Orbit 62001 Lawn and Garden Digital Watering Timer

This timer uses 2 9v batteries. I just think people need to know that so they can have the correct batteries on hand when they get the timer. Hopefully Amazon.com will use my edit on their info page and add that information. :) It's like getting a new battery operated toy at Christmas and not having the correct batteries so you can play with it. NOT GOOD. The 9v batteries are very easy to install. Remove 2 phillips head screws on the back and pop the batteries in...NO SNAPS TO CONNECT. Very easy install.I, again, had to replace 3 timers this year (seems to be a yearly occurrence) and after purchasing a cheap, poorly made Gilmore timer I decided to try the Orbit. I purchased my first one in the Spring and it has worked very well all season. Since it continued to do its job, a few months ago I purchased a second one and today I received my third one.The timer is a no brainer as far as programming it goes. It's very simple and the basics are on the lid that covers the program panel. It does come with a book with more indepth instructions though. You can program it to water Monday-Sunday.....choosing any particular days you wish to water. Or you can choose every 2 days or every 3 days to water. It has the capability to water 4 times a day if you so choose. You can water manually by pushing the manual button and setting a length of time to water at that time and then it shuts off automatically and goes back to "auto run" which is your programmed settings. You can cancel a watering for 24 hours by hitting the "clear" button. After that, it goes back to "auto run". You can stop the watering indefinitely by pushing the "off" button which cancels the "auto run", but that will not cancel out your programmed settings. To use your programmed settings again, just hit "auto run" and you're good to go. The timer seems to be sturdy and reliable. *knock on wood* The timer I purchased this Spring is still using the original 9v batteries too and I water every morning.So far, I love this timer. IF it should fail next season, I will update my review. I use to be able to buy a timer and use it for years and years, but in recent years it seems I can only get one summer out of them...if I'm lucky. I always bring my timers in the house for the winter and remove the batteries before storing them, but the last 4 timers (before the Orbits) I bought all died after one season of use. A Gilmore piece of junk I bought this Spring lasted only weeks and wouldn't shut off.I can recommend this timer, highly, with the caveat....I've only had mine for one Spring and Summer. Only time will tell if it lasts for years. I can only hope. If it fails to work next Spring, I will let you know.UPDATE: May 5, 2011I just hooked up my 4 Orbit timers and all 4 work perfectly! If anything changes, I will update again.

I received this timer on July 3rd (20 days ago from the time of this review). It was easy to program and was seemingly working great. I had it set to water 4 times a day and had a drip hose attached to it and laid through out a bed of Elephant Ears because they are incredibly demanding on water. Stepped outside yesterday morning to first find water around my pool equipment. I was originally worried I had a leak somewhere within, but as I continued to look at the evidence and walk around the pool I started to see that several areas were holding lots of water. Walked over to a grassy portion of the yard and it was soft and squishy and super saturated. Stepped out into the alley to see water running all the way down the alley and onto an adjacent street going into a sewer inlet. Water was also coming out of the discharge line that is connected to my area drains as well and dumping into the alley. At this point I rushed to shut off my irrigation because clearly I had to have had a leak. Before doing so though, I noticed that the drip irrigation hose was dripping a steady amount of water out. Looked at my watch (7:40am, so at the very least it had been running from 6pm the day before)and it was not time for it to be running. Took a few steps over to the Orbit and saw that it was on. It was then that I learned that the valve had stuck open and had been stuck open for who knows how long. 50' of drip hose that had been running long enough to flood portions of the yard, street and even got some under our pier and beam house. I know water shouldn't get under a pier and beam house like that, but that is a whole other story about how the sellers of the house we bought last year didn't disclose everything to us. Don't get me started. Bottom line, 20 days into using this thing and the valve already got hung open. Incredibly unfortunate as it was saving me a lot of time and mosquito bites by managing the watering for the only bed that I don't have underground irrigation to. Guess it is time for me to finish that little project and do away with battery timers all together as they can't be trusted. This WILL be returned and I might even send in a copy of my water bill with it.