Automatic Battery Watering Timer Instructions for GS 709 Model from Banggood

This is something a little different, but linked to home automation, so I thought I would share my experience.

A few years ago, we bought an automatic, battery operated, watering timer for watering our plants. As always, the purchase was a considered one; with an eye to quality, reliability, ease of use, and, the driving factor: cost.

I'd only just started buying stuff from China (knowingly buying, that is, rather than not checking where much of our stuff comes from) and Banggood was in its infancy and offering some amazing deals. Of course, they still do, but back then the prices were more than a little competitive.

(Even after adding shipping, paying for insurance, and import duty, the timer cost much less than the high street equivalent).

No Instructions

This could be the reason for that low, low price: opening the package, there were no instructions. At least, not in English, and I don't happen to speak any of the oriental languages that the instructions were printed in.

So, I set about trying to find out how to make it work, and the result are these very useful instructions that you are welcome to download and try for yourself if you happen to have a watering timer that looks like mine.

Professional Installation Guide: More than just a Robot Mower User Manual!

Regular readers will remember my post on Paradise Robotics, a while back. Now, they have released a new edition of their installation guide for the mowers that they stock - namely Ambrogio and LawnBott models from Zucchetti Centri Sistemi (ZCS).

Written by Kathy Moseler, and first published in 2011, it covers pretty much all the Ambrogio, LawnBott and other ZCS mowers that have been on the market since the early 2000s.

Due to this extensive coverage, it also serves as an excellent getting started guide for anyone interested in buying a robotic lawn mower. In fact, it would be a great accompaniment to any of the manufacturer's official robot mower user manual.

For example, because Ambrogio has followed trends in robot lawn mower design, it discusses models with and without return wires (known as Follow Wire, or On Wire) in a section entitled "Base Return Methods".

The guide has both diagrams (annotated examples from various user guides) as well as photos of real-life gardens, helping to solve the various boundary wire design challenges that lawn mower owners will face.

Given that most mowers have the same basic requirements (except those with GPS), the section covering the installation of a boundary wire would be useful to everyone, and well worth the £20 price tag.

For those who can't afford, or can't find Ambrogio lawn mowers, it also helps to build a picture of the kind of mower that you need -- some of the advanced features of the mowers such as the ability to cross asphalt paths are also covered. In conjunction with our own free Buyer's Guide FAQ, a comprehensive question and answer session can be conducted in-store to make sure you get the most appropriate model.

Not to forget, of course, that online deals can quite often yield huge savings; but as always, it's better to enter into a large online purchase from a reputable store armed wit the right information. Paradise Robotic's "Professional Installation Guide" for robot lawn mowers would make a great starting point!