Free tool
ASFA Valve & Controller Picker
List your zones and the water each one takes, and say where the controller goes. The picker names the Hunter zone valve for each zone with the pressure it loses, a controller with enough stations for your power, place and phone, and what to buy.
- Zones
- 6
- Zone valves
- PGV Hunter
- Controller
- XC-6
- Largest valve loss
- 0.53 bar
Pressure loss: the pressure the valve uses up as the water passes; the sprinklers or drip get what is left. How these are worked out
- Valves. For clean water at up to 10 bar we use the Hunter PGV, the valve Hunter lists for homes and drinking-quality water (the 1½" and 2" sizes also for commercial sites). Each zone gets the smallest valve whose printed flow range holds its flow: our rule.
- Pressure. We took 1.5 to 10 bar, the PGV's recommended range (Hunter catalogue Vol. 41, p. 87 and 88). Tell us the pressure with your quote and we check it.
- Controller. Hunter X-Core XC-6: 6 stations; 230 V mains; separate indoor and outdoor models (order the outdoor model); no phone control; pump/master valve output, 24 V AC, 0.28 A (Hunter catalogue Vol. 41, p. 105). Of the controllers in our store that run 6 zones and fit your answers, the one with the fewest add-on parts, then the fewest stations (our rule). A pump start relay, sized to your pump, connects to that output. (A master valve is a valve on the main that shuts all the water when no zone is running; a pump start relay is the switch that starts the pump.)
- Also fits. Hunter X2 X2-6: a fixed-station controller (the X2 comes in 4, 6, 8 or 14 stations and does not grow with modules), and phone control over Wi-Fi later with a WAND module. Rain Bird RC2 RC2-230V: Wi-Fi and a phone app built in, and run times adjusted each day from local weather data.
- Wiring. The cable from the controller to the valves is not sized here: its size depends on the distance, and we work it out with your quote.
Zone by zoneThe valve for each flow, and its pressure loss from Hunter's printed table (read between two printed rows where needed).
| Zones | Flow each, m³/h | Valve | Size | Loss, bar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 2.5 | Hunter PGV-101G | 1" (25 mm) | 0.13 |
| 2 | 6 | Hunter PGV-101G | 1" (25 mm) | 0.53 |
Valve names link to the valve in our store. Loss read between the rows of Hunter's printed loss tables (Hunter catalogue Vol. 41, p. 87, 89 and 91), never beyond them, and shown to the table's own printed precision, rounded up.
What you would need
- 6 valvesHunter PGV-101G zone valve, 1" (25 mm), in our store. One for each zone of 2.5 and 6 m³/h.
- 1 controllerHunter X-Core XC-6, outdoor model, in our store. 6 stations.
- 1 relayPump start relay. Sized to your pump's power and voltage, with your quote.
- As neededHunter multi-purpose box, in our store. A small box in the ground over each 1" valve; Hunter: it fits small control zone kits and other assorted components (catalogue Vol. 41, p. 194). How many, we work out with your quote.
Quantities, not prices: the store shows no prices; we confirm price and stock when you order.
Your figures go into the quote form for you to check; nothing is sent until you send the form.Back to all free tools
A planning guide, not a design. The flow ranges, pressure losses (read from the makers' printed tables), station counts and features are the makers' printed figures for the products we sell. Your water, pressure and the distance to each valve change the answer, and we check them before we quote. Section 02 below lists what is left out. Trademarks belong to their owners; no partnership is implied.
01 / How the picker works
- The zone valve
- Each zone gets the smallest valve whose flow range, as Hunter prints it for that model, holds the zone's flow: our rule, the same one our Pipe & Fittings Sizer uses. A flow on the edge of two ranges takes the smaller valve. Above every range (the 3" ICV's 68 m³/h) the zone must be split; below every range it is joined to another zone.Flow ranges, m³/h: PGV 1" 0.05–9, 1½" 5–27, 2" 5–34; ICV 1" 0.03–9, 1½" 0.03–34, 2" 0.03–45, 3" 0.03–68. Hunter catalogue Vol. 41, p. 87, 88, 90. The valve comparison chart (p. 86) prints wider ranges for some sizes; the picker uses each model's own page.
- PGV or ICV
- Clean water at up to 10 bar takes the PGV, the valve Hunter lists for homes and drinking-quality water (the 1½" and 2" sizes also for commercial sites): that choice is our rule. Dirty water, or 10 to 15 bar, takes the ICV, which Hunter describes as “the perfect choice for high-pressure systems and dirty water conditions”. A zone outside every PGV range (under 0.05 or over 34 m³/h) takes the ICV, whose printed ranges reach further. With dirty water we add a Filter Sentry on each ICV: Hunter's valve comparison chart ticks secondary water only for the valves fitted with the Filter Sentry (p. 86), and it scours the valve's filter screen (p. 90). Taking river, dam or pond water as that “secondary water” is our reading.Recommended pressure: PGV 1.5–10 bar, ICV 1.5–15 bar. Hunter catalogue Vol. 41, p. 87, 88 and 90.
- Pressure loss
- The pressure a valve uses up as the water passes, read from Hunter's printed loss table at the zone's flow. Between two printed rows the picker reads a straight line between them; below the first row or above the last it shows none, rather than guess. Each loss is shown to the precision of its own printed table, rounded up. Near the top of its range a valve loses more: the 1" PGV loses 1.48 bar at 9 m³/h (Hunter p. 89), and a bigger valve loses less. Count the valve's loss in your pump head.Loss tables: Hunter catalogue Vol. 41, p. 87 (PGV 1½" and 2"), p. 89 (PGV 1"), p. 91 (ICV, globe pattern).
- The controller
- Each zone's valve is wired to one station: a numbered output on the controller, so the controller needs at least as many stations as you have zones. A zone too big for any valve counts as the smaller zones it must be split into. From the controllers in our store, the ones that run on your power, hang where you want them, and, if you asked, take phone control and start a pump. Of those, the picker takes the one with the fewest add-on parts (each station module, a Wi-Fi module), then the fewest stations, then the simpler model: our rule. Station modules come only in the sizes Hunter prints; the picker takes the fewest that reach your zones, sizes our store sells first, then the fewest stations: our rule too. Up to 60 zones.Stations, power, cabinet, phone control and pump output: Hunter catalogue Vol. 41, p. 104, 105, 110, 113, 114, 126, 133, 134, 135; station modules p. 113, 114 and 127; Rain Bird RC2, Rain Bird catalogue 2023, p. 96 and the chart on p. 89. A controller in an outdoor cabinet may also hang indoors: our rule.
- No power at the site
- Battery controllers (Hunter NODE, NODE-BT and XC Hybrid) work each valve through a DC-latching solenoid: the electric part on top of the valve that opens and shuts it, in the type a battery controller works, fitted in place of the standard one. The single-station NODE and NODE-BT come with one. Their pump output is 9 to 11 V DC, and on the NODE and NODE-BT only on the 2- and 4-station models.Hunter catalogue Vol. 41, p. 97 (solenoid 458200), p. 133–135.
02 / What the picker leaves out
- Wire runs and voltage dropThe cable from the controller to each valve loses voltage over distance; its size depends on how far the valves are. We size it with your quote. Hunter prints a few limits of its own, such as 30 m of 1 mm² wire for the NODE (p. 133).
- Valves on one stationThe picker gives each zone one valve on one station. How many valves one station can open at once depends on the controller and the wiring; Hunter, for example, says the HCC can run at most 4 of its solenoids at once (catalogue Vol. 41, p. 114). We check it with your quote.
- Flow sensors and decoder systemsFlow meters that raise an alarm on a burst pipe, and two-wire decoder systems that run many valves on one cable, are not picked here. We plan them with you on larger sites.
- Rain, soil and weather sensorsA sensor stops or trims the watering: the Rain-Clik and Mini-Clik when it rains, the Soil-Clik while the soil is still moist, and the Solar Sync, which adjusts run times each day from the sunlight and air temperature and also stops watering when it rains. We sell the Rain-Clik rain sensor, Mini-Clik rain sensor, Soil-Clik sensor and Solar Sync sensor; which one suits your controller, we confirm with your quote.
- Pressure on drip zonesDrip needs a lower, steady pressure. On a small drip zone, a Hunter filter regulator after the zone valve filters the water and holds it at 1.7 or 2.8 bar, from up to 8 bar coming in (Hunter catalogue Vol. 41, p. 169). It is a ¾-inch part, and Hunter prints no flow range for it on its own. For its PCZ drip zone kit, the 1-inch PGV with this filter regulator, Hunter prints 2 to 55 l/min (up to 3.3 m³/h; p. 168). A zone that takes more water, or water at more than 8 bar, needs a larger filter and pressure regulator; we size them with your quote.
- Valve boxes, the pump relay and the pipeworkHow many valve boxes (our Hunter multi-purpose box takes the 1-inch valves; bigger valves need a bigger box, chosen with your quote: our rule), the relay that starts your pump, a hand valve to shut off each zone, and the pipe to the valves are worked out with your quote.
Need the pipe sizes first? Try the ASFA Pipe & Fittings Sizer, or see all free tools. Ready to go further? Request a quote.