Introduction: Articulating Irrigation Sprayers.
Drip irrigation is pretty popular, but I have found several drawbacks to using drippers: 1. It can be hard to tell if they are working and 2. they clog easily.
I've gotten around this by using adjustable spray heads, but was frustrated by the difficulty in aiming them properly.
So I came up with a simple adaptation to make an articulating spray head that allows me to orient the sprayer for optimal coverage.
Parts required are: two connector elbows, 1 spray head, either quarter or half circle, and one riser tube. The parts I used are made by RAINDRIP which I picked up at a nearby Home Depot
The riser tubes have thicker walls than the 1/4 flexible tubing, and so require modification of the connectors for ease of insertion.
This image shows a sprayer I installed last year.
I've gotten around this by using adjustable spray heads, but was frustrated by the difficulty in aiming them properly.
So I came up with a simple adaptation to make an articulating spray head that allows me to orient the sprayer for optimal coverage.
Parts required are: two connector elbows, 1 spray head, either quarter or half circle, and one riser tube. The parts I used are made by RAINDRIP which I picked up at a nearby Home Depot
The riser tubes have thicker walls than the 1/4 flexible tubing, and so require modification of the connectors for ease of insertion.
This image shows a sprayer I installed last year.
Step 1: Modify the Elbow Connectors
The drip irrigation connectors have a double barb.
The end barb is larger than the inner barb and must be trimmed off to fit into the riser tube sections.
The end barb is larger than the inner barb and must be trimmed off to fit into the riser tube sections.
Step 2:
Remove all the large barbs with a sharp blade using a piece of wood as an anvil, and restore the taper by trimming plastic flare.
Step 3:
Cut off a section of the riser tube that is long enough to accommodate both connector barbs.
Assembly can be difficult, made easier by warming the tube.
Assembly can be difficult, made easier by warming the tube.
Step 4:
Cut off another section of the riser tube, long enough to accept a barb and the threaded part of the spray head.
Step 5:
The final assembly should look like the image.
Connect it to the supply tube and mount in a stake.
You can rotate the sprayer and articulate the elbows to get a full range of motion.
If you turn the spray up, the water will spray in a line.
Check on the spray direction occasionally if you have dogs or kids that may reorient the spray head, or in case of clogging. The screw-in spray heads may clear if you rotate the adjusting knob, or you can unscrew it to blow out debris.
Connect it to the supply tube and mount in a stake.
You can rotate the sprayer and articulate the elbows to get a full range of motion.
If you turn the spray up, the water will spray in a line.
Check on the spray direction occasionally if you have dogs or kids that may reorient the spray head, or in case of clogging. The screw-in spray heads may clear if you rotate the adjusting knob, or you can unscrew it to blow out debris.