- Connects to standard hose faucet to provide 4 hose outlets with 4 independent controls
- 3/4-Inch national hose thread manifold connection to hose faucet
- Preprogram up to 4 stations with 3 start times of up to 99 minutes each
- Installs in minutes; no digging required
- For outdoor use with cold water only
{ 5 comments }
some of the comments made here are not so even in the manual.
You can water 4 different sections of the court separately, one at-a-time (so no concerns about low water pressure). The manual implies that you actually can not do that, everything seems to go at once.
You can adjust the duration of watering for each section separately, and the program repeated up to three times daily with water (I can not find the latter useful).
The main complaint is that the sections still get watered down a series of first , then two, etc., you can not skip a section if you want a different schedule.
I had this thing for 5 months now without broken valves, and then it would be nice to be able to skip a section, I can limit the watering times for the bypass. I have not found another device that will allow me to skip sections at will without going through an underground system.
A good quality brass connector 4-pipe is $ 15 at WalMart, not to mention a garden shop. For the price, it adds a huge capacity and works well here.
ACTION: worked hard all summer, is on S side of the house 95F sun, driving 4 pipes – love it. never changed the batteries. alkaline good use, not those cheap.
If people are perhaps the break check valve water pressure, wells and in some districts water significantly more (or less) pressure on their systems, it is a big problem if you use equipment that the opinions of the pressure out-of-spec.
Rating: 4 / 5
As you will gather from the other reviews, this is not a fully programmable valve timing system. You cannot, for example, program one valve to turn on a lawn sprinkler once a week and another to turn on a drip watering system every day. You CAN pick what days of the week to water, whether once a day, every other day, etc. , and how long each valve stays open, but whatever schedule you pick ALL the valves will turn on and off in sequence. This is a bit disappointing, as it makes it impossible to water one area once week, for example, and another area every day. This is a shame because I suspect this feature could be easily incorporated into the programming system. Perhaps Orbit thought to do so would make the programming too cubersome and complex with the compact controller it uses. Maybe so, but even with the options they do include, the programming system is unnecessarily complex and hard to understand. Further, the instruction manual appears to have been written by a four-year-old with attention-deficit disorder. A few examples keyed to “real world” watering needs would sure be helpful. Really, someone at Orbit needs to think this thing through much more carefully and do a redesign. Or perhaps they don’t want it to compete with their more expensive underground sprinkler timers?
Still, once you do figure out how the things works, it does make for a very useful (if limited) automatic watering system. I bought two more valves so as to control four different systems, two going to lawn areas watered with sprinklers and two to hanging baskets and pots watered with a drip system. Since the baskets and pots have to be watered every day, then so do the two lawn areas–less than ideal, as I would prefer to water the lawn deeply once or twice a week. Still, I’ve managed to adjust the timing for each valve so the lawns receive the proper amount of water as well as the baskets. In our dry climate, this is an acceptable compromise, but it might not work as well in other areas where watering the lawn everyday would be very wasteful. Also, if all you want to do is water lawn areas, you won’t have this problem.
In sum, I am happy with the product, though it took some sustained effort and thinking to get it to do what I wanted. I limit my rating to three stars in hopes that Orbit will get a clue and do a bit of R&D to improve the controller and to write a decent manual. This thing is almost a really great product. All it needs is a fully programmable controller!
Rating: 3 / 5
We manufacture this product for 4 years. . . each year by adding several areas. We now have our flower water while outdoors and gardening with her, with a total of four controllers and 11 valves. In four years we have had failures and four valves fail brass manifold.
The system has been incredible. Before she was the owner, there were constant battles with ourselves and our children to keep the garden watered. Invariably, a party would not be reached and the plants wither. It’s a huge relief to leave the system take care of it for us.
The trick is to buy a system of drip irrigation (I recommend Mr. Landscaper ) and hook the system up to par. These systems come with nearly every type of head that you can imagine and some you do not. Within hours of laying pipes and putting in sprinkler heads you have a happy garden. It took us a few weeks to refine the heads optimize watering, and each year you should check for bad leaders (they clog or break traffic on foot or squirrels decided to taste it. )
I also recommend the small pipe fourth emitters “to be placed in pots. a few inches of pipe into each pot is all it takes.
Advantages:
1. There are no products on site to compete with it yet… other than a system update also the orbit, or a complete system within controlled irrigation, which would be much more expensive.
2. Then the water stops to four 4 times per day. Can choose one day of the week, every day or every day for watering.
3. Batteries last an entire season summer watering. In fact, I used last year batteries next year. ” , br /> 4. The stations are very reliable. I have not had a failure.
Disadvantages:
1. Vannes not fail. We have lost 4 out of 11 in 4 years. However, they are not expensive at about $ 15 a piece. My only concern is that the orbit continues to provide them, because they have redesigned the system this year and the new valves have a different slot.
2. Orbit changed the design of this year. The new valves use a different connector with improved barrier control unit. I’ve never had a problem with the connectors old, and I fear they obsolete this generation, compels me to buy new stations.
3. The stations can not be programmed independently. That is to say that each station must operate whenever the programming, if you can program each station for different amounts of time. For example, you can program your garden with water for 40 minutes, and pans for 5.
4. The program is on the level of some poorly documented VCR. Once you’ve thought about it, this is not a big problem but I find it frustrating pressing the wrong button and having to start over. Combinations keys are confusing.
Overall I would give the system a big thumb up. Not perfect, but the best available at this time (if we must consider purchase the new system is tight if not much more expensive because the parts could be easier to find in the future.)
Rating: 4 / 5
Should have played safe and gone by the negative reviews of this product. But the concept of having one timer control 2 valves with the possibility of expanding to 4 valves appealed to me. Unfortunately one of the valves leaked and was defective. Also, the threaded hose connectors on the brass manifold come off too easily when removing a valve or a hose. The whole thing leaked badly. The DIG timer (model 9001D) is way much better in both design and quality. I installed two DIG timers on a plastic manifold from my local hardware store with no leaks whatsoever on the first try. And the DIG is much easier to program and use.
Rating: 1 / 5
It not to make 4 handles. à l' purchase of valves supplémentaires. But it really not to take care of 4 stations différentes which nécessitent frequencey différentes of l' watering. If you made only lawns or solid masses of flowers you êtes OK. but we have lawns and floors of flowers and jardinièr
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