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California Gardening

water timer on hose...any reviews?

16 years ago

Solutions catalog just arrived and advertises a timer to attach between faucet and hose so you don't forget to turn off the water when doing a long soak sort of thing. I'm tempted to buy 3 or 4 (the number of faucets we have) because I don't want to forget I've got a slow drip on anything this summer. Has anyone tried this product? Seems like most faucet attachments eventually leak.

I have our main beds on drip; this would be for the out-lying shrubs.

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Comments (13)

CA Kate z9
16 years ago
I go thru' one of these about every year.... but it gets used daily and sits in the hot sun... daily. It waters the nursery/vegetable garden.

I've only ever had one that didn't work correctly, and if I'd had the receipt I'd have taken it back for a new one.

This year I got a digital one that seems to be working great.... at least it kept everything watered while we were gone for 10 days. I don't know about the one in Solutions, I get mine at OSH.... but they're NOT cheap.
Babka NorCal 9b
16 years ago
We have a couple of these (from OSH) that we hook up to water grouped potted/hanging plants when we go away on vacations. For those long soaking times on specific plants, I use the microwave timer or a small kitchen timer. When it goes off, someone will yell "What's that for?", and I'll say "Water". Works here.
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Shannonplus makes good points to which I would add the following. A lot of GWers would say that "matching" finishes is grossly overrated, particularly in your budgetary level. Deeageaux has probably said this so often he's getting tired of repeating it. So, I'll say it: you are better off buying best-in-class -- you get better performance and significantly better reliability doing that, and such things matter more for the long term than buying a suite of one company's appliances. Problem is, that no one company makes the best (or even, neccessarily, very good) in every category. GE for example, makes good and reliable budget and mid-range stoves and pretty good dishwashers, too. Both get good ratings from Consumer Reports testing and the surveys of CR members show them to be reasonably reliable compared to some other brands. But, when it comes to refrigerators, GE has had a terrible rep. It has been tied with LG as far and away the least reliable brands . Do note that unreliability also increases with through the door ice and water dispensers. A big contributor to GE's fridge problems seems to correspond to its venture into outsourcing fridge production for several years. Now that GE has resumed firdge production in its own plants in Kentucky (at least for the french-door models), there is hope for better reliability. They are too new for a track record, yet, Also, bear in mind that SxS fridges are significantly less reliable than other other designs, at least according to the CR membership surveys. With your budget, you might want to consider a french-door or conventional bottom-freezer model. With washing machines, LG is currently far and away the most reliable brand while, according to the CR survey results, GE washing machines have nearly three times the breakdowns of the LGs. Get the picture? With a $4k budget, you may be looking at some serious compromises. For instance, you want a slide-in gas range no digital stuff on it. Except for certain bare-bones units which don't get favorable recommendations here (e.g. Summit and Peerless Premiere), I can't think of any slide-in gas stoves that meet all your requirements, plus almost all of them cost upwards of $1500. So-called pro-style stoves will give you what you want, but most cost upwards of $3k. The least expensive pro-style stove that I know of is the NXR and that costs $2k, which is a budget buster for you. If you can live with digital oven controls, and a white finish, I think Whirlpool has a gas slide-in range in white (with a gray cooktop) for around $1100 or $1200. The stainless steel finish is, IIRC, a couple hundred $$ more. Best way to check appliance choices out further is to visit AJ Madison and Lowe's websites and use the search engines there. You can filter by features and price ranges which should help you narrow your choices down. Another reason some folks like t buy a suite form a single manufacturer is that there may be a rebate when you get a package deal. However, many stores will also give you similar discounts just for buyng all your appliances from them. And speaking of that, GE will be coming out with a well-styled suite of basic appliances called "GE Artistry" in a couple of months. The kitchen suite will be $2400, they say. Check out the current thread on GE appliances for millenials to find the links on these. They look great, but their version of "basic" might be too basic for you. This post was edited by JWVideo on Mon, Jul 8, 13 at 22:30
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calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
16 years ago
I have three of the simple mechanical type that can be set up to 3 hours. They work well and prevent my leaving a hose on for days at a time. Mine are from Lee Valley who has never refused taking back a product not performing to my expectations. Al
applenut_gw
16 years ago
You could go one better than that. At our school system some gardens utilize a commercial-grade timer/valve from DIG that runs two years on 2 9V batteries and costs $90. It has a digital, programmable screen on a leash that is completely submersible. Combining it with a drip system using the commercial Bowsmith drip heads and self-flushing valves on the end of the drip lines means clogs and failures are a thing of the past, and it can go without maintenance for a year at a time. You can have the nicest system in the world for $200 and even teachers can install it. Automatic watering at schools is important as even the most dedicated classrooms forget to water sometimes or are off on vacation. Forget the Home Depot stuff; go to a commercial irrigation supplier. It is cheaper, better quality, and they have no problem selling to you. A failure on your irrigation resulting in dead plants or trees is no cheaper than a good system.

Applenut
jakkom
16 years ago
I use soaker hoses and because we live on the edge of the fog belt in coastal Northern CA, watering is dependent upon the weather. So I don't use the automatic timers because if it's cool enough we can go several weeks between soaking.

I've purchased several different kinds. I prefer a 3-hr spring dial, very simple. One type I got from OSH was too elaborate, it measures gallons of water (hour and minute markings are merely approximations) so when I first used it with a soaker hose I was taken aback that 1-1/2 hrs turned into 3 hrs instead!

No trouble with any of them for the last three years.
carolsun
Original Author
16 years ago
Thank you for all the suggestions. Babka, I love the microwave timer idea; you made me laugh out loud. Problem with it for me is that on summer days I'm often home alone and spend the whole day out in the yard. How'd you know I was a teacher, Applenut??? Just kidding.
Carol
Jillberto
15 years ago
I swear by these hose bib timers! Just love them. I have had excellent service from the Gardena brand timers. I have two, one for my front and one for the back yard. You can just set them and walk away. No more letting the hose run waaaaaay too long

Here is a link that might be useful: Gardena Timer
bettyn_gardener
15 years ago
We have one set up for pots on a deck. We got it at Ace Hardware. We've had to replace them several times - but Ace has replaced them with no problem each time.

BettyN
calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
15 years ago
One of the three timers just stopped working!!! Exactly one year from date of purchase. They are made by Nelson and this one is going back to Lee Valley for replacement. Al
catankgirl
15 years ago
I use the microwave technique a lot around here too. ;)

I have one timer on a faucet I use to water the backyard and do strategically locate it to water one garden area when we are out of town.

The kids tend to mess with the settings a lot though, so I don't use it on a regular day to day basis, mostly just do the off-on thing to get it to go for 30 minutes, then set the microwave timer for 15 minutes, and when it beeps pull the hose to move the sprinkler in another location and let it time out on its own. Weird, but works for me. ;)
akarinz
15 years ago
applenut - Can you be more specific about the dig timer? Perhaps a model number or a web page link?

Thanks!
Karin
sib5
14 years ago
I bought my DIG Water Timer Model# 9001 over 2 years ago and its been watering for me ever since with zero problems and maintainence. I never gave it a second thought except to change the battery rountinely once a year. I set it and forgot it, its basically trouble-free. Its been my best timer out of them all.
moorehugh2_yahoo_com
13 years ago
We have sub freezing temperatures (20Ã¢ÂÂ) here in Badger, CA . . .

We have lost so many timers because they crack and leak . . .

The DIG 9001 we have is two years old . . .

While this is not recommended . . .
It has been outside 365 days a year . . .
with the water on all the time . . .
and it is still working perfectly.

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