High Desert Food

Being off the grid and gravity watering, it's been very frustrating that we have not been able to find a timer that's affordable and that works with very low pressure.

Last year I found a deal on these Orbit and Melnor timers for about $6 each with about $15 shipping for 8 or so timers:

They are simple to use no battery timers, exactly what I was looking for. I usually just set it to 2 hours for the drip tape in the evening. They do work, but severely reduce the water pressure. One or two already broke and a couple appear to be plugged up, get hardly any water at all coming out. Less than ideal, but cheap.

Today I got an Amazon email advertising these Orbit timers for about $7 with free Prime shipping and I thought I'd buy a few more. However, the actual price was over $10 and I started looking at various other timers.

I saw this DRAMM and hoped it would be higher quality:

filterBy=addOneStar&showViewpoints=0

I always check the 1 star reviews and here we go:

Reduce pressure too much!
ByKatie Brehmon September 26, 2011
Verified Purchase
I am a professional gardener and bought 5 of these to set sprinklers and soaker hoses in my clients' gardens. I usually use the Gilmour brand, but I have liked the solid quality of Dramm sprinklers, and thought their timers would be a good product as well. I was very disappointed with the timers--they reduce the pressure of the water too much so that I can't even get an oscillating sprinkler to go back and forth. Bummer.

Yup, bummer.

So I looked at this Gilmour for $13 with free shipping:

ie=UTF8&qid=1435086092&sr=1-3&keywords=Gilmour+timer

It comes with a 2-year warranty (Orbit 90 days), and more important, they state:

Gilmour mechanical timer is constructed of durable high impact plastic. It features a metal swivel coupling for durable connection.

That's good since I've seen many complaints about low quality plastic threads that are easily cross threaded and broken.

And this got me excited:

The timer’s full flow outlet provides an optimal sprinkler performance, without restricting water output.

Sounds like a winner, until you read reviews:

This timer works fine, but it will reduce your water pressure by about 40%, even if you remove the factory restrictor o-ring and replace it with a plain one.

Another one:

DOES restrict flow
ByDaniel Cookon February 14, 2015
Bought because specifications said gave full flow, no restrictions so could use max irrigation. BS, it cuts down flow just like any store bought unit does. Just go to your local hardware store if needed.

Well, I don't see any products that are any different at local hardware stores.

Another person wrote:

Very minimal full flow constriction

So I ordered one and I'll compare it to the Orbit.

WHY do they restrict the flow on these timers?