Hunter Sprinkler XC800 X-Core 8-Station Outdoor Only Sprinkler Timer

Replaced an Irritrol Rain Dial that failed after a long and trouble-free life. This new Hunter unit has been in service for 6 months now and has proved to be as adequate replacement. Easy to install, set up and program and has proven to be reliable. Not surprisingly, there are programming differences from the previous unit but the user manual provides clear, concise instructions which helps with the "learning curve".

Great company, easy set-up, will buy from again. Product was as described, and package securely.

From all indications, this is a very well made controller. Installation was pretty much straight forward. No mounting template was included by Hunter so I created one by tracing the backside of the controller. The template greatly simplified pre-drilling the mounting holes and preinstalling the necessary anchors. I also temporarily removed the door to keep it from swinging shut during the installation. Setting the date and programming took a less than 5 minutes thanks to a very intuitive display and controls. I'm pleased.2021 Update: After two years of use and the controller is still functioning perfectly and, perhaps of more interest, I've learned several tricks about programming.First: It pays to revisit the Owner's Manual after a season or two of use. When I became frustrated about not being able to manually start a full cycle of all stations without having to first temporarily change one of the program's start time, I found a thing called a "test program." With the dial in the RUN position, press and hold the PRG button. The station number will be displayed and the time will be flashing for two seconds. Use the plus or minus or buttons to set the run time from 1 to 15 minutes. The run time needs to be entered only once and after a slight, 2 second pause, the test program will start.Someone asked about setting up a dwell time between watering each station and from my experience the answer is both yes and no. The controller has a built in feature that allows setting the dwell time between stations of 0 seconds up to 4 hours. If one needed a longer dwell time (highly unlikely) then, from a technical point of view, the dwell time could be set much longer.Because the timer has three (3) program settings and each of the three has three (3) separate, available start times it would allow you to set nine (9) individual start and run times for up to nine (9) separate stations. Even if you’re skilled at programming the timer, this could take some time to get set up correctly. The good news is that the program can then be safely stored in non-volatile memory for future use.See page 26 of the users manual for using the built in program for setting the dwell time between stations. One Dwell setting applies to all stations. Once the Dwell time, the Start time and the Station times are set, then each station runs in sequence and the dwell time is added to the over all program run time. I've attached a copy of my cheat sheet that's served me well these past couple of years. My Dwell is currently set to zero.Hope this help with your decision on what to buy and/or how to use.

I am a retired Irrigation Specialist for the State of California. I was in charge of the Irrigation at San Diego State University for 24 years.We used these Hunter Controllers for small areas on the campus where using large expensive computerized controllers was not practical.The Hunter X Cores were the best. I just replaced mine at my home that I installed 11 years ago in 2013. We had a power outage and when the power came back on the Surge fried the clock because It was not on a surge protector.These clocks are EASY to install. Get the OUTDOOR model even if it is going in a garage because the transformer is built in and it is all wired with a plug ready to go. Plug and play! Great price on Amazon compared with Irrigation Supply houses. Home Depot or Lowes won't carry these . Don't waste your money on ORBIT or Rainbird dumbed down crap from HD or Lowes.

Live in AZ so these things don’t last too long. But will keep buying until they stop making them. Prob should invest in 5 of them now. I installed last one myself. (50 yr old female). Take photo on phone before disconnecting to match replacement. Worked like a charm. Western side of building. Wish they built a cover to cover the cover on my house. Will prob get around to building my own. To keep it shaded.

The display is small and hard to read. For example, the watering days are noted by placing a "not" circle around the days that won't be watered, but it's really hard to see that the circle is slashed, so it doesn't look like a "not" circle, it just looks like a circle -- so you think it's a "yes." Otherwise, I'm impressed with the build quality and I have no doubt it will hold up to the weather and do its job for years and years.

I own 4 of these controllers at various properties I own. They are easy to program and they hold the programming in the event of a loss of power. I have a rain sensor on one controller that stops the irrigation from going on in the event of rain. It has saved me a LOT of money. THE BEST

Old timer went out, needed 8 series. Order it, received it next day, easy to install, timer and cycles are a breeze to set. Works great, cheaper than at local stores.