Uniformity
Quick video
You can test the uniformity of your head layout using our Uniformity tool. You can use Uniformity after circuiting heads into groups, or after you have piped a number of heads to a valve. We recommend doing so at the earlier stage of design, after you have grouped heads with the Circuit tool. As a result, you will be able to determine whether any heads need to be changed, added, or deleted.
Uniformity Overview
Once you've placed heads in an area and either grouped them with the Circuit and Zoning features or piped them to a valve, you can test your uniformity of the layer with the Uniformity tool.
The Uniformity tool will examine the layout of each head, determine when an area receives coverage from one or more heads, and color code those areas by how many heads have coverage in that area.
The color coding is as follows:
Open our Uniformity tool:
F/X Irrigation ribbon, Uniformity button
or type FX_UNIFORMITY in the Command line
F/X Irrigation menu, Uniformity option
You can also access the Flow Total tool by opening our Circuiting tool and then clicking the Uniformity button in the Circuiting Manager.
The Command line will prompt you to Select zone or valve.
The cursor will turn into a pickbox. Select a previously zoned area, or click a valve that has heads piped to it. If desired, you can select more than one zone.
Right-click or press Enter to accept the selection.
We recommend starting with one zone at a time, as the uniformity calculations take a little time. In the following example, producing the uniformity took about a minute.
After selecting Uniformity, click the bounding zone line for these heads.
In this example, a group of heads has been circuited into a zone with a flow rate of 32.85 GPM.
In terms of the color coding for the number of heads with coverage in an area, this example shows a fairly consistent uniformity throughout the planted area. The blue color for one head coverage indicates overspray at the edges. This type of overspray is often unavoidable with oddly shaped areas. The interior of the area has a fairly consistent fill, with minor variations.
Here are a few other examples of areas with uniformity tested:
This example shows good uniformity in a regular shaped area, where the heads are spaced slightly closer than head-to-head coverage.
Most areas have four heads covering each area (orange).
This example shows extremely poor uniformity, where the heads are spaced much too far apart.
The heads are spaced widely from one another, resulting in many areas receiving coverage from only one or two heads.
Irregularly shaped areas can have a degree of overspray, and the uniformity can vary because of the irregular shapes.
Take care to provide good coverage at the edge conditions.
This example shows an irregularly shaped area with denser coverage at the lower interior area.
This issue is often unavoidable with irregularly shaped areas.
Related Webinars
- Irrigation Tools – What You Need to Know: We'll show you the ins and outs of basic irrigation setup using our software. You'll also learn the essentials of placing equipment such as drip, sprays, and rotors. (1 hr 6 min)
- Irrigation Tips & Tricks: We'll show you some advanced tools you may or may not know about. You'll also learn techniques and best practices that will help speed up your workflow. (1 hr 3 min)
- Existing Irrigation: Learn the techniques, tools, and tricks you'll need to expand an existing system, including how to use a pipe cap to account for existing flow and add new valves to an existing mainline. (56 min)
- Advanced Irrigation Troubleshooting: Learn to think like a Land F/X irrigation troubleshooter. We'll show you why your symbols don't match, why you would see the message "Error accessing equipment data" (and how to fix these issues, as well as tips on pressure losses and precip rates, pipe caps, system monitors, and flow zones. (1 hr 3 min)
Troubleshooting
Issue: The Uniformity tool is not producing the correct colors
Contact
- Land F/X
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