Rain Bird ESP-ME3 4 Station WiFi Ready Indoor/Outdoor Controller | ESP-ME3-A1

Great product, easy to set up and program

Our sprinkler guy referred to our old controller as “the first digital watch”. It was difficult to use with limited capabilities. I thought it would be a huge endeavor to upgrade, but it wasn’t. Our sprinkler guy recommended RainBird, and this model in particular. This RainBird is very easy to hook up and to use. Love that I can pause for x days from my smartphone if rain is in the forecast. Our sprinkler guy said other brands (models?) must have the owner next to him with their smart phone in order for him to do spring/fall open/close tasks. This RainBird can be maintained with our without a smartphone, home owner’s smartphone doesn’t need to be nearby when maintenance is being done.

Easy to install and works perfectly!

GOOD PRODUCT ,MY SECOND UNIS ,1ST ONE THE LIGHTNING DAMAGED

I bought this controller, and I bought loose: three 6-channel stations, one rain sensor, one flow sensor, and one WiFi module. Thus, I have room for 22 stations, and I use 18 of them. I have about 45 K2 45-360° 18-48' distance sprinklers in my yard. I earlier this year bought the Orbit B-hyve 12-Zone Smart Indoor/Outdoor Sprinkler Controller to replace my 2006 12-zone Orbit that broke. However, I was very unhappy with his B-hyve and bought the ESP-ME3 to replace it. The LCD of the B-hyve was very slow to update. The clock sometimes lost its memory. I often turned the rotary knob or pressed it to soon before the LCD updated causing incorrect programming. I could never get the manual station working and not also the WiFi. I used it for three months before I tossed it. Only advantage was its price. Practically, without reading the ESP-ME3 manual I could easily do all the programming. The manual station is also easy to use. WiFi works fine although I only set it up to work locally from my phone and not over the entire Web. Makes it harder to hack in to. Flow sensor is useful to see if you have broken sprinklers or valves using more or less water than expected/base-line. Also, get a good understanding how much water you're actually sprinklering per zone.