Mini-Click Rain Sensor

When I lived in the desert I never bothered with a rain sensor for the irrigation system: I just programmed the system and forgot about it. Living now in an area of the country that gets frequent rain, I wanted to avoid the waste of water and money that happens when it rains overnight and then the sprinklers kick on at 4 am! Trusting the weatherman and turning it off in advance manually was hit or miss. The mini-click rain sensor has worked flawlessly since I installed it early this spring-- no more watering rain-soaked grass! Depending on how much rain we get this year, I would not be surprised if it paid for itself in one season with the water saved.INSTALLATION: The biggest challenge is finding a good location to mount the unit: it should be exposed to the same conditions as the lawn for most accurate results, but close enough to the sprinkler system control module that running the wiring is not too much of a chore (one thin low voltage cable with 2 conductors). I intalled it on the outside of my deck railing, about 10ft off the ground where it gets about the same sun (for drying) as most of my lawn. I ran the wire through a small hole drilled in the house, along the joists in an unfinished basement, and up into the garage where the system controller was located. Luckily I had my own supply of low voltage wire-- the run was close to 50 feet, more than the supplied wire would reach. 2 minutes with a screwdriver, and the wires were connected at the controller (a Hunter with clearly labelled terminals), and one switch was thrown.ADJUSTMENT: How much rain it takes to trigger the sensor, and how quickly it will dry out after a rain are both easily accomplished manually.OPERATION: Works as advertised. When sufficient rain falls, the mini-click temporarily shuts off the irrigation system (status is indicated on display of my main unit). When it dries out, the system runs at the normally scheduled times.One note of caution: Not all irrigation system controllers will operate with (or even have the connection for) a rain sensor: Verify that your unit is compatible 1st.

This Hunter rain sensor was a breeze to install, along with our new Hunter Pro-C controller. If it would ever rain here in Phoenix, I'd let you know if the sensor works! The controller (purchased elsewhere) is great. It was easy to program, simple to install, and is much more efficient and easier to program than my previous Toro and Orbit controllers. I wanted a controller that will allow at least a 28 day interval between waterings for xeriscape plants, which this has. It comes with 3 stations and is easily expandable to 12 stations. It has another really great feature that allows you to easily remove the programming portion and take it elsewhere ( like to a comfortable chair indoors) to do the actual programming, then take it back to the wall unit and plug it in. But, back to the mini-click, I haven't yet had a rainy day opportunity to try it out, but it came highly recommended by a friend who owns a landscape irrigation business. It does have a way to check it's function without actual rain, which I haven't bothered to do yet. I do HIGHLY recommend the Hunter irrigation controller and assume the rain sensor will work as expected as well. Be sure to install the rain sensor high and out of the way of roof runoff. I installed mine (as recommended by my landscaper friend) on the second story wall, halfway up wall on the roof peak side of the house, to avoid the possibility of runoff and splash back causing an inaccurate reading.

Works like a charm. At the time of this review, we have used this item for 8 months. On some products I like to wait and see - before giving a review for obvious reasons. With the price of pressurized irrigation water on the rise, it doesn't take too long for this sensor to pay for itself. It was easy to install and simple to adjust the settings.I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND this to my friends and family. It has met and surpassed my expectations. It is really great to install and forget about it. When it rains, don't have to feel concerned about sprinklers working during a down pour. Or forgetting to turn the system back on and letting the grass die. Great little invention and well worth every penny!Ships quickly too.

I purchased this to replace a Mini-Click II that was thirteen years old. I think the only reason the old one stopped working was because the wrought iron fence it was installed on was hit by lightning.The new one came as pictured, with the bracket, and I installed it in about 10 minutes. I wet it with a bucket of water and my sprinkler control unit displayed that watering was suspended. I'll just have to wait for it to dry out. Go figure though, we're getting serious flooding going on right now so the sensor may not dry out for a couple of days.

Read about this in our Pro-C controller manual, and thought - it made water conserving sense, to install this transducer. Found it here, for about $18 + shipping, ordered it, arrive, wired it up remotely using extra pair of wires from the control line bundle. Set the evaporation rate port on it - to the mide point, and then splashed water on it to see if it worked. Bingo. Since then, it has rained here, and the Mini-Click has done its job everytime. I would recommend this purchase. It works as advertised (see note below for caveat).I learned about the Hunter SOLARSYNC - Hunter Solar Sync Sensor and Module for Pro-C which is $68 dicsounted ([...]) and this device handles both rainfall AND heat transpiration. Had I known about this, I would have purchased this becuase of the added (heat index) capability - for a minor increase in price.

In 1995 I installed the same model on my roof. Even though it was still working, I preemptively replaced it with this one as I thought that it must fail sometime. Other than a ground wire, it is identical to the original.This one should outlast me. Great quality. Simple, but it works flawlessly.