Best ponics spray nozzle I have found.....

So I have done a lot of testing on many different spray nozzles to find an ideal one for aeroponics and hydroponics in general.

Most commercial spray nozzles rely on higher pressures and a tiny orifice to produce very small droplets, both of which are a problem in ponics since our pumps tend to be low pressure, and tiny nozzle openings clog easy.

I tested many different types of nozzle with a mag drive type pump with 10 feet of head or about 4.3psi(2.3ft/head=1psi).

The Antelco 15745, which is what the EZ-Clone units use, and other similar ones sold through drip irrigation companies are effective with a not too hazardously small orifice and reasonably fine droplets. Most companies who make these type of nozzle color code them based on orifice size/gallons per hour, red being the largest, so be careful to avoid ones with tiny orifices like the blue ones. Antelco also makes a 15715 which is a 90 degree nozzle which is handy for top feeding pots where a 360 degree nozzle would have to be pointed straight down to not get water everywhere. These type on mini nozzles are also handy if you need to attach them to thin hoses as their 10/32 threads screw right into spaghetti hoses.

But on to the point, I found the most superb spray nozzle made by Delevan, their "1/4" WRW Whirl Rain nozzle" http://www.delavanagspray.com/Products-a5.htm .It makes much smaller droplets at much lower pressure through a much larger orifice than any other nozzle I've tested. It does it by simply creating a tiny vortex so the water spins out the hole. The orifice in the whirl rain is three times the area of an Antelco/EZ-Clone nozzle yet it's droplets are much finer. The whirl rain's have 1/4" NPT threads making them easier to attach to rigid pipe, but you would need the right thread to slip adapters. Also the caps screw off in case you ever did want to clean the nozzles without having to take you whole system apart. Delevan only rates these nozzles at high pressures of 20 to 60 psi since they're designed for commercial AG applications, but they really are superb under 5psi.

The photo's show the Whirl Rain's, an EZ-Clone/Antelco, and a 1/4" adapter with a 1/2" PVC tee.

So anyway just wanted to share this and save anyone interested the trouble of all the research I did.

I see they have listed several different nozzle tips, which are you using? Would you say these are less prone to clogging than most of the "off the shelf" sprayers offered at home depot and lowes? How long have you used these, and at what PPM/EC?
I am however very interested as I have a box of bunk sprayers that didn't work out.
Thanks

Delevan changed the colors since I bought mine, but I recall mine are one of the larger ones. I need to get samples of the newer ones to test. These are MUCH harder to clog that the Depot/Lowe's ones which have pinhole size orifices. My WRW's have over 1/10th inch orifices. Any pump with a sponge filter or screen will easily keep them clear. I ran them in a aero system for a year over 1500ppm and never once cleaned them. I'm gonna test some as far as what GPM pump is needed for how many of which WRW's and post it. I think I used a Danner 700gph to run a dozen in my system. I'm gonna make a new system with them and will post what I figure out. They rate the flows as low as 20psi so we can be sure with a mag drive pump we'll be reducing that number. I think Delevan has accidentally created the perfect aero nozzle. Also these spray a 120 degree wide cone pattern which must be considered when designing a system.

Also 1/4" poly tubing fits very snugly into these nozzles. Here's a few pics of this WRW running at 4.3psi. It's pretty hard to photo fine droplets but this gives an idea....

Wow!! Thanks for the info. I'm going to order some of these today.
That's pretty impressive @ only 4 psi. I'll let you know how it turns out.
My current system has I think 12-16 sprayers on roughly an 800 gpm pump, these could be direct replacements.
Thanks again appreciate the advice. I'll post back when I get them hooked up.

not bad!! do u have a website we can get these from at all????

To get these I had to call Delevan and ask them for a distributor, and then call them. It wasn't as easy as online ordering from a website. These are an industrial product only marketed to commercial spraying. You can contact Delevan via the link above. I can't say which size to get till I get some samples and test them, but the ones in the pictures are just over a 1/10" orifice, maybe Delevan can offer some specs? Also they cost a couple bucks each, I bought a hundred so it was a bit less.

Also I got the 1/4" female thread to 1/2" PVC glue adapters for attaching these to rigid pipe through a company called FarmTek.com

If anyone ends up using these do post some pictures.

Here's a couple more pics running at 4psi.....

Again the beauty of these is that the orifice is big enough to push a Q-tip through yet the droplets are comparable to pinhole size nozzles. Not that these will make as fine droplets at 4psi as they would at 40psi, as with any nozzle, but I've not found another nozzle that could equal these below 5psi.

Oh, also that's a Danner/Pondmaster model 5 pump running them in the pictures.

Nice dude! I'm trying to construct a larger clone bin. I think these would work great. I'm running an el chepo 400 GPH pump. You think I should get the smaller size or larger sized nozzles?

I wish I had more info to offer, I still haven't ordered any more of these to test. My guess would be to go with a larger one, but it would depend on pump pressure, flow, and how many nozzles. The lowest flow specs they give are at 20psi so it'd be lower at 5psi but not a quarter of the flow, maybe half? They only drop in flow about 60% between 20psi and 60psi. Also a pump to run them needs to push at least 10ft head, and most pumps are rated at 0ft head so the flow will be lower at pressure. So it's really wide open to experiment. My mag drive 700 ran a dozen well which had 1/10th orifices, so that's about 1gpm per nozzle, so I probably had a larger size? I gotta get more of these and test them.

Fair enough. The problem I always run into is trying to run too many nozzles and I don't end up with enough pressure.

legallyflying said:

Fair enough. The problem I always run into is trying to run too many nozzles and I don't end up with enough pressure.

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Yup, it's really tricky to calculate all the variables. When I build these systems I just put together the sprayers I want, and then match a pump to them afterwards, which usually means trying a few different pumps. I really like the Danner/Pondmaster mag-drive's, they are quality with good pressure and have sponge filters to keep nozzles clear. Good luck!

Any idea where you purchased these or how much they cost you? I was referred to Dultmeir sales.(www.dultmeir.com) This place however wants nearly $5 per nozzle, this could get expensive quick as I want 100.

also found them at http://www.adwsprayers.com/products.php?cat=117 I think $5 is what they go for. Probably worth it though if they never clog. 100?!!

Geez $5 seems steep though, I'd call Delevan and ask for some other distributors to check with, I think I paid around $2 each, sorry I didn't save the company name. I'll try to find my receipt. I can see why the Antelco's are popular at 11 cents each.

As per Delavan retail is $6.20 a piece. Seems Dultmeir has the best price around at $4.93
Do you recall exactly what orifice diameter your sprayers are? I was told by Delavan the WRW-10 is about 2/10"

stems&seeds said:

As per Delavan retail is $6.20 a piece. Seems Dultmeir has the best price around at $4.93
Do you recall exactly what orifice diameter your sprayers are? I was told by Delavan the WRW-10 is about 2/10"

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Ok so 2/10" is twice the diameter of the ones I have, mine are almost exactly 1/10", presuming they're referring to the final orifice and not the input stem, which also vary in I.D. Mine must be a #4 or 5 then and not larger like I thought. This is re-motivating me to get samples of all and test them. Last month Delevan gave me a distributors # who quoted me $3.50 ea to buy one each of each size, so I assumed quantity would be a lot less. I'm looking for the paper with that # but can't find it now, doh! I'll post it if I find it.

Thanks for the thread. I guess I haven't had enough problems with my EZ-Cloner misters to warrant jumping through all these hoops. I have yet to have one clog, but I only use them for cloning purposes. As long as you aren't stupid and put something silly in it (i.e. organic tea) my misters don't clog. The best part is they cost only .30. I can't see paying a couple dollars for something that I can get for thirty cents.

Stoner Smurf said:

Thanks for the thread. I guess I haven't had enough problems with my EZ-Cloner misters to warrant jumping through all these hoops. I have yet to have one clog, but I only use them for cloning purposes. As long as you aren't stupid and put something silly in it (i.e. organic tea) my misters don't clog. The best part is they cost only .30. I can't see paying a couple dollars for something that I can get for thirty cents.

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Yup the Antelco 15745(ez-clone) nozzles are a lot cheaper. If you buy a bag of 100 they are only 11 cents ea! The Delevan's make a finer mist at lower pressure, but for most applications the Antelco's will do.

So according to this chart I found, you are using WRW5 nozzles. http://www.xn--sprhdse-p2ac.com/resources/WRW.pdf
Now if you could just find that distributor offering them at $3.50 we'd be good to go!! If you do I'd really appreciate it, I'd really like to avoid dropping 5 bills on mister nozzles!
By the way thanks for all the great info.

stems&seeds said:

So according to this chart I found, you are using WRW5 nozzles. http://www.xn--sprhdse-p2ac.com/resources/WRW.pdf
Now if you could just find that distributor offering them at $3.50 we'd be good to go!! If you do I'd really appreciate it, I'd really like to avoid dropping 5 bills on mister nozzles!
By the way thanks for all the great info.

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Hey you found a spec chart!! Alright I just checked the INLET orifice and a 2mm drill bit fits it snug so mine are WRW4's! And I just filled a graduated cylinder from one WRW4 hooked to my Danner#5 pump and it took exactly 60 seconds by stopwatch to dispense 600ml, or back to English the WRW4 dispenses: 9.5gph with 10ft of head pressure! And that figure I assume should be valid to estimate what any of the WRW's would dispense at 10ft head if it's always about 65% of their 1Bar or 14.5psi rating. So a WRW20 should dispense 46gph, down to 4.6gph on a WRW2.

Great, now we have solid flow rate data to design a system around these. Now to find a better price on them I'm still looking for that number.....