After checking around I find the replacement base price has gone up I may just try and replace the flowers if I can find a fair shipping price or just replace the feeder for next season.

I found the port flower replacements at rural king but the feeder still leaks from the ports after replacing them. Looks like a replacement is in store for next season. I will hang a cheap feeder up for the remainder of this season.

Sorry you're having a problem with the 209 PP. I have one hanging along with my other "old" pps with the 4 individual perches. I do have a brand new 209 still in the box that I won't be using and I'll be glad to send that to you if you like...my pleasure!

Do you have any First Nature feeders from Walmart? I have several of those and the hummers love them. I've had leaking feeders, too and it's so darn frustrating! I don't have much of a wasp problem now, maybe one or two...swatted one of them yesterday...but I'm holding my breath concerning yellowjackets. Last year I had a terrible problem with them, but haven't laid eyes on one yet..KNOCK ON WOOD!

Donna

Hi Steve,

I don't see how the problem could be with the flowers. The way the feeder is designed the sugar water should never reach the flowers, it should only have a half inch or so of liquid at the bottom of the feeder. Actually it should never get deeper than the rim of the glass jar, once the liquid reaches the glass no air can get into the bottle. Thus no more liquid will come out. Check the plastic thread area to be sure there is no hairline crack.

I just have to say that I think the extra price for the Hummzinger feeders for me has been worth it. They NEVER leak and all my Hummers have adapted to them.
In the end they are worth the price--especially since Nottawa has such good prices. This year I did not even put the Walmart feeders out because of ant and bee problems with them.

Not sure Hummzinger makes a feeder big enough for Steve's birds. :c)

I have four feeders out now. The PP209(overkill for me as the levels in any of my feeders hardly drops at all), Droll Yankee LF3, PP single port feeder, and the Jewel Box window feeder. The feeder that gets the most use is the 209! What a pain that feeder would be if you let it get mold. There are nooks, crannies, channels you can't even see, etc. in that base with hardly any access holes!

donna

That is so kind of you to offer your spare 209 feeder but there isnt much time left in the hummer season here, maybe two good weeks or less before they dwindle to nothing here. I will just get by on what I have. Im not getting the throngs of birds I was getting anyway. Yes I have another 209 and a first nature hanging out back and another first nature out front besides the walmart oneport jobies. The wasps were sure mad after I removed the defective feeder, they were all over the other two large feeders trying desparately to find a leaky spot, after a while they pretty much moved elsewhere. If I happen to get a hummer invasion I can add another first nature as they like those no leakage. It just seems to me that the hummer season is really winding down here.

Steve, it sounds like the lowest part of the bottle neck is higher than it should be. Is anything preventing the bottle from screwing fully into the base? Is there a crack or gouge in the bottle's neck that would then raise the level of the nectar in your feeder?

Ed

bottle screws fully into the base and I cannot see any kind of a crack in the thread area, but most likely there is something there that I cant see or find.

Has to be either a hole or crack anywhere on the glass or a cracked base. Otherwise it would be impossible for the fluid to go higher than the rim of the bottle.

Ed, how is the feedback for the ports?

Actually yes, that bottle has a chip out where it screws in but its been like that for the last two years maybe it just got worse anyway Ive trashed it, season is about over here and I will get another next season.

Eigdeh, I only had two folks from this forum interested in trying the bee-proof flowers. I haven't heard from them, yet. On another forum, I've had two positive responses and no complaints (except this has been a slow year for hummers!)

Ed