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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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. ;)

applenut - Can you be more specific about the dig timer? Perhaps a model number or a web page link?

Thanks!
Karin

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.

We have sub freezing temperatures (20âÂÂ) 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.