of the end of the line. Some misting nozzles are easily removed and can be soaked.
Likewise with algae or other soft organics, solutions can be ran through the lines to eliminate it so it can be flushed out of the end of the lines.
Aside from that, regular flushing of the lines can help prevent any kind of build-up -- drip irrigation tubing and many emitters are designed to create turbulent water flow -- this turbulence breaks up debris so it can be flushed out of the end of the line. Without flushing, debris begins to build-up inside the lines eventually causing a clogged emitter.
You can also check the mesh of the filter being used -- filter elements can go up to 200 mesh / 80 micron, which is very fine filtration. With that said, if you're at 150 to 155 mesh, I wouldn't expect the filtration to be at play, at 155+ everything except the very finest particulates will be captured and those that get through can be flushed.