I looked at one of these and I decided that it looked too technical and would be too prone to failure.

I decided to go for Hozelock micro irrigation system instead. I wouldn't go back now, its the best thing I have bought for the garden, with the exception of plants ;-)

The spray also looks too harsh on the accurain, looks like it would knock your plants over.

Saying that you probably don't have access to Hozelock where you are but there must be some good dripper and spray systems.

I see nobody else answered your post...take a look on the following site to look at alternatives...

Here is a link that might be useful: Automatic Watering Systems

A few posts about the Accurain system have popped up recently.

Here is a link that might be useful: Accurain on GardenWeb

I have two Accurain systems on my property. One is on the corner of a fence by my driveway and is assigned the duty of keeping a two foot wide by 30 foot long piece of sod alive that I had put in after an new drive way was poured without a water feed to that area. It also covers several individual plant arrangements on the other side of the fence in a side yard. Works like a charm.

The other "bot" is on my front fence gate and covers a rose garden split into three zones as well as special areas for tomatoes, melon, carrots, strawberries and a new lemon tree.

The beauty of the system is that each and every plant or "zone' can be set to water just the depth of water each item requires, on whichever day(s) you want and it does not "knock over' anything. In fact it will pause and reset to home after a deep watering has started, allowing for the soil to absorb the water, then it resumes until the zone gets the full amount prescribed.

Also, it's just plain fun to see people stare at the litte robots as they lay down water exactly where it's needed and no where else. The ground outside a 3 foot circumfrence of my lemon tree is bone dry and the base of the tree is nicely moist with H2O. Third best item I got for our mome (First is the GE Advantium oven and 2nd is the Meile Dishwasher (super silent)).

CJ in SJC

ainsley_UK: I will most likely be getting the accurain soon and I am 1000% certain that it is LESS prone to failure than other systems. Why? Because it has much less parts, is much better built, and has no irrigation heads underground where they can and probably will get damaged by insects and animals.

I don't think you made a good choice, just look at the list of problems the other systems have in the link below, the AccuRain requires much less maintenance and is garanteed to never break in your lifetime.

Here is a link that might be useful: Why AccuRain?

I have recently installed the Accurain system and it's been running for a few months.

Installation was easy and setup, although technical, was not overwhelming. It does take some experimentation to see how it waters after you program the "dots" around areas where watering is desired.

Overall, the system is rather impressive - but there are concerns and hurdles that are being overcome.

Four heads are working at this time. One head lost its ability to find its "home" position and decided to water other areas it was not to. The company promptly fixed this.

Later, a couple began to dribble when not watering. This wasa due to debris in their valve assembly and was easily fixed (removed and cleaned their rubber valves) restoring operation.

Now I see that they all leak through the pivot screw at the top of the heads when watering plants further away. I have yet to hear the final fix on this issue.

Although the heads can modulate and precisely hit watering zones when new, I've found that all four now are very sloppy in controlling flows. In the case for plants closer than eight feet, we actually get water hammer due to the valve flopping open and closed until it narrows its volume. I am waiting for support to address this. This is the most worrysome issue of all. I personally see this as a design issue. Normal lawn watering would not bring up the problem, though.

Lastly, all of the heads required reworking of their flow parameters. One must connect the controller to the head and select flows and levels so the head can "understand" its operating parameters. After doing this, they are working again within reason.

In summary, I do not regret the installation even with the additional expense. Installation is far simpler, there is more water control and after we work out these mentioned bugs, they should work reliably.

The only probable concern is the single stream can be pretty easily diverted with wind activity. Watering early in the am has pretty much handled this issue.

I have been running a 12 head AccuRain system for two years. AccuRain has responded promptly and repaired many problems. I have recalibration instructions that might be helpful if anyone needs them (email herbwhitaker@hotmail.com). Reclibration solved several problems of close watering to the head. I believe AccuRain will "unvail" a new generation watering head... maybe in 2006. I don't think I can afford to "upgrade", but I suspect that many problems have been adressed and corrected in the "new generation" watering head.

I have learned how to correct a few problems (some are mine alone)such as the best solution to clean the water valve (rubbbing alcohol/water will not do it). Another repair is to correct a "rotational" problem by removing the top to clean and lubricate the "O" rings... making sure not to overtighten the bolt... one head bolt would not tighten enough to remove "play" so I noticed that a spacer had been added on another head from the mfg. The spacer fixed my problem.

I will communicate with anyone about the AccuRain system via email or telephone. I also suspect that I have more to learn about my system... so lets talk.

Wow, sounds like a ton of maintenace for a fairly simple operation of putting down water.

I can say that I have never seen a replaced a sprinkler head damaged by insects or animals other than humans. It it normally the lawnmower, vehicle, heavy equipment that damage heads. Sand in the water, poor maintenace in the fall, and not triming the grass around the heads that slowy ruin them also.

I installed a 3 head system, the newer Accurain II, which is a rectangular box shape instead of the round "death star" look. The three heads water almost 4000 sf of lawn and fruit trees.

They work well for the most part. One head leaked at install and was replaced by Accurain. They do a good job of covering a large area. They water slowly (middle of the night is best when there is little wind) and do not cause water runoff.

I will report back on my long-term experiences with this product. Feel free to email with your experiences or questions, life_speed@yahoo.com.

Well, I have had the system for one year now. Apparently I got the first units out of the factory of the new "Accurain II" design. Based on what I have read about the earlier system, they are much improved. I will note that I did have to send back my sprinklers for an upgrade to the current revision after a couple months of use. They replaced the brass nozzle with stainless steel, changed the cover design, updated the software, and it looks like they came up with a different technique for finding 'home' position than the Hall Effect sensor that was used in the early versions of Accurain II.

Since the upgrade I have had no problems with the system. It is very flexible. One sprinkler head covers alot of ground. I would definitely recommend them.