Yep, and they work under appropriate conditions.

Stay within the intended flow range, too slow reduces separation acceleration and too fast makes for too much turbulance.

Debris needs to be particulates denser than water, less dense or finer size are harder to spin out.

Set up the inlet with several diameters of straight pipe if possible. Locate check valves, throttle valves (if any), multiple elbows, etc. downstream if possible. Again, this is to minimize turbulance going in.

Most models are intended for vertical installation, so debris will fall to holding chamber.

Make the flushing valve installation so the ball valve is easy to change. It will see some wear from debris. Motorized valves are available, for quite a price.

Separation will not be 100%, so conventional filter is also needed.

There are other, similar brands. Netafim makes their "Hydrocyclone" that works on the same centrifugal principle with a different shape.

Call it a sand separator, sand filter could also be a "media filter" that uses a bed of sand as the filter element. If you go with Lakos, calling it a "Lakos" will be understood.

you the man Irriguy...
one last question since I have your ear.

I've noticed with the Lakos that the one rated for my flow has 3/4inch inlet and outlets.... well the pipe going to and from the pump is 1 1/4, would seem a bit odd to reduce it... like I'd loose alot of water movement.

any thoughts?

dp

The operating principle is to create a strong force on the debris, causing it to "fall" out of the whirling stream of water. Just like a circus ride, higher speed along a curved path creates more acceleration, hence force, on the perpendicular. This is commonly but incorrectly called centrifugal force.

So, to get "high" velocity, a normal, low velocity flow is reduced to a smaller pipe. The flow is the flow, the cost is in friction/pressure loss through the device. You will lose a few psi. There does have to be adequate inlet pressure to cover this loss and make the system work as a whole.

You may have to increase the incoming pressure, if possible, or just live with lower pressure downstream. If those are problems, perhaps friction losses elsewhere could be reduced. One advantage the separator will have is keeping the downstream filter cleaner for longer, reducing that pressure loss.

If the flow is quite variable, it might be necessary to install two separators in parallel in order to meet specs under different demands.

An alternative approach is to go to a greatly oversized conventional filter to extend the cleaning interval, or go to an automated backwash filter. The latter are much more complicated and expensive. The separator is generally the way to go for sand and the like.

thanks again....
now i just need to break down and get one :-)

DeepRoots,

What are your spin clean filters clogging up with? I also have a spin clean filter in our orchard and it works well.