Drip irrigation timer that finally made sense after 3 failed ones

I spent the last four months fighting with cheap timers on my backyard drip system in the North Valley. Every single one either leaked at the hose thread or just stopped turning on after a couple of weeks. Then my neighbor who does landscaping for a living told me to stop using the battery powered ones and get a simple mechanical timer with a dial. I picked one up at a hardware store in Rio Rancho for about 40 bucks and it has run every morning at 5am for a solid month without any issues. The thing is built like a brick and you can actually hear it click when it turns. I never thought I'd get excited about a timer but here we are. Has anyone else had better luck with mechanical over digital on their yard setup?

2 comments

2 Comments

olivia_webb1d ago

Did you see that YouTube video where a guy tested ten timers and the mechanical one outlasted everything?

ivanl7621m ago

That mechanical click is honestly the most satisfying sound in my yard these days. I watched that same video, and those digital ones with screens were failing left and right in the comments too. It took me three returns to learn the same lesson, but now I just set it and forget it. The only downside is you can't program different days, but for a basic morning soak it does the job. Did you get the one with the rain delay setting on it?