Customer Reviews

Gilmour 9400 Electronic 4-Cycle Water Timer, Teal

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

I've used 4 brands of water timers over 21 years for our very large gardens here in Northern California. Only the Gilmour 9400 timer has had the fewest issues in the 10 years I've owned them. Intuitive keypad layout. Removable top for programming. Bugproof too!

(July 14, 2005) Overall has been very reliable. Works well once you figure out how to program it. Manual override is *very* easy. Ability to remove the control unit from the valve for programming is nice. Electronics are completely isolated from the water valve (internal water leaks have been the bane of other electronic timers I've owned). Biggest gripe is that the valve snaps shut during turnoff, with a resulting loud bang in the water pipe. Other valve designs using a rotating ball valve don't seem to have this issue. Longevity of the diaphragm valve remains to be seen - have only used it for 1.5 seasons so far.

ADDITIONAL INFO: (August 15, 2005) There are apparently two different model 9400 available. I found a different version at one of the major home improvement stores in late July. I originally had the version with the red/green/black programming buttons. The (new?) version is not shown on Gilmour's web site. It uses a ball type valve instead of the diaphragm type - NO MORE WATER HAMMER! This unit also has a different programming interface - I was able to figure out how to program it without having to read the instructions. It retains the easy access to manual override and program suspend, and ability to remove electronic unit from valve base for programming (great for late evening programming when you need to get out from under the house overhang to read the display). So far it's worked great. Only nits are that 1. when valve opens it consistently opens a bit past fully open, which could restrict water flow, although it doesn't seem to be noticeable; 2. when electronics are removed from valve base, valve dial can get out of sync with the electronic module, requiring you to "eyeball" rotate the valve dial into the right position so that the electronics will fit back on the base. This could be resolved if Gilmour would enlarge the keyhole on the timer motor - don't think this would be a problem because the valve always seems to turn the same way. I posted some photos of the new version in the customer images section. So far I'd rate the new model 9400 Five stars.

I can confidently say the Gilmour 9400 Water Timer didn't work for me. In all I purchased 4 of them hoping one of them would work. In the end I returned them all. Each unit would work for a day and then stop. Yes, it made noise like the valve was moving to let the water run. However, nothing happened.

You might honestly wonder why I'm giving it 3 stars instead of 1. It's because I think my water pressure is too high for the Gilmour water timer. (A plumber last year told me the water pressure was above normal in our subdivision.) I did an online search to see if other people had encountered this problem, and I didn't see any reviews of people who did. It makes me suspect our water pressure is an unusual situation and for most people the Gilmour would work fine.

Here is what I liked about the unit:

- Relatively easily to set watering times.
- Have a manual override that doesn't disrupt the previously programmed watering times
- Flexibility in setting water times.

The reason I bought 4 (2 at a time) is I liked the controls so much I kept hoping it was simply I kept getting defective units. I'm almost positive the problem was the water pressure would build up over a day and the unit would stop functioning.

(You can see my review on the Claber 15 Preset Water Timer, which is what I'm now using.)

I've got one of these installed. It works quite well. It's reasonably easy to program and does have a quick way to manually turn it on for a few minutes.

But the one thing that worries me is the water hammer it causes due to how quickly it shuts itself off. The valve closing causes a TREMENDOUS *bang* on the pipe. This can be solved by adding a water hammer arrestor but most require installation by a plumber.

I previously had this timer hung off a Gilmor Y-tee so as to easily attach a hose. This was a BAD idea. The water hammer is bad enough that it BROKE the plastic Y-tee. This happened, of course, when we where on vacation. A neighbor (or someone) kindly turned off the valve to keep it from spouting water all over the place but the lack of watering killed several flowering plants. So, be warned and DO NOT put anything that's not metal ahead of this timer.

Here in Hawaii we have a limited source of items such as these. Most stores carry the lower-end models. I use two of these timers to water my bonsai trees so I definitely need something I can trust. They were relatively easy to program but did require a little patience. Have been in use for nearly a month now and the clock is maintaining the time and since they use batteries I don't have to worry about them when we lose power - which isn't infrequently! This is my second set of Gilmour timers that I have used and absolutely loved the other ones so hope these will last as long. My others lasted several years and the batteries were still going strong every year when I changed them "just in case...."

Well this is my 3 year of buying ditital Gilmour timers. The first year I bought 3 and liked them, for 3 months then put them in the basement for the winter. In the spring they were all junk because they had rusted out, yea a water valve made of steel with bad o-rings. So I went looking again and could not find anything better, so I bought 4 more (don't ask). Well this year none were rusted, I carefully drained then last fall. But they all leaked when pressurized. Couldn't find anythig better and when I looked inside the valve looked different. So I bought 2 (steep learning curve). Well these valves failed after a month. The valve exterior housing inside the connection between the valve and the control box cracked, you could see the water dripping out, yes both valves in the same place. I do view this as a better product because I could take it back to Lowes for a refund this year. I now have two sets of Orbit Sunmate 62032 (6 year warranty) 2 valves for the price of a Gimour, you can buy the valves separately.

I have six of these at 2 homes, plus 3 other brands, and the Gilmour is my favorite. The last 4 I bought were all Gilmour 9400s. It's the easiest to program without instructions, as well as the most reliable year after year and the one with the best battery life. And it usually retains the instructions during the winter when not in use, even if the clock is off by a few minutes the next spring. My only gripe is that the water valve seems more subject to freeze damage than with the others. OK, this is my error if I forgot to open the valve and drain the water. The main reason I'm griping is that since the water valve is a separate part subject to breakage, I should be able to buy it as such and have a spare, and it doesn't seem to be sold separately. The only other minor problem I have noticed is that in the one unit I had lying on the ground with the display facing up, the display was apparently damaged by the heat of the sun. It's still readable, but just barely. Again, this is just a very minor fault, and overall, this is still by far my favorite water timer.

I have tried several of these Gilmour timers. They all have the same problem. They use a rubber diaphragm that closes by water pressure, which effectively shuts off the water in a fraction of a second. For me and the pipes in my home, this causes SIGNIFICANT "water hammer". [...]

Sooner or later, water hammer will bust your pipes. You will know if it is a problem by the sound. You will hear a distinct "bang" somewhere in your pipes when the device shuts off. To a lessor degree, you may hear it when it turns on.

I emailed Gilmour about the problem. After a week or so they replied, and asked for the model number. I gave it to them, and they would not communicate with me anymore after that. Apparently they wanted the information for their own analysis, but were completely unwilling to help me with the problem.

There are other timers out there that open and close more slowly, entirely avoiding the water hammer problem. Try something else, or risk a major plumbing bill.

We've had this for about 3 months. It worked great. Then one day, nadda. It won't turn the valve on. When I remove the controller, I can rotate the valve by hand with little effort and the controller unit actually does operate without any load (the valve) on it. When I replace the removable controller and try to turn it on, it just clicks and clicks and clicks and .... Cheap plastic gears. But don't expect much if anything better from the other comparable products out there.

I will concede that if you are able to keep it in a shaded area, it may work longer for you. Mine was in direct sunlight all day so I'm sure those internal plastic gears got pretty soft from the heat. Just keep this in mind when you are buying these devices.

I was leery of buying a timer after reading a lot of horror stories. This one is well built, the timer is removal so you can program inside of the house and it has held up.

We have trouble watering our hanging baskets in the front of our house. They require water every day to survive and should be watered twice a day. I purchased a water kit of black tubing that is run to each basket. This timer turns on the water to the tubing 3 times a day and the baskets are in great shape during a very hot June and July.

The only problem I had was caused by my black tubing. The tubing is very small so it requires a lot of water pressure to push the water. Because of this back pressure it would not allow the timer to close the value. I increased the tubing size and the back pressure dropped. This is not the timers fault but I mention it incase you have this problem. I would buy this again.