We are working towards an improved version of the WaterMate solenoid, which uses a lot less power, extending battery life. Instead of using power all the time they are on, they just take a pulse for "on" and a second pulse for "off". They also look smarter and are more waterproof.
If you would like to be part of the trial phase, we'd love to talk to you. We would send you a compatible control unit with water valves, which you could either run as a new irrigation system, or drop in to your existing system in place of the current valves and control unit.
We have 10 test kits available, which will be on loan for up to 2 months over the summer ( from now ).
Hi Chris, I already have a solar powered water mate, but would be happy to try out the new solenoids. Would their lower power consumption mean one could run 2 solenoids/4 zones off of 1 solar box? That would definitely be an improvement for me. I have a south facing polytunnel in Kent, so get about as much sun as most in this country I would guess. Let me know if that would be any use for your trial. Many thanks Damien
HI Damien
At the moment the intention is that they will be a replacement for the dual-zone system in the standard WaterMate, but we are also working on a 4-zone manifold that will allow you to extend your system further. First step is making the solenoids pass the "real gardens" test.
four zones and longer pipe length is exactly what I need! I cannot volunteer at the moment as I am still tring to work out how to make mine work. But if I can get it set up would gladly help.
We are working towards an improved version of the WaterMate solenoid, which uses a lot less power, extending battery life. Instead of using power all the time they are on, they just take a pulse for "on" and a second pulse for "off". They also look smarter and are more waterproof.
If you would like to be part of the trial phase, we'd love to talk to you. We would send you a compatible control unit with water valves, which you could either run as a new irrigation system, or drop in to your existing system in place of the current valves and control unit.
We have 10 test kits available, which will be on loan for up to 2 months over the summer ( from now ).
If you're interested, drop a reply in below.
At the moment the intention is that they will be a replacement for the dual-zone system in the standard WaterMate, but we are also working on a 4-zone manifold that will allow you to extend your system further. First step is making the solenoids pass the "real gardens" test.
It would also give me another system to test my own code against.