Ian's microfarm.

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Original Poster
Monday , promised he'd start work correcting things and making things RIGHT. No show.

Tuesday , showed up , and refused to collect the missing stuff I'd already ordered and had to replace as a PICK & COLLECT order at Bunnings UNLESS I PAID for his time to this . I refuse to pay Mr Kookaburra another cent , so I told him I'll arrange home delivery and he had BETTER BE HERE WHEN I TELL HIM THEY HAVE ARRIVED , no excuses. HIS ABSOLUTE DEADLINE is PAYPAL's escalated dispute seller's / service provider's response deadline ( Sunday 13th June ). He still hasn't responded to PayPal.

This will mean he has had 2 weeks to make things right, so far = ZERO EFFORT , just more inconvenience and mucking us about more.

Have told him WE DONT WANT HIM HERE ON THURSDAY .
( Didn't tell him the local Irrigation Head Guru who teaches irrigation courses at the local TAFE college will be here on Thursday to inspect and quote REDOING the mains pressure PVC manifold , the beds' irrigation systems , and gutter drainage and irrigation and soil topup and mulching .)
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Original Poster
Kookaburra is only going to get to hold that money IF HE FIXES THE ABORTION HE HAS CREATED TO MY SATISFACTION ( unlikely ) .
More likely Paypal makes a decision ( in my favour = highly likely, he hasn't a leg to stand on so he'll be paying for the irrigation redo by way his last 2.5 days being refunded to my acct by PayPal.) .
. This is why I used PayPal = I have $20,000 buyer protection .

He was supposed to return YESTERDAY = ANOTHER no show just an SMS telling me he'll be her Monday pm and back Tuesday to finish.
Showed up this morning demanding payment to drive 2km to Bunnings & collect the replacements of the mysteriously missing fittings , I refused to pay him a cent more and told him I'll change the order from Pick & Collect that I've already paid for - was ready to pickup YESTERDAY ) to home delivery .
I read the riot act to him and told him upfront he has til SUNDAY not a day more. THIS IS the NON-NEGOTIABLE DEADLINE = 5pm Sunday 13th ( this is PayPal's deadline for his response to them ).
Updated PayPal on yesterday and today's proceedings ( they have a permanent record as they record the calls ).


Told him NOT TO COME HERE THURSDAY , I'll call / sms / email him when the order has arrived .
<< didn't tell him I have the local HIGH GURU for irrigation coming here tomorrow afternoon to inspect the work , and quote a redo. >>

Yes - I'm being a hard-A and am no longer willing to diplomatic with him, my wife and I have had a gut full of dealing with this foolish incompetent man.

Checked the Strawberry , soil feels a bit dryer :) ….and looks like the strawberrys are growing new leaves . :) …. none-the-less I've ordered 8 new plants anyway as lots of rain is forecast here over next few days ( HUGE WINTER STORM / ANTARCTIC BLAST heading our way - gale force winds , monster seas , rain ( lots of it , even likely to be snow on the mountains and tops only 50km away) and the gutter troughs still have no proper drainage (down pipes) so likely to be drowned and killed ,Kookaburra could have fixed the gutters' irrigation and drainage today but he drove off in huff instead when he didn't get the result from his little con job that he expected and I refused to give him any money to pay for his time , we told him he's NOT GETTING A cent more out of us and I wont be buffaloed by anyone. I wasn't born yesterday .

---- so 4 more JOY strawberry plants , and 4 ALPINE strawberry plants are on their way from a QLD wholesale nursery , added a Biloxi blueberry & a Tulameen raspberry to make the minimum order
==> will have JOY, TEMPTATION & ALPINE strawberries ,
MYSTY, POWDER BLUE, BILOXI & BRIGHTWELL blueberry plants ,
TALAMEEN & HERITAGE raspberry plants,
TORKINA & CHANPAGNE fingerlimes
+ two natal plums ( desert star ) plants in 40cm selfwatering pots ,
as well my black mulberry and my pomegranate in pots .

Wont be getting another gutter trough made ( there is space ) but it's been too much drama .
WIll put new strawberrys plants in one of those 5 tier planter towers

screenshot-288.png


if the existing strawberrys survive , along with some of most frequently used herbs. Will have this on the front patio.

YES Mrs, son, grandson and I all LOVE fresh berries, and I love baking & eating berry and mixed berry pies and home made berry cheese tarts, sorbets and icecreams.

Looking for a boysenberry and a blackberry to add to my collection to grow in pots as well.
Maybe some tropical fruits too ( Sapote etc ) and a 4 in 1 citrus tree , to put in half barrels ?

GREY ARMY have responded , likely able to get a GREY greenthumb to help sort out herbs, mixed herb+veg , and veg patches in about a month . So I'll hold off ordering my herbs a few weeks , and put some spring harvest veg and herbs seeds into seed raising trays to get them germinated and ready to plant in about a month.
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Original Poster
9 June Update .

Mr Kookaburra showed up today at 8am.

Update on PVC manifold REBUILD.

Disassembled the mixed 20mm PVC and 19mm Polypipe mess he tried to tell me was a manifold .
Moved the surveyor's stakes to comply with having the mains pressure manifold 30cm from the north boundary fence , parts hadn't arrived at this stage or til he left just before lunchtime.
screenshot-290.png

bloody hell - I thought there was only one loose sheet on that north boundary fence , there's 2 of the buggers that need 6 screws each to make them stop waving and banging in the breeze .
screenshot-291.png

Newly discovered annoyance. Neighbour took that sheet off when he trespassed onto my land to do his dodgey shed conversion - told me he'd fixed it when he'd finished --- silly me taking his word for it.
noisy-fence-sheet-with-pallet-leaning-against-it.png

Loose fence sheet I've known about since November 2019 , old neighbours never did put those 6 screws , DESPITE THEIR BEING RESPONSIBLE FOR IT BEING KNOCKED LOOSE (backed a big 6 wheel trailor into when drunk one day - so I told him , he damaged the fence - he fixes it - into the fence to secure it before "he" got his marching orders. learnt my lesson , shouldn't have trusted him and went straight to an BUILDING INSURANCE claim for the damage and called the cops - will never make that mistake again ) Handy that I had a spare pallet hanging about to "secure it" and stop it getting blown off entirely.

Update in Strawberries.

Added a proper down pipes to the two 3.6m on fence Strawberry gutter troughs , removed the 13mm and 19mm hodgepodge "parallel" branches and dripper emitters , replaced with DRIP-EZE pipes ( a mistake as he confused the WEEPER pipe for DRIP-EZE pipes , both brown , one a lighter colour than the other ) .
9jun2021-downpipes-and-dripper-pipe-installed-in-strawberry-gutter-troughs.png

Result , not quite right yet ,
screenshot-294.png


How can anyone think this "right" ?
Really - the guy's stupid. ( Or just don't give a …. seems o put him brain into idle mode when working ).
The lower gutter needs to be shifted W by about 30cm or the higher gutter E by 30cm ,as the higher down pipe offloads to the lower gutter.

But why move the HEAVY gutters ( weigh over 60kg each full of DRY soil !! ) when there are flexi agri fittings the are bendable and stretchy ie
screenshot-292.png

a 1 min job slipping the rectangular end on , self-tapping screw in at the joint to hold it there , bend to suit. Done - literally no time , and zero effort.

A fortunate mistake = installer DRIP-EZE not WEEPER pipe.

Comparing
holman-lo-pressure-DRIPPERLINE.png

L = 3.6m / gutter
Emitter hole spacing = 0.3m 
12 holes per gutter
Flow/hole = 3 Lph ( controlled via built-in flow regulator at each nano - emitter (hole) .

So calculation of flow of water per gutter-trough is straightforeward
 12x 3Lph = 36 Lph ==> 9 L/15min
 6 plants / gutter ==> 9 L/ 15min / 6 plants ==> 1.5 L/ plant / 15mins

Gutters EACH hold 25L soil moisture (starting dry) 
so 9L water / 25L soil = 36% H2O V/V

Had a chat with one of the engineers at Holman who told me the recommended soil moisture is 45% V/V to 65% V/V in most cases.

So since strawberries like a drier bed , 35% H2O V/V is OK.

WEEPER HOSE
HOLMAN-Weeper-DRIPPER-HOSE.png


Separarely sold flow regulator discs and regulators are hard to source .

BLUE = 10L/min per 15m hose .
Call this the UNTHROTTLED WEEPER hose flow-rate.
PLUS will break down in about 18mths ( recycled tires used to make these ).
PLUS weeping rate is not constant over entire length , measure downstream end.


 10L/min per 15m tube length.
== > flow to each 3.6m gutter trough = ( 3.6m gutter run x 10 L/min / 15m hose)
= 2.4 L / min per 3.6m run 
==> 36 L/ 15min per 3.6m run
==> 36 L / 15min per 6 plants

36 L / 15min TOO MUCH for gutters with 25L SOIL IN THEM.

Back to flow regulation via an inline upstream flowmeter and a globe valve to throttle the flowrate predictably manually .

To get a acceptable flow I would to either
a) reduce watering time significantly 9/36 = by 75% ==> 3.5min - 3.75min per day ( don't want to install another timer )
b) reduce flowrate by 75% using a globe valve and watching the flowrate via an inline flowmeter ( per my design )
21may2021-FLOWMETER-to-monitor-and-properly-set-irrigation-flow-rate-to-strawberry-gutter-beds.png

Globe valve will need to be closed by 85% to achieve a 75% reduction in flowrate ( ref to Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook valve characteristic flow curves ( Equal Percentage curve applies ).
screenshot-289.png


The inline polypipe taps are a "quick opening" tap -- so definitely not the best for regulation of flow.

Evidence the strawberries have survived . New leaves are sprouting ! :)
9jun2021-strawberries-are-alive.png

So looks like I'll now have 20 strawberry plants ( JOY, ALPINE and TEMPTATION varieties , my wife and grandson will be spoilt for choice year round ).

The 1m x 1m mobile planter box in use at least.
1x1-mobile-planter-box-in-use-at-last.png
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Original Poster
10 JUNE UPDATE .

Local chief irrigation systems guru visited today to inspect and quote. Pickup up straight away some of the pressure clips on the 19mm polypipe at the front going to the 6m x 3m bed were missing .
Another thing for Mr. Kookaburra to fix if he wants his money.

Provided Mr. Kookaburra a reminder his ABSOLUTE NON-NEGOTIABLE DEADLINE is 5pm Sunday 13th June. Only way this will be extended ( by me ) is if PayPal asked me to do so. He still has not responded to PayPal. Nice of me to give him hint to followup with PayPal - it's his last hint from me - no more Mr Niceguy.
Also sent him screen dumps of relevant layout by SMS ,

20mm Class 12 PVC FULL PRESSURE 4 outlet manifold
4-outlet-20mm-PVC-manifold-and-4-parallel-beds-irrigation-design-layout.png

detailed components
20mm-PVC-mains-pressure-4-OUTLET-manifold-after-each-PARALLELising-TEE-into-each-PARALLEL-bed-part.png


Strawberry 13mm branch from L shaped bed
flow-control-to-parallel-strawberry-trough-DRIPPER-TUBEs.png


Downpipes mucked up ( again ) I clearly told him to direct to South ( fence sheets - it's not hard :rolleyes: ).
9jun2021-downpipes-not-right.jpg

Quick fix to redirect upper gutter's downpipe away from lower gutter
screenshot-295.png

The agri-pipe downpipe adapter is bendy and stretches to 40cm long - 1 minute to install .

he has very big Android phone so should have no problem viewing these on his screen while working + grayscale laser prints in the "work box" - I triple checked to make sure all the bits and pieces he needs are in this and even assembled the stuff I could ready to be installed , and glued ( PVC components ).

And he's only made things harder for himself by stuffing us about last week and on Monday .

Now he has no choice but work in driving "very cold windy and rainy conditions" as the massive low that just hit Victoria and Southern NSW is heading our way and will intensify when hits the warm Tasman Sea - Coral Sea current. Been bucketing down this evening - will be nasty outside on Friday and Saturday ( JIT for June Long Weekend Queen's Birthday Holiday ).That's his problem - not
ours.


A plus = at least the plants in my backyard are getting a good drink.

And a good test for the gutters' drainage - wonder how much citrus mix is left in the E end of the bottom gutter ?
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Original Poster
Moving to next project = 3m x 2.4m gable roofed steel garden shed on a timber platfrom ontop of the old level flat concrete slab at NE corner of the house.

Will design platform ( one step off slab ) tomorrow.
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Original Poster
11 June update - finally have a 4 outlet PVC manifold.

Mr Kookaburra back today - got the Manifold built , still some mistakes and stupid things he's done that are inexplicable (crazy) .

1) left the 300kPa pressure reducer connected to the tap and left the timer downstream from this.
I keep telling him the manifold is designed and rated for full pressure town water from the tap ( CLASS 12 ) --- he either doesn't listen , or is clueless , or lazy.
11jun2021-pressure-reducer-between-tap-and-timer-SHOULD-NOT-BE-THERE-manifold-to-operate-at-full-t.png

< fix required = remove the 300kPa pressure reducer >

2) veg/herb bed no1 ( W bed ) , looks OK until he hits polypipe .
11jun2021-high-3m-bed-at-manifold.png

See no polypipe locking ring clamps at end of inline 19mm filter, the 19mm Tee , the two 19mm
elbows , the 19mm barbed bleed tap or the 19mm end plug .
The PVC manifold needs to be fixed to the stakes.

3) veg/herb bed no2 and no3 ( middle bed & E bed) , strange things done downstream from the high pressure isolation globe valves.
Middle bed
11jun2021-2nd-3m-bed-at-manifold-not-quite-right-why-3-pressure-reducers-spec-1x-300k-Pa-pressur.png

E bed.
11jun2021-3rd-3m-bed-at-manifold-not-quite-right-why-4-pressure-reducers-spec-1x-300k-Pa-pressur.png

I see more than 1 in-series pressure reducers connected nose to tail - this is not what I told him to do
---looks like on bed 2 there are 300kPa + two 180kPa pressure reducers connected nose-tail :shock:
---and on bed 3 there are the 300kPa + three 180kPa pressure reducers connected nose-tail :banghead: :banghead:

Instructing him to remove the 180kPa pressure reducers = SPEC is ONE 300kPa pressure reducer per bed .

Again - no locking ring clamps securing 19mm polypipe to fittings' in these beds YET . ALL MUST HAVE locking ring clamps in place.

Instructing him to TEST for leaks with the all the GLOBE VALVE FULLY OPEN when in bed 19mm INLINE taps are turned OFF in the three small parallel beds.
Then if no leaks - Make sure all 3 of the 3m beds'' globe valves are all turned OFF ( no plants in the 3 small beds YET ) , and same with their inbed 19mm INLINE TAPs .
Fix PVC manifold to stakes.

6m x 1.5m natives bed end of manifold.
11jun2021-6mx1.png

VERY CLOSE . ( Needs a locking ring clamp on the join of the 19mm polypipe to the tail of the inline filter ).
THIS GLOBE VALVE stays OPEN , as there are plants in the bed.
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Original Poster
11 June Strawberries on fence system.

This is what I clearly told him I required installed.
screenshot-297.png


I clearly explained that the arrows I'd drawn on the valve body I had already attached to the flowmeter ( to match the embossed flow arrow on the side of the flowmeter's body ) were what he had to setup.

So the dope installed the valve-flowmeter combo upside down :banghead:
screenshot-299.png

closeup
screenshot-298.png

fortunately I have spare 13mm Nose and Tails & spare 13mm threaded directors and spare 13mm elbows . Should be a quick fix.

And no sign of the 2 inline parallel isolation taps and again no sign of locking ring clamps .
screenshot-300.png
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Original Poster
Mr Kookaburra still hasn't responded to PayPal's request for information yet - silly man .

If he doesn't respond to them by 13 June , cases will automatically be closed in my favour. I've been hinting to him he needs to contact PayPal , I'm not going to spoon feed him .

Promised he'll be back Saturday.

He did 2hrs here today ,and the result was I had 12 hours work documenting issues he'd created and things missed by him ( that he should have known are necessary - locking ring clamps seem to be mostly missing from LOTS of 13mm and 19mm polypipe to barbed tail joins - NOT GOOD ENOUGH - will eventually blow out ).

His list to do Saturday and Sunday :
Check and corrections list for 12 June
( All need to be done to satisfactory standard for me to approve of work , WILL BE CHECKED by expert from TAFE on Tuesday.) .
1) North tap ( next to fence ), remove the pressure reducer between the tap's outlet and the timer .
2) West 3m bed, install LOCKING RING CLAMPS on ALL joins of polypipe to fittings.
3) Middle 3m bed, remove EXTRA 2 (180kPa) pressure reducers, only one 300kPa pressure reducer ( as specified ) , install LOCKING RING CLAMPS on ALL joins of polypipe to fittings.
4) East 3m bed , remove EXTRA 3 (180kPa) pressure reducers, only one 300kPa pressure reducer ( as specified, install LOCKING RING CLAMPS on ALL joins of polypipe to fittings.
5) 6m natives bed, install LOCKING RING CLAMPS on ALL joins to polypipe.
6) make sure 20mm PVC manifold is fixed to stakes, will be heavy full of water and subject to waterhammer.
7) pressure test all 4 parallel beds (19mm inline (bleed) taps closed , all globe valves open , check all dripper emitters in natives bed are working properly ( adjust irrigation from these as necessary ) .
8 ) leave the "dead" groundcover in place - I think it's dormnant and will come to life in spring.
9 ) close globe valves on the three parallel 3m beds ( no plants in these yet and wont be for a few months ).
10) Strawberry system - make sure water flow is to flowmeter is before the globe valve ( flip orientation as arse-end round ).
11) install the 2 inline 13mm parallel taps after the TEE that the splits flow to the 2 parallel strawberry gutters, check there are LOCKING RING CLAMPS on all L bed and strawberry 13mm and 19mm joins to fittings.
12) check all emitters to natives in L shaped bed are watering at correct rates.
13) check all emitters to pots are watering berry plants at correct rates.
14) leave the 2 raspberry plants in the 2 pots they are in ( don’t want them disturbed by uprooting and transplanting 1 again ).
15) plant the forgotten blueberry plant in a 40cm pot in citrus mix with lucerne mulch, it goes in the box with other 2 blueberries. (so 3 different blueberries + 1 raspberry in this box)
16) 2 native violets pots NEED to come up front onto front patio.
17) Mulching berry plants
Lucerne mulch on ALL blueberrys , the fingerlimes , the strawberrys
Sugarcane mulch on Desert Stars (natal plums) and raspberries
Spare and leftover mulch to be removed from under house, these go under the carport (out of the weather and out direct sun).
18) spare bags of unused potting mix to be removed from under house, these go on top the big bench under a tarp.
19) North and South taps need to be left turned on BEFORE you leave.
20) clean up PROPERLY. (Note I will salvage fittings connected to waste 19mm and 13mm polypipe)
21) replace jumbo tub broken by you.
dumped a 50m coil of 19mm polypipe and the remainder of the 30m coil of dripperpipe in the tub wrong way round , split the long sides on the 128L jumbo tub . Stupid thing to do.
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Original Poster
13 June .

Mr Kookaburra showed up this afternoon after lunch and cracked on with it.

When he left he told me all was good and presented me with 5 pressure reducers , unfortunately
two are 300kPa pressure reducers ( which should have stayed installed ) and 3 are 180kPa pressure reducers . Mmmm , too dark to find out where they came from .

First full automatic irrigation FRONT & BACK tomorrow.

Will check thoroughly in the light tomorrow and check all timers are irrigating all my natives and berrys when they come on .

My settlings for my timers are DAILY
3pm for 10mins @ front.
4:20pm for 15mins @ north back ( 4 parallel beds ).
4:45pm for 15min @ south back ( L shaped bed , (blueberries x3 types, raspberry x2, natal plums x2, finger limes 2x types) pots , strawberrys 12 plants ( 2 x types) in gutters ).

Discovered after he'd departed that PayPal have settled in my favour ( full refund ) but not in my linked account yet .
So I'll be getting the local Irrigation chief guru out in next few days to check the system , he gives it the nod , I'll be happy and RE - pay Mr.Kookaburra.

My 8 new strawberry plants ( 2 types ), another variety of blueberry, another variety of raspberry will likely show up on Tuesday .
The bendi-stretchy agpipe-downpipe adapter arrives on Tuesday + some more bags of citrus potting mix.
My 5 tier vertical garden thing is on it's way.
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Original Poster
14 June.

PayPal settled in my favour .

When Mr.Kookaburra left yesterday he assured us everything was done and everything worked properly.

Yet today , only the front system is working properly.

Never heard either timer come on at programmed times ( I hear the waterhammer in the pipes under the house when the timers turn on and turn off the water ), never heard this today . :(

Advise we have from the head local guru was do not even touch a tap or a valve or an emitter , photograph everything , make observations but DON"T INTERFER as that gives him an out .

So since :
>> Not right not right.
>> Not cleaned up properly.
>> Still some metal C clamps supposed to support the PVC manifold
>> Still some locking ring clamps absent.

If he wants payment ( again ) he's gonna have to get his act together and gonna have to come back to properly check things , still several issues to resolve. I wont be pressured by him pay him til I'm 100% satisfied ( so since it takes about 5 days for the reversals to appear in my linked debit card , he'll have to wait ) and his NEW deadline if Friday 18June.
I'm of a mind to apply a penalty to his final payment ( 30% maybe ) for the inconvenience and stress this has caused my wife and I.
I suspect I might be entitled to tell him right now to never come back and not pay him at all as he's not met any of my specifications and dragged this out unnecessarily for weeks and failed to meet deadlines.

He actually contacted me today , I suspect to ask me to pay him since the he'd told us yesterday all was done and working properly.
I told him there were issues that need to be resolved and asked if he'd contacted PayPal at which time he told me he was too late .
At which time I outlined the issues that need to resolve for me to be willing to pay him.

Issues
14 jun 2021

Still need to clean up around the L shaped bed , and along ontop retaining wall.
Move spare 19mm and 13mm polypipe coils away from 4 wheeled barrow as my wife can't get it out , place these coils with two new coils in-front of garage next to big bench.

Things to fix
>> some of metal clamps holding the PVC manifokl are missing - plastic clamps are not adequate - I have spare metal screw on 20mm C-CLAMP inside and some self taping metal to timber screws
>> missing LOCKING RING clamp on top 3m bed where 19mm polypipe connects to the filter.
>> middle 3m bed GLOBE VALVE LEFT OPEN , wife is scared to touch anything , would CLOSE IT myself but can't safely get down steps .
>> bottom 3m bed GLOBE VALVE LEFT OPEN as well , needs to in CLOSED mode.

>> I need to check the L shaped bed's Tap Timer , I think it's either been turned OFF or PROGRAM has been changed , I didn't here it turn ON watering at 4:20pm and turn OFF watering at 4:35pm as per my program.
Wife checked at appropriate time
>>>>> screen was blank ( sleep mode ? or turned off ? )
>>>>> tap turned OFF ?
>>>>> saw no evidence of any watering happening at pots at natives .

>> you need to check amt of water going to strawberries is as expected. ( will provide instruction for resetting flowmeter to zero , will then be easy to check next time L shaped bed timer turns on watering .
QUESTION where is the top gutter parallel iso tap , I can see the bottom iso tap ?

> I need to check the PVC manifold's Tap Timer , I think it's either been turned OFF or PROGRAM has been changed , I didn't hear it turn ON watering at 4:45pm and turn OFF watering at 5pm as per my program.
Wife checked at appropriate time
>>>>> screen was blank ( sleep mode ? or turned off ? )
>>>>> tap turned OFF ?
>>>>> saw no evidence of any watering happening in 6m natives natives bed.

Yes - I'm playing hardball here .
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Original Poster
16 June Update.

Still waiting for Mr.kookaburra to show up to sort out issues.

Fed up with waiting so did some trouble shoots on the timers , discovered the 2 HOSELINK timers had been turned off .

Contacted NSW Fair Trading Help Line and to check on proper legal approach to sack the contractor and the legalities of not paying him ( all over again ) .

Advise was I need to make a formal written complaint to Mr.Kookaburra and offer him the opportunity to respond / make good BEFORE making a formal complaint to NSW Fair Trading Tribunal. So I did this by both SMS and email .

Wife is fed up , and wants this sorted.

Have asked the 2 best irrigation installers in the area when at the earliest they can come and sort this out PROPERLY , it's not my design ( I've done the flow and pressure and pipework engineering calculations - the design is fine ). Earliest is maybe 6 weeks , all the gardeners and irrigation contractors are fully booked out in my area , some til next year.

Don't know when / if Mr . Kookaburra will show up next .

Hoping the money refunded to me by PayPal is enough incentive if he wants payment. I will only use PayPal to pay him - this is none-negotiable as I don't trust him .

I will not be chasing him to get him to return . I don't need the stress and hassle of being told he'll be here at specific day and time only for him to be a no show yet again.



In the meantime I decided to investigate why the HOSELINK tap-timers were not working and to do some trouble shooting , if need be reprogram them.
Found
1) Taps were on.
2) timers were not in hibernation / sleep mode
This left either
a) the batteries were dead - checked = OK
b) turned off
c) program changed
d) program corrupted
e) both timers had an internal short circuit.

Discovered on checking insitu that the timers had been turned off ( by Mr Kookaburra - don't ask me why , as he had no need to turn them off when he was here on Sunday to finish and test ).

South Tap-timer before
IMG-1652.jpg

South Tap-timer after trouble shooting .
All I had to do was press the exit/pause = top button for 10 seconds , any shorter and the microprocessor programming wont respond - to avoid accidental activation, pausing or turnoffs ( electronically this has to with timing characteristics of the microprocessor's deactivation / reactivation pushbutton debounce circuit , testing insitu showed this was set to 9 to 10 seconds

why ? I hear some here ask .
Simple explanation
screenshot-307.png


If the button is not pressed for a minimum number of clock cycles , the microprocessors assembly language will not respond , this avoid accident state changes , and glitches causing an undesireable state change .

IMG-1659-adjusted.jpg

Is still programmed
On at 16:45
duration = 15mins
frequency = daily.

North Tap-timer before
IMG-1654.jpg
]
North Tap-timer after reinitialization
IMG-1660.jpg

Is still programmed
On 16:20
duration = 15mins
frequency = daily.

Unfortunately it rained this after before the now restarted tap-timers were scheduled to automatically water the 2 natives beds, the berry plants in pots and the strawberry gutter-troughs.
This model of HOSELINK tap timer has a built-in rain detector that pauses scheduled waterings on the day it rains so we will have to wait til tomorrow to observe and check the 2 systems irrigating.

Will check the cumulative flow rate to the strawberry troughs tomorrow morning and again on Friday morning .

While I was at it , I turned off the globevalves for the middle 2 parallel beds fed by the manifold. No point have water going to these beds when there is nothing growing in them.

My 8 new strawberry plants, new varieties of blueberry and of raspberry , arrived yesterday.

The 5 tier vertical planter arrived today , is bigger than I expected , I don't like the poor quality 25mm ball bearing casters on it's base ( I can see the ball bearings wont stay in the bearing slot very long and there is too much freeplace in the horizontal bearing ) will be removing these poor quality casters with high quality similar sized swivel ball bearing casters.
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Original Poster
18 June Update.

My strategy seems to worked , Mr. Kookaburra showed up yesterday afternoon, and we discovered as well as turning off the HOSELINK taptimers, he'd turned off the north and south taps.
Unbelieveable , tells us all is good and finished and can't even get right leaving the 2 timers ON and the 2 taps ON when he is ready to leave.

Tested and set emitter flow rates.
Added the flexybendi downpipe - AG pipe adapter.
Checked all 13mm and 19mm polypipe joins to fittings had locking ring clamps in place.
Cleaned up.
But had no Teflon plumber's tape on hand , so will have to return next week to seal some tap threads.
Wanted the money - told him when we are sure everything is working properly and once the money appears in my account I'll pay him. Will use PayPal again - JIC there are issues that we haven't spotted .

Strong incentive IMO for him return.

Today was first when we've had all three irrigation systems working BUT not at the times I'd programmed them to.

Front
Back ( north = manifold )
Back ( South = L shaped bed + berry pots + strawberries ).
Clock seems out on the Back timers ( should be turning on the water @ 16:20 and @ 16:45 , but are lagged and turning on water later than I programmed.

Manifold ON @ 16:55pm ==> clock out by + 35min
L bed ON @ 17:19pm ==> clock out by + 24min

The clocks were syncronised and set correctly on the 16th. So I think Mr.Kookaburra has been mucking about with either the timers' clocks OR he's reprogrammed the timers yesterday and doesn't want admit he's changed things since I gave him no such instruction..

Will check clock times on both timers tomorrow . He told us he hasn't , but he can't be trusted ( was trying to blame the timers ( claiming maybe they were faulty and he's not responsible for that if they are ).
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Original Poster
23 June Update on the DRAMA & TRIBULATIONS getting so called professional gardening/irrigation expert Mr.Kookaburra to sort out the abortion he left behind on 31 May.

When he "finished off" yesterday avo at 5pm ), he had, far as we can tell . finally corrected all the issues and and rebuilt the PVC Class 12 four outlet manifold and set up irrigation to my designs and specifications ( more or less , I have some 180 kPa pressure reducers where there should be 300kPa pressure reducers ( 2 of them )) - fed up with chasing him to correct "mistakes he'd made" , I'll swap them over if I need the extra pressure later. In the meantime I can live with a mixture of 300kPa and 180kPa pressure reducers.

I ordered him to bring the 2 HOSELINK tap timers inside so I could check their battery state, time settings and programs - discovered they were all over the place , he's been playing with clock and timer settings , so replaced batteries , reset clocks , reprogrammed and LOCKED both timers' programs so only I can change them ( no more people playing about with their programs ).

So finally had all 3 timers irrigating on schedule this afternoon , 3pm for 10mins at front, 4pm for 15min the PVC manifold (and back natives bed) , and 4:30pm for 15min (L shaped natives bed, berry pots, and strawberry guttertroughs on fence) & witnessed plants being watered automatically AT LAST.

Repeated by PAYPAL transactions and sent Mr Kookaburra on his way yesterday. I have PAYPAL protection on this work til December and I expect if anything needs fixing by him it'll show up in the next 6 months .

Now he's chasing me to call PayPal and do a very fast phone authorisation, been there and made that mistake already with his workmanship, so when PayPal called me I told them we are still checking the work done and will only be clicking the authorisation icon when we are satisfied and not before so Mr.Kookaburra will have to wait.
Of cause clickable the authorisation icon has not yet appeared on either payment yet anyway , PAYPAL clearly say this option appears after 2 days anyway and I'm in no rush to authorise payment to his account.

New garden project.
My 5 tier vertical garden's new set of HD roller bearing 30mm casters arrived today , so did my 75L ( 3 bags ) of high quality herb & veg mix , and 50L of ( 2 bags ) of high quality Citrus mix , and the 20 assorted tube stock herbs as well.

Will deal with planting the 8 new strawberry plants , the new blueberry, the new raspberry and the herbs on weekend. Will set up 4mm poly lines to dripper emitters irrigating the new plants in the 5 tier mobile planter ( herbs and strawberries ) and the others in 40cm self watering pots on the patio.

Tasted a chocolate Mint leaf ( never had the chance before ) …. they really do leave a chocolate mint taste in the mouth !!
Í also have pineapple mint , spearmint, and peppermint in my new collection of herbs.
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Irrigation can be tricky to deal with, especially when you come up with your own design and want someone else to implement it. That's why I just did it myself and tried to keep it simple. Although I have decided that I am going to be ripping out my tall sprinkler sprayers and replacing them with these:
blacks-dig-micro-sprinklers-410pro-64_145.jpg

They spray in a 360 degree pattern and are adjustable flow rates just by twisting the head. I have about 50/50 these and the tall sprayers. Problem is the tall sprayers stop being real effective once the plants start growing. The ones pictured get pushed down right to soil level, so they water down at the base of the plant and as the plant grows nothing gets in the way of it.

That's the beauty of what I did. Easy to just tap new little 1/4 inch tubing runs into the 1/2 main line running through the bed.

Hopefully yours is all worked out now and working how you want it.

-Brandon
 

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