Water Distributor automatic: 6-point distributor, simple operation, space-saving, allows flexible use, ideal even at low water pressure, 3/4 inch outer threads (1197-20)

This works well from a tap, providing the mains water pressure is reasonably strong, and is an inexpensive way to water six, separate zones. Recommended.

Was looking for some way of arranging the irrigation without too many different water outlets from the tap. This seems to work for the purpose intended. I needed to water specific areas in a moderately sized garden at different times for different lengths of time. As others have asked questions about this, the water outlets switch from one to another based on water pressure. As soon as the water pressure is removed from the inlet (i.e. tap turned off), the distributor switches to the next water outlet. Obviously you have to have the water turned on again for this to send water out the 2nd outlet. There are 6 outlets and 1 inlet. A minimum of 2 outlets are active - otherwise there is no point in having this unit. I control the length of time to each water outlet through a water timer. How this is done is up to the requirements. Overall an excellent product made even more excellent through the one-day amazon offer.

""When she was good, she was very, very good. But when she was bad she was horrid!" Bear with me now, you don't get so many quotes from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow on Amazon reviews. I bought two of these, intending to set up 6 or so separate watering zones in the garden--to give a more controllable irrigation instead of flooding some places whilst maybe leaving others parched. (Our water pressure here is relatively low, measured at 2 bar, and it seems a good idea to have a number of relatively short periods of faster water flow, directed to the right places, rather than one long slow one going everywhere with so much potential for wastage.) These distributors seem a very good way of cutting back on the overall amounts of pipework and hoses needed, and also economising on the number of timer/programmers needed. The first one of the two gave satisfactory results straight away, with the mechanism clicking round reliably in time with the settings of the timer, feeding two separate sections of soaker hose and a rather distant pair of micro-sprinklers. But the second one proved to be much more picky, feeding one section of soaker hose and clicking round from that OK, but being a bit diffident about moving between another pair of pipes, each feeding a large selection of micro-sprinklers. Suspecting the second unit might be faulty, I substituted it for the first one, and hey presto! The second unit works as well as the first one when installed in precisely the same circumstances. Clearly it must be something to do with the “back pressure” from the pipes the distributor feeds—the easier the water flow, the lower the back pressure, and the less the distributor can build up the energy to move its internal mechanisms. The manual barely gives the user any insight or practical guidance into this, despite the unit’s high cost. Getting all of this right is going to involve frustration, reconfiguring pipework by trial and error, with no specific method other than to fiddle with pressure reducers, number of micro-sprinklers on any one run of pipework, etc. There’s no guarantee of success. So, when she’s bad she really is horrid, and it will take quite a while before I know that my system is reliable. And reliability is the one thing you really need from an automatic watering system.

Great idea poorly executed. I have persevered with this for a year now but still have failed to get it to operate as it should with any consistency. The unit regularly fails to switch lines or properly engage the next line so you end up with water going to several lines at once, the water pressure drops and it results in no lines efficiently watering your garden. Piston inside of unit regularly fails to fully engage next line for watering and window over line number indicator mists over so you cannot see which line is currently open. Using the distributor coupled with the water master programmer reduced the water flow output by 50%, this was demonstrated by doing a bucket fill test using a 10 litre bucket. When connected to the tap direct and not routed through the water master and distributor it took 48 seconds to fill the bucket, but with them in line it took 95 seconds. When I asked Gardena there was such a reduction in flow rate and pressure when connecting their products their answer quite incredibly was that the bucket test showed that there was insufficient pressure from the tap, despite having a photo showing the sprinkler running fine when connected directly to the tap without timer and distributor. Nowhere in the advertising does Gardena inform consumers that using these products will result in a 50% drop in pressure so you will need 2bar to start with from your tap for them to work so Save your money for something that actually works as it should.

An excellent product delivered on time, highly recommended.

I purchased one of these to provide a more cost effective water irrigation solution. I am running 5x 20m and 1x 30m hoses and barely see any drop in pressure. We have 2bar pressure and it does not cause any issues that others have reported. I have this coupled with a BT controller to run 2x hour cycles each day with 10 mins running time and 10 second soaking time and it has never missed a beat for the past 8 days of using it. Very pleased with the purchase.

Great idea for watering multiple hedges. I had a huge amount of hedges put in this summer (36 x 2.4 meter laurel hedges) so needed a good irrigation system setting up to water them. The problem was I only had one tap! That's where this came in to be a bit of a godsend. After a lot of head scratching manage to get all the components together to make this work. I bought the timer ( master digital water timer) which allows 6 different and independent schedules to be set up, plus about 80 meters of water hose and a basic drip irrigation system split into six blocks. To cut a long story short, it works! Saves me having to go out and water the hedges every 3 days, just set the timer and it's all done for you. Great little invention.

I have bought the corresponding water timer to use this with, Gardena's 01864-20. Think this number is out of date now, it's their Master Control timer you need. These water timers have a special programme that allows a 5 minute pause between the watering sessions, which is necessary for this device to switch to the next outlet, and if one outlet is not supposed to water on a given day, it still waters for 30 secs, thereby again allowing it to switch to the next outlet. You can in theory operate this with other timers, if they can be programmed to do the above. I have different areas that need different irrigation schedules and this allows me to run them automatically, together with the above water timer. So far, so good. However, there are a couple of limitations, if you're running this special programme 15, compared to how the (expensive) water timer operates normally: the maximum watering duration is 2 hrs 59 minutes (ok, more than sufficient for most needs), also, you cannot use the manual watering option if you've got programme 15 set, you can only use the manual button to interrupt a watering session, not to initiate one. If you've only got one tap, and you want a separate water outlet, you will need to attach a manifold before the timer. A limitation of this device itself is that it cannot be connected lower than 1.5 meters below the highest dripper or sprayer, which means if you're irrigating high hanging baskets, you might need to install this above the tap (it says nothing about this, although all pics show it installed below the tap and timer). Mine came with 5 tap connectors (one for inlet) and 3 end caps (was a Warehouse Deal, though). According to Gardena, you can run this with between 2 - 6 outlets - just not with the accessories they supply. To run all 6 outlets, you'd need an extra 2 tap connectors. For the minimum possible 2 outlets, you'd need an extra end cap, which is not even available separately. This comes with a plate, which you can fix on wall or ground, screws and fixings not supplied. The instructions are reasonable (although trouble shooting is basic), and come in English. You have to make sure all 6 outlets are set in the correct order and synced correctly to the water timer. Now having installed this, I've discovered further limitations, which I'd read, but not thought significant, as my water pressure and flow at tap is good. It needs a minimum 1 bar pressure to switch correctly between outlets, and having too many emitters (drippers/sprinklers etc) can reduce the pressure too much for it to switch. Also, you need a minimum flow of 20 liters per hour going through the emitters, but also not too much flow. I didn't (and still don't quite) understand the relationship between pressure and flow, but have gleaned that as flow increases, pressure reduces, so you need enough starting pressure to be able to create at least a 20 liter per hour flow, without reducing water pressure below 1 bar and correct flow rate at emitters. I was surprised at how few emitters can be too many, and stop it switching. So despite being advertised as being ideal for gardens with low water pressure, you still need a minimum pressure. It seems there's no simple way of knowing beforehand whether it will work. I am going to have to play with my system to get this to switch properly, I know that much. As soon as your switching to next outlet is affected, btw, it affects the water timer programming, as that continues switching to the next programme, whereas this does not.. Not to mention 1 area gets watered endlessly and the others get nothing, so would defo recommend you monitor this initially. If it works, the device is great, set-up was simple and quick, but that's assuming your system meets all the requirements. Gardena should provide far more info than they do, including how to trouble-shoot problems.. Edit Sept 2022: Original one stopped working after 4 years, was watering multiple areas and leaking, so dis-assembled it, cleaned and lubricated all parts that looked like needed it, put it back together - not that easy, there is massive, stiff spring that powers switching, which is only held in place by screws of outer cover. After this, initially, for first time since I bought it, the manual switch worked. But it still leaked, although no longer watered multiple areas, would not switch, and manual switch stopped working again. Bought 2 new ones (one came with 7 tap connectors and 4 caps, one with 6 connectors and 5 caps). One was reduced Warehouse Deal, so thought maybe defective, and ordered new one. Both did same thing: would switch ok from 1 to 2, then after watering area 2, would switch directly to 6, which was off, and get stuck there. The previous one had worked fine, while it did work, but had made some changes: replaced soaker hose with new ones, added some sprayers and drippers elsewhere. Read about problems with soaker hoses (which I did not have with old distributor), so removed 2 areas with soaker hoses. Then, I undid all changes to my irrigation system, and put it back to how it was when old distributor worked. Still both switched straight to 6 after 2, and stuck there. On 2, I could hear it clicking muiltiple times, when it should only click once. Areas 2 and 3 now only contained Gardena original parts. Funnily enough, area 1, only one that worked, contains a mix of all different brands. But area 1 is drippers only, whereas others are mini-sprayers, but my garden is tiny and my water pressure is good.. so if it doesn't work in mine, how is it going to work in large gardens with more emitters? Also tried connecting it directly after timer (before, was after non-Gardena water filter). Instructions give minimum flow, but not max flow, and trouble shooting part is useless. When it does not switch, it means you have insuffucient pressure or too little or too much flow (or both), but switching to 6, and getting stuck? After spending 2 weeks or so messing about, I gave up and returned both, and bought a Wifi gate and 5 Wifi taps (2 have 2 outlets, so have 5 outlets), from a cheaper brand here on Amazon (starts with Di, don't want algorithm to refuse this), which I installed on a manifold after filter. So now, with 0 problems, have fully functioning irrigation system again with 5 different watering regimes, Wifi control, and with more features. Have reduced rating to 3 stars, which is generous, considering I could only get 1 of 3 devices to work, and they don't last very long. If they work, are great, but, based on my experience, if you have mini-sprayers, or soaker hose, these will likely not work in many cases, and who has 2-6 areas of only drippers?

A before and after pic. Much neater and fully automated. Expect to have to also pay for the automated timer and hose attatchments. Works well. 😎

Utilizado para sustituir el modelo anterior que me ha durado 25 años. Este modelo está mejor diseñado porque además de en el suelo se puede poner sobre pared, que es como lo he puesto actualmente. De momento funciona perfectamente. No es necesario utilizar un programador Gardena si no se quiere. Yo lo tengo con un Aqua Contol y va perfectamente. Eso sí, respetar los tiempos de paso del distribuidor de un aspersor al siguiente.

Acquistato in sostituzione di una versione precedente e un po' datata di un distributore sempre Gardena, durato una ventina di anni, ed abbinato ad una centralina timer Gardena per impianto a 6 vie (che se non lo si possiede va acquistato a parte). Dopo innumerevoli ricerche, ho potuto constatare che è l'unico prodotto in commercio per poter moltiplicare una sola presa d'acqua ed allacciarla a 6 impianti di irrigazione distinti e separati. Molto facile da installare, grazie anche al supporto a parete in dotazione. Ottima la possibilità di escludere alcune vie, se non utilizzate. Occorre una buona pressione dell'acqua per poter funzionare, ma se lo si usa per l'irrigazione è d'obbligo avere una pompa autoclave.

First and foremost, this thing saves me a ton of time and works flawlessly when it's used per its operating instructions. I have an entire section of my yard that is being watered with this and I think it's fantastic. An important note in the product manual is that there is a 5 minute requirement between each water channel where the water must be off. This appears to be due to the fact that if there is too much residual water pressure in the switching mechanism, it could cause unexpected results or even operation failure. However, if you do experience this it's a quick fix. Simply disconnect all hoses, remove any caps from unused channels, and then hold the distributor so that the 6 channels are toward the ground. This will clear all water pressure from the distributor and it should resume normal operation. That said, this distributor will work with any timing device provided you program the timer to allow for the minimum 5 minute interval between each zone. It may seem silly but considering the fact that you do not need to power this product I think it's rather ingenious. I have several custom length hoses connected to sprinklers around my yard, all running back to this distributor and a Gardena water computer. I have been very satisfied with the results.

Helt suverän, funkar precis som jag hade hoppats, 'r supernöjd att jag slipper hålla på med en extra pump för att få nog med tryck så alla sprinklers kan köra. Dock måste man ha en bevattningsdator med flera programmerbara tider och på samma dag eller över flera dagar.