Looking to BUY Hunter MP Rotator Nozzles? Support our site by purchasing through our affiliate links HERE!
We earn a small commission when you make purchases with these links. Thanks so much for your support!
►Hunter 11'-14' MP Rotator 90°-210°: https://amzn.to/3Td8STB
►Hunter 11'-14' MP Rotator 210°-270°: https://amzn.to/48RNBob
►Hunter 11'-14' MP Rotator 360°: https://amzn.to/49VIO6M
►Hunter 15'-20' MP Rotator 90°-210°: https://amzn.to/4caZGrA
►Hunter 15'-20' MP Rotator 210°-270°: https://amzn.to/43mzu9u
►Hunter 15'-20' MP Rotator 360°: https://amzn.to/3TzLMYS
►Hunter 22'-30' MP Rotator 90°-210°: https://amzn.to/49G5Eit
►Hunter 22'-30' MP Rotator 210°-270°: https://amzn.to/48LZgoA
►Hunter 22'-30' MP Rotator 360°: https://amzn.to/4aep0Lz
►Hunter 31'-35' MP Rotator 90°-210°: https://amzn.to/3wOv9jc
►Hunter Side Strip MP Rotator: https://amzn.to/3Pkejij
►Hunter Left Strip MP Rotator: https://amzn.to/43bcNFb
►Hunter Right Strip MP Rotator: https://amzn.to/4cc3GrO
►Hunter Corner MP Rotator: https://amzn.to/3TCEKkX
►Hunter 8'-10' MP Rotator 90°-210°: https://amzn.to/3VgqMYq
►Hunter 8'-10' MP Rotator 360°: https://amzn.to/48U6DKS
►Hunter Pro-Spray Spray Body 4-inch: https://amzn.to/43dDklc
►Hunter Pro-Spray Spray Body 4-inch, 40 PSI regulator: https://amzn.to/3wTs29F
►Hunter Pro-Spray Spray Body 4-inch, 30 PSI regulator: https://amzn.to/4c5bag6
►Clear Vandal-Resistant Samson Riser (24"): https://amzn.to/3TdErN8
►Clear Vandal-Resistant Samson Riser (36"): https://amzn.to/3Tbj7rD
►Black Vandal-Resistant Samson Riser (24"): https://amzn.to/48X5IsW
►Black Vandal-Resistant Samson Riser (36"): https://amzn.to/3vfDCv5
So, you need to select a new MP Rotator Nozzle?
Maybe the coverage isn’t right and you are hoping to fix a brown spot; perhaps the ground shifted and the nozzle met the business end of a lawn mower; or maybe you’re looking to retrofit a spray zone to enjoy the many advantages of rotators vs spray nozzles.
Whatever the reason, don’t worry! Smartirrigation.com is here to walk you through and simplify the details in selecting the proper Hunter MP Rotator nozzle for your irrigation system (works on Rain Bird, Hunter, and most other brands of irrigation systems) to get it running at 100%!
Note:
In this article, we’ll be focusing on how to select the correct Hunter MP Rotator nozzle for replacement onto an existing spray body or riser.
Once you have selected the correct rotary nozzle, you will need to install and adjust this rotary nozzle, which we cover in depth in the video to the left.
Congrats on going Rotary!
First, I would like to congratulate you on choosing a Rotary nozzle over a standard spray nozzle! In most cases, they are a superior choice over regular spray nozzles.
· Lower Precipitation Rate means the ground is watered more slowly so it can be absorbed into the soil instead of running off and being wasted.
· Larger Water Drops in multiple water streams means more accurate watering that will not get blown around by the wind as much as sprays.
· Streams of Different Lengths means better water distribution and uniformity and fewer dry spots.
· Lower Flow Requirements means you can have more rotators running on a single zone than sprays. This can save money on a new install, or fix a low-pressure issue on existing systems.
Plus, we thing they are the coolest looking sprinklers!
Which Nozzle to Select?
OK, so you’ve determined that you need to replace a rotary nozzle for your sprinkler. Now you need to figure out which rotary nozzle to actually put on.
There are a few manufactures who produce rotary nozzles with some pro’s and con’s on both sides (we will hopefully look into these in a future article or video).
However, since these different brands of nozzles have different precipitation rates, it is best not to mix brands of rotary nozzles (unless you are specifically seeking advanced differential watering rates across a single zone).
In this article we’ll be showing you how to select the correct Hunter MP Rotator nozzle.
If you are needing to replace a Rain Bird R-VAN rotary nozzle, you can check out our other article HERE.
Rain Bird currently offers 19 different MP Rotator nozzles (yes, you read that right! 19 different nozzles to chose from), so which is the best nozzle for the particular area? Thankfully, the perfect Hunter MP Rotator nozzle for each situation can be found by answering a few questions.
And even better yet, each of the 19 different nozzles are color-coded, which makes picking out the right nozzle a breeze once you have decided which version you need! We’ll be pointing out these colors throughout the article, so keep an eye out!
1) Coverage Area
The first step in selecting your rotary nozzle is to figure out what area of your landscape you need that nozzle to water. This area is called the nozzle’s coverage.
When you are figuring out your coverage area, remember that proper irrigation design is based on head-to-head coverage. This is when one sprinkler is watering right up to the base of the next closest sprinkler (as shown in the diagram). When this happens, each area of grass is being covered by 2-3 sprinklers are once.
In contrast, “pattern-to-pattern” coverage is when the watering patterns of nozzles might overlap a bit but they don’t reach right back to the base of another head. When this happens, there are areas of grass that are only covered by 1 sprinkler (called “single coverage”).
Since sprinklers do not water evenly across the entire length of their spray (they water more right by the head), Pattern-to-Pattern coverage results in uneven coverage (as shown in the diagram).
This means that you need to use Head-to-Head coverage for even watering uniformity and to avoid soggy or dry spots in your landscape.
Once you figure out the coverage area for the nozzle, you can move onto the next question!
2) Shape & Distance
Circular
Most sprinklers water in a circular pattern, either a full circle or some portion (“arc”) of a circle, such as a quarter circle. These are the most common type and most areas can be watered using this shape of spray pattern.
There are actually 16 different colors of MP Rotators that water in some portion of a circular pattern. These come in a mix of 4 different arc ranges and 5 different radius ranges.
For a printable sheet outlining all the different colors of MP Rotators sorted by Arc and Radius, click on the image to the left or click HERE.
Once you know how the furthest point you want your circular-pattern sprinkler to water (remember head-to-head coverage), measure out the distance back to the spray body and then select the MP Rotator that includes this radius and the required arc in its range.
NOTE: MP Rotators come from the factory preset to water at their maximum distance. However, this distance can be reduced by up to 25% (depending on the model) through the top adjustment screw. This creates the range of distances we list in our chart.
Strips
Sometimes you need to water thin strips of the landscape that would be impractical for regular circular sprinklers. For these areas, you can use “strip pattern” nozzles, which are designed to water narrow areas that are 5 feet wide and 15 feet long in either (or both) directions.
The Copper, Brown, and Ivory colored MP Rotator nozzles all cover in this thin strip pattern, with the color determining which to side of the spray is getting watered (e.g., the “right strip” nozzle goes in the right corner of the grass and shoots to the left (from the perspective of standing behind the sprinkler).
An Important Note on Water Pressure
Hunter MP Rotators are designed to run optimally at 40 PSI of dynamic pressure at each spray head. Hunter recommends using a 40 PSI pressure-regulated spray body.
If the distance you need to water is shorter than the standard range for a nozzle, you can further reduce this distance by 1-3 feet while maintaining spray performance by installing the MP Rotator on a 30 PSI pressure-regulated head.
The MP Rotator Nozzle chart we made for you (view and save it HERE) above includes distances for both pressures.
However, the performance of MP Rotators can be negatively impacted at pressures below 30 PSI or above 50 PSI (including reduced nozzle lifespan).
If you would like help with adjusting the distance range or the arc on these Hunter MP Rotator rotary nozzles, check out our video!
Careful with Water Usage!
The further a sprinkler sprays and the wider its arc, the more water it uses!
Each sprinkler zone can only supply a limited amount of water, so putting in too large a spray nozzle can wreck an entire zone by using more water than the zone can supply. You can tell if a zone is using too much water if the sprinkler nozzles aren’t reaching their full rated distances or aren’t popping up completely.
You can check the water usage of different MP Rotator nozzle distances and arcs at Hunter’s performance charts to make sure you aren’t exceeding your supply limits.
Greater detail on zone water supply and the water usage of specific heads can be found in our Design article [coming soon].
3) Watering Rate
The last thing to consider once you have figured out the shape, arc, and distance that you need to water is how fast you need to put that water down on the grass (which is called a nozzle’s “precipitation rate“).
Standard Hunter MP Rotators (MP 1000, 2000, 3000, and 3500 series) apply water at a slow rate of around 0.4 inches per hour when arranged in a standard square head-to-head, double-coverage pattern. This is a similar watering rate to rotors and about 1/4 of the rate of regular spray nozzles, which helps with preventing runoff on sloped landscapes or soils with a mid-to-high clay content.
However, MP Corner and MP Strip nozzles, along with MP 800 and MP 815 nozzles (which have grey bodies, as shown in the image to the left), apply water at twice the rate of standard MP Rotators. If arranged in the same square coverage pattern mentioned above, this would result in a precipitation rate of about 0.8 inches per hour. Therefore, the design and coverage pattern used with these special nozzles is very important and determines the final precipitation rate of the area.
For example, when MP Strip nozzles are arranged in a single row of triangle coverage, they match the precipitation rate of standard MP Rotators (0.4 in/hr), but when they are arranged in square spacing they match the precipitation rate of the MP 800/815 series (0.8 in/hr).
Or if the area needing to be covered presents design and coverage challenges, these higher precipitation rate nozzles offer helpful solutions.
For example, if your yard has a tight angle (<90°), it is going to be hard to achieve double coverage right to the corner without overspraying onto the sidewalk. In this case, using a single MP Corner nozzle allows you to provide the same amount of water to the corner grass despite it only receiving single coverage (as shown in the image to the left).
Similarly, if an area of your grass is drier than the rest or parts of your landscape were designed with single-coverage, swapping out a standard MP Rotator for an MP 800 or MP 815 can provide the extra water the area needs.
We discuss watering rates in more detail in our article on Watering Times if you would like more information.
Looking to BUY Hunter MP Rotator Nozzles? Support our site by purchasing through our affiliate links HERE!
We earn a small commission when you make purchases with these links. Thanks so much for your support!
►Hunter 11'-14' MP Rotator 90°-210°: https://amzn.to/3Td8STB
►Hunter 11'-14' MP Rotator 210°-270°: https://amzn.to/48RNBob
►Hunter 11'-14' MP Rotator 360°: https://amzn.to/49VIO6M
►Hunter 15'-20' MP Rotator 90°-210°: https://amzn.to/4caZGrA
►Hunter 15'-20' MP Rotator 210°-270°: https://amzn.to/43mzu9u
►Hunter 15'-20' MP Rotator 360°: https://amzn.to/3TzLMYS
►Hunter 22'-30' MP Rotator 90°-210°: https://amzn.to/49G5Eit
►Hunter 22'-30' MP Rotator 210°-270°: https://amzn.to/48LZgoA
►Hunter 22'-30' MP Rotator 360°: https://amzn.to/4aep0Lz
►Hunter 31'-35' MP Rotator 90°-210°: https://amzn.to/3wOv9jc
►Hunter Side Strip MP Rotator: https://amzn.to/3Pkejij
►Hunter Left Strip MP Rotator: https://amzn.to/43bcNFb
►Hunter Right Strip MP Rotator: https://amzn.to/4cc3GrO
►Hunter Corner MP Rotator: https://amzn.to/3TCEKkX
►Hunter 8'-10' MP Rotator 90°-210°: https://amzn.to/3VgqMYq
►Hunter 8'-10' MP Rotator 360°: https://amzn.to/48U6DKS
►Hunter Pro-Spray Spray Body 4-inch: https://amzn.to/43dDklc
►Hunter Pro-Spray Spray Body 4-inch, 40 PSI regulator: https://amzn.to/3wTs29F
►Hunter Pro-Spray Spray Body 4-inch, 30 PSI regulator: https://amzn.to/4c5bag6
►Clear Vandal-Resistant Samson Riser (24"): https://amzn.to/3TdErN8
►Clear Vandal-Resistant Samson Riser (36"): https://amzn.to/3Tbj7rD
►Black Vandal-Resistant Samson Riser (24"): https://amzn.to/48X5IsW
►Black Vandal-Resistant Samson Riser (36"): https://amzn.to/3vfDCv5
Time to Install the Rotary Nozzle!
After making it through those questions, you have now selected the proper Hunter MP Rotator rotary nozzle for your sprinkler system!
You can now go out and purchase this nozzle at your local irrigation or landscape store, or even order it online using our links above! Once it arrives, you can finally install your rotary nozzle – just make sure you flush out the irrigation lines and spray body first! If you would like some tips on installing sprinkler spray nozzles, we cover that as well in our article [coming soon], or watch our video below:
And remember, if you still have questions, your local certified irrigation technician is only a call away!
Happy Watering!
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