Aftermarket to the rescue!

[GH85Carrera]

I have a sprinkler system, and a Rainbird wireless rain/freeze sensor. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011TMYBDO/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_GTFYVNF1ABY9DHES3CHA

I noticed after the last few rains, it was not reading "sensor active", and stopping the watering program. Of course I took a look to see if it was full of spiders, spider webs or ants or just gunk. The old cork looking discs looked rather black and ugly, but seemed to function.

Pour water in the sensor and it would interrupt the system, but not very long.

So I started searching for the model of the sensor I have to see if Rainbird sold just the outside part. Nope, just the full kit with the indoor receiver and all for about $75 or so. So I kept digging.

I found this guy on Ebay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/153523488818?_trkparms=ni_actn%3Anav%7Cni_nt%3AITE M_SHIPPED%7Cni_apos%3A1%7Cni_sg%3A1%7Cni_pos%3A1%7 Cni_st%3AREAD%7Cni_wh%3A1%7Cni_nid%3A478702231657% 7Cni_nsid%3A153523488818%7Cni_et%3A1626029676188%7 Cni_bn%3A1&_trksid=p2380424.m570.l5997

$6.99 sounded like a better deal, and no major risk. So I ordered, they arrived as they should, and it is easy to change them. Now we will see how well they work if it rains again.

I suspect the "rain gods" are confused right now. I did indeed just wash my El Camino today so ordinarily that brings out just enough rain to mess up the car, but the rain sensor waiting for a rain shower may cancel that. It will likely just rain on me the first time I am a few miles from home, and mess up the car but not rain at home.

With luck, the aftermarket will fix my issue for 68 bucks less than the Rainbird option.

It is nice to have options from the aftermarket.

[fastfredracing]

I dont care how you feel about E bay, it is an amazing resource for anything and everything . I find it more useful than amazon .

[Baz]

Good job, Glen! Agree with Fred - eBay is fantastic for so many things! I have a couple items on the way right now that are unavailable anywhere else. One coming from Australia even!

I have a couple of Rainbird rain sensors at two of my accounts because I used Rainbird timers at them. Not the freeze type unit you are using of course - just for rain.

But the rain sensor I typically use is the Mini-Clik by Hunter - and they do offer a disc replacement kit for under $10 because it is a wear item. It's the entire cap and spindle assembly. I keep a few of these in my stash for repairs.

[thingmon]

Nice. I need one of those. We can go weeks with and weeks without. It would be nice not to have to reset it as often.

[GH85Carrera]

When I installed the system I used a wired version. After 10 years that one wire lost continuity, and I looked for a while for the break, but decided that was going to be more work than I wanted, so I went wireless for just the rain-freeze sensor. Easy setup, and it is all done at the receiver end for the temp set point, and rain amount set point. The first one worked for many years and was just falling apart from exposure to the sun. Rainbird only sells the transmitter and receiver as a set so I replaced it a few years ago. That is why I decided to fix it rather then replace it again so soon. I installed the system 22 years ago and that one sensor wire is the only failure besides the occasional head getting run over or hit with a mower.