I'm a newbie to all-things-irrigation & recently installed soaker hoses and have run into a few problems. I used Gilmore 5/8" soaker hoses, which are flat, rather than round - they seemed to get overwhelmingly great reviews. I'm experiencing the following problems:
1) there are areas of the hose that don't seem to seep water - ie. they're totally dry?
2) we repaired two leaks (yes, I got too enthusiastic while trimming), with hose repair splicers & the water flows through the hose, but definitely spews out the area where we performed the repair, so we end up with a puddle under the repaired spot. Is there something we can do to minimize the amount of water coming from the repaired areas? I'm not sure that the splicers are intended for flat hoses...
3) one of the hoses runs UP to a planter box - no water seems to come out of this hose. Do soaker hoses only work in areas where they're draining down - ie. is gravity a requirement?
I am not using a flow regulator or backflow device, but have installed the washers with screens at the head of the hose runs & only turn the water on about a quarter of a turn. Sorry, I'm not very technical about all of this...
I'd appreciate suggestions that anyone might have.
Many thanks,
Liz
