SolarrificG3017 Solar Water Fountain Kit

I live in north central Florida. I bought this mostly to move some water in a small tub in an effort to attract birds but not breed mosquitoes. It worked fine for most of the five months that I've had it. I took care of it and cleaned it every two weeks ... basically every time the yard was mowed because grass clippings would fall in the tub. It was actually too powerful with all of our sun and I had to use it without any of the heads on or the water would be drained from the tub. Today I go out to clean it again and I find that it's not working at all in full sun. I brush some of the grass clippings off of it and still it did not turn on. I took it out and directed it at the sun. Nothing.This just isn't made for being put outside all the time. Sad. It was great while it worked and was a decent price but I'd rather pay more and have something that is going to last.

I really, really wanted to like this but it is going back. The birds in my area did not accept it. I placed it in their favorite bath in my yard (I have four) and in a week's time I never even saw a bird land on the bath much less go in it. The fountain states it needs sun and they are not kidding. It needs to be FULL SUN - not a bright day with a few clouds, not in the shadow of a small tree branch, not even later in the day when the sun moves to the front of the house. If an actual ray of sunshine wasn't on the entire fountain, it stopped working. Also, the fairly deep bath would be full in the morning with fresh water and by the time I returned at 3pm, enough water had evaporated that I could hear the motor trying to work but there wasn't enough water in the fountain to make it work which would ultimately burn up the motor. It is very easy to set up and you really do just place it in the water but it wasn't accepted by the birds (in my area) and I struggled everyday to get it to move the water. Also, pricing on Amazon varies considerably for this. Be sure to search as Amazon didn't point out the pricing differences like they usually do.

I just got this little fountain a week ago. It's really powerful. I was surprised. It's so cute and I really enjoy it. I hope it continues to work for a few years. (If it only cost $10, I wouldn't mind if it lasted only one summer. For the price, I want it to last at least 3 years!)You should know (vendor states this) that this fountain will not operate on cloudy days or when the sun goes down because there is NO battery to store the sun's energy. As soon as the sun disappears, the fountain stops. That's fine with me because I bought it for my backyard birds. They won't mind if it stops now and then. They go to bed with the sun.The little suction cups are useless unless you have a glass or ceramic container. You also need a DEEP birdbath, or just buy a 20-30 gallon patio pond that's at least 28" in diameter and 6-8" deep. Why? because the fountain floats around the container if the suction cups fail to hold it in the center. The spray goes over the edge of the birdbath and the birdbath water is depleted in less than 45 minutes. That's why the fountain has suction cups--so you can fasten it in the center. My birdbath is wrought iron, so the suction cups won't work on the irregular surface. The bowl of my birdbath is 16" diameter and about 3.5" deep. The spray went everywhere except back into the birdbath as the fountain floated around the edges. I stopped that by tying the fountain to the center of the bowl. The perimeter of my birdbath has evenly spaced holes -- like lace. I used 2 pieces of the clear fishing line that came with the fountain to anchor the fountain in the center by tying it to opposite sides of the birdbath bowl with equal lengths of line. It still spewed water our of the basin unless until I removed the sprinkler head. Now, it shoots up a short stream (about 2")that does not throw water over the sides. I'm going to buy a black, 25-35 gallon patio pond and center the fountain in it. The spray heads should not throw the water over the edges of a 28"-diameter container as long as the fountain is secured to stay in the center of the water container. I wish there was an easy way to keep the fountain in the center without the fishing line. Otherwise, I like it so far.

4/11/15 Ok, I am editing my review but still have mixed feelings. After the solar fountain quit working, I placed it on my patio table to decide whether to pitch it, or send it back (which I rarely do). So, I happened to walk by it and lo and behold I heard it humming! I quick placed it back in the birdbath and it came back to life. Very odd! So, since it is a sunny day, I am going to carefully choose a new nozzle to keep it from spraying out of the fountain. I am changing my stars to 2 1/2 until I see how long it lasts. It still definitely has kinks to be worked out by the manufacturer, but it does have potential!I was very excited when I ordered this product. I thought it would be a perfect addition to my backyard birdbath. I understood that it would only work in sunlight, but didn't realize it meant only DIRECT sunlight. Still, once I figured that out, I was still okay with the purchase. The only problem was that when I received it it was a sunny day with some clouds. My first problem was that the suction cups wouldn't stick and the fountain kept floating. They provide a larger suction cup and some fishing string to attach it with but it is practically impossible to get it level. We tried weighing it down, but then the fountain wouldn't work. I finally had my husband glue it down with a glass plate and that seemed to work. Kept trying to time my enjoyment of the fountain, but I was either at work, or clouds would be passing by and it would stop. So, I only got intermittent experience of the fountain. Well, long story short we finally had a full blown sunny day, fountain was working lovely, came home, all of the water had been sprayed out, and the motor had burned out. A 3 day $30 fountain. Boo!