The ports on either side of the unit for connecting hoses are split down the middle. I assume this is to increase flexibility, making it easier to attach the included hose. However, this also means that it leaks a bit. One layer of waterproof tape around the outside took care of this. Changing the design to use a barbed fitting would make more sense.
I used this with the 2x3" downspout converter kit. The top is fine. The downspout fits inside the adapter. On the bottom, however, the same fitment causes it to leak at that junction. A little forethought and some silicone sealant during installation took care of this (used silicone for all connections). Again, design could be easily changed so that the adapter fits inside the downspout on the bottom, preventing leaks.
During light rains, the diverter doesn''t send as much water to the barrel as I had hoped. In theory, ALL the water should be diverted during a light rain. However, the removable screen/diverter just fits loosely in the housing and some water leaks through. Design could be improved to make a tighter seal, possibly using a gasket, while still being able to remove for cleaning.
Why black? I would guess that 95% of downspouts are white. I would have been willing to spend a little more for white plastic from the manufacturer than live with black or have to paint it myself.
All in all, though, a great unit and certainly worth 4 stars. I''m just nit picking here so others will know exactly what to expect when they buy one.I only have a few days and one rain storm to go by but I have an issue with the design of this unit. Many folks have 2X3 downspouts for which Fiskars has provided adapters. Unfortunately, they are not engineered to fit inside of the downspout as it runs below the unit. The unit actually is installed on the outside of the bottom downspout. This virtually guarantees leakage as the water that is not diverted to the rain barrel moves along the sides of the Fiskars unit and comes out in rivlets all along the connection. A call to Fiskars confirmed the design flaw with a suggestion to add caulk. Initial call to customer service was rude, indicating that none of them leaked. Engineering only agreed to notify design of the issue. Too bad as the unit has promise. If it need caulk they should say so and provide it.
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My original one star review is below. Since then, out of pure stubbornness, I''ve made this device work properly. I went to a local downspout/rain gutter manufacturer and purchased 3" square downspout. It''s used for commercial applications, not residential, I''m told, and isn''t available at any home improvement stores, not here anyway. With a little reshaping of the receiving end of the 3" downspout, the bottom end of the Fiskars diverter can be made to fit snugly inside the tubing, which means that your rainwater will stay contained and not leak out all around the edges. Of course, this means that you''re also committed to using 3" downspouting from the end of the Fiskars to the end of your run, and the stuff is not cheap, but it works the way it should if the Fiskars had been designed properly in the first place. It works great, in fact. If you can''t find 3" downspouting in your area, of if you''re not willing to spend that much money, or to cut, bend and reshape metal, then my one star review below stands.One star review: "It is a great idea. Just horribly executed. Almost impossible to fit a 2x3" downspout into the top, tho it can be done with much bending and twisting of the downspout end, encouraging leaves and debris to get caught there. But the brain trust in the Fiskar''s design department decided to make the outlet adapter identical with the inlet, to save money no doubt. Instead of fitting inside the downspout as it should, the outlet adapter fits over the outside of the downspout, guaranteeing that it will leak. Especially after having to mangle the downspout to make it fit here, too. Caulk? Won''t last a season. Might as well leave off the diverter and just run the downspout to the top of the rain barrel and let the water run out of the top of the barrel. Same difference in the end. So after cutting my downspout and trying unsuccessfully to figure out any way of making this work as it should, now I have to return it AND replace my downspout. Thanks a lot, Fiskars. Useless."
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I am a commercial plumber by trade and living in TX, water restrictions are coming down. There will be two avenues for water collection and use. Rain water and Condensate water from the AC. My AC makes 8 gallons a day. I looked far and wide for the best cost VS function on units like this and this wins hands down. Simple and easy to install. Easy to clean out. Alot of the others need removed to clean. This one has an access door and a removeable screen so in winter you can just remove that part and it is a straight run down spout again. To address a few of the "issues" people have had. If you have 3 inch gutters, silicon in the top and bottom adapter and screw it tight before install. It won''t leak. Silicon in the leader to the adapter and screw with self tappers on 4 sides. It won''t leak. One thing I did find is that the diverter/ screen piece did not fit in tight enough to get the maximum collection rate I desired. NO BIG DEAL. I took a self tapping screw and from the inside, thru the clean out cover, I pushed down on the screen/diverter piece and then ran the large head self tapping screw thru the back and directly above the top bar of the screen. This locked it down into the inside channel. The diverter is plastic so it sealed the screw. Now I get full collection as fast as the water will go down the drain tube. But still a wee bit of room to drain the diverter over a period of 2 minutes when the rain stops. Being this diverter has two outlets, one on either side, running both tubes to a barrel on each side will collect much more water then having barrels linked in series. people complained of the color? get a can of krylon plastic''s paint. My leaders are hunter green and you can''t even tell I have a diverter there now. I was amazed at just how water these will collect. I set up two barrels as a test run and they filled up in under 5 minutes with a Texas time summer cloud burst. These are well worth the money and function great at a fraction of the cost of more expensive models.Want Fiskars 5962 Rain Barrel DiverterPro Kit Discount?
I recently purchased the rainbarrel kit for a single downspout. The kit works very well and came in a timely fashion. The installation looked very simple, though I had it installed during my gutter renovation. You will need a hacksaw or something to cut your existing gutters, so that would be the only challenge with this kit. The trap is very easy to clean and catches most debris. If you have some form of gutter guards, you really won''t need to clean out the trap but once a year at most.My only complaint with this kit is the color. The black color would really stand out if this was in a focal point, and the fact that they do not offer other color selections limits where I would use this product. For me, it was installed in the back of the house, so it is not noticeable. I think they would have done much better to have made the diveter white so as to match alot more exterior trim/gutter colors.
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