Nobody has more than a few months experience with the new Accurain system the new version having just been released around the end of March, I believe.

I bought three of their sprinklers in May to water nearly 4000 sf of lawn and fruit trees. One sprinkler was faulty as-delivered, which they promptly replaced. I have learned that (as with most new products) they have revised the software, and the amount of time it spends watering the far reaches of the zone. It is definitely an improvement and waters very evenly.

They have also switched from a brass nozzle to stainless steel to ward off any corrosion problems. There may be other details thay have been optimized during the new-product introduction process. Because I get some of the first units out of the gate, I had to remove them all and send them back for software upgrades and nozzle replacements. Not exactly convenient, but they are very helpful and I am willing to make some allowances for the product being so new.

That said, I am very happy with their performance. They are highly efficient in their use of water, applying water slowly and causing no runoff. I put in 4000 sf lawn from seed, requiring lots of watering. At the same time I installed two low-flow toilets. The net results was my 470 gal/day water useage remained unchanged from the previous year when I had NO LAWN to water. I anticipate that once my lawn is established and watering can be curtailed I should drop below 400 gallons a day.

Today, if you were to buy sprinklers, you would be getting units with the latest software and all the bugs worked out. I would highly recommend their products. I would have needed 30 unreliable in-ground sprinklers instead of the 3 Accurain sprinklers I have. They do need to be mounted on 4 foot posts, however. I would also highly recommend copper piping inside the posts for ease of maintenance should you need to ever remove a sprinkler using a wrench. Plastic pipe does not take well to removing/reinstalling.

If you have any questions email me at life_speed at yahoo dot com.

I have no idea what the Accurain product is, but since when did inground sprinklers become unreliable??? They're incredibly reliable and durable (and stealth). I've had two fail in 12 years and replaced them in about 5 minutes and $13 each. I'll research the Accurain product out of curiosity when I get a chance ....

Unreliable due to problems with clogging from dirt, grass, insects. Maintenance required to clear them from obstruction from grass or plant growth. Susceptible to damage from humans, pets, vehicles, lawn mowers. Plus, the sheer number required (relative to Accurain) stack the odds against them that some will need maintenance.

It is more difficult to bury the pipes to a proper 2' depth when so many pipes are required, causing rototilling obstacles. I pulled out two separate systems of plastic pipe from failed previously installed in-ground sprinklers while rototilling for a new lawn.

It sounds like your experiences have been better than mine.

Well, I have been using the Accurain 2m system for 4 months now. This is the new, rectangular box rather than the round "Death Star" looking unit.

They are a real winner. The zones can be programmed for shape and size. Extra zones can be added to water the sunny spot in the middle of your lawn that needs it, without overwatering other areas. You can plant lawn around your overwater-hating citrus tree, and not overwater the tree thereby killing it.

The advantages are very efficient use of water with no runoff. Easy installation involving much less piping than a typical in-ground system. One Accurain sprinkler could replace 5 - 10 popup sprinklers.

Easy reconfiguration of water application across your yard to suit different sunlight exposure and plants. No digging required, just reprogram the watering heads.

There are some minor drawbacks:

Cost - $220 per sprinkler. But keep in mind one sprinkler reaches a 60' diameter circle and replaces many in-ground sprinklers.

Wind - You need calm conditions to take advantage of the 30' radius. Usually at night this is not a problem, but if you're in an area where the wind never dies down you will at least need to space the sprinklers closer as the greater the distance the water stream travels the more susceptible it is to wind.

Programming - their flexibility also means the programming of the zones requires a bit of time and slight technical ability. Those who can't program a VCR should probably stay away.

Time - this is good and bad. Slow watering means no runoff or wasted water. On the other hand, during the hottest days of summer applying sufficient water means my sprinklers can run for 8 hours at night. This is worst-case of course.

rain shadow - you cannot water directly behind a tree trunk that blocks the water stream

One last comment: I would recommend using copper pipe in the vertical post. Threaded plastic is not amenable to removal and reinstallation should maintenance ever be required on the sprinkler heads. That said, I should mention that I have had zero problems once my early-version sprinklers were sent back and upgraded to current production standards.

- Lifespeed

Does anyone know what is going at Accurain. I had good service for the last few years but now I can't get them to call me back. I left several polite messages and now their voicemail says it's full.

Kevin

Speaking as a person who has owned 3 generations of the Accurain system (I, II, and IIM), I can say that this system in plagued with problems. It is probably the single worst purchase of my life, as $2,000 and hundreds of hours of wasted labor. Read my review on epinions.com and look for videos of head failures posted on YouTube. Just search for "Accurain" on either site.

I would love to give this product a thumbs-up rating -- it's an ingenious idea. But there has been poor execution spanning 3 product generations from 2005-2008 and medicore customer service. Software updates are complicated, requiring you to remove and ship back the robots and controller. All data may be erased by the updates. Software is still buggy as of July 2008 (just spoke with an Accurain tech the other day about a minor bug he admitted is unfixed still).

Furthermore, the company makes many little hardware tweaks to things like the controller and junction box. The tech told me that earlier generation junction boxes had a tendency to introduce line noise, which interfered with robot communications. They re-released the $28 junction boxes with updated hardware components. No announcement went out. No telling how many customers like myself banged their heads against the wall dealing with hardware design issues in even the most simple components like the junction box.