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

Reliable irrigation for the two zones ate our house, even adjusting for seasonal differences here in Tucson, AZ, where irrigation is essential. Old irrigation unit that came with the house was battery powered and would stop working without me noticing. This one keeps working, and can verify with the Android app. Easy to set up and just keeps working.

works like a champ

Works great. I have this panel, wifi module and rain sensor installed. Very easy installation, the build quality is very good. The Rainbird app is OK. This panel does not have the huge power adapter which is a big plus for use outside, the power module is embedded in this panel box. I hope they enhance the Rainbird app to match competitors. For the controller itself it is solid and stable, better than competitors. I believe it will run free of problem for many years.

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.

Overall, a very nice controller. I replaced an Irritrol RD-600 with this unit. I needed a controller that was able to operate remotely via WIFI. Now I can control the irrigation remotely from anywhere in the world. Two complaints with this unit, however. The case is equipped with various knockouts to run the electrical lines. They are anything but “knockouts”. You will need hole saws to make the required penetrations. Also, if you will be hardwiring the controller, the 120V line connections are made inside a black plastic box inside the controller case. The thickness of the controller case coupled with the thickness of the black plastic box, is too great to allow for a standard electrical fitting. You will not be able to grab enough threads to get the nut on the fitting. I had to wire the 120V line into the controller case and then drill a hole in the side of the black plastic box in order to make the connections within the box.

Installation is easy and takes less time. Easy to program as well, I’m glad I got rid of the old one. I added LNK2 and it was easy to connect to WiFi and program.

Smooth transaction,

Replaced an old Rain Bird unit with this one. Works as described and it was easy to setup