Chapin 4702 HydroFeed 32-Ounce in-Line Auto-Mix Fertilizer Injector System, 32-Ounce, Drip Irrigation System (1 Feeder/Package)

My setup: I use these with a drip irrigation system in my garden, and smart valves installed after these units to turn on/off the flow. I have a backflow preventer installed upstream of each unit to make sure I don't get fertilizer contaminating the main water source. I use jacks 20-20-20 fertilizer dissolved in water, I have not tried putting solid fertilizer pellets in, which the instructions say should work. Comes with a short hose (about 1ft (30cm)) which is handy for connecting to a downstream valve or splitter.Basic thoughts: These units cause no issues with the drip system or the smart valves and are easy to fill up. I let the regular water flow through these all the time and just add fertilizer whenever I want to feed the garden. If you only use with fertilizer, downstream valves or irrigation systems might be affected by the fertilizer. With colored fertilizer its really easy to tell when the fertilizer is gone as you can see the color slowly fade as fresh water is mixed into the bowl.You need to be able to shut off water to the unit in order to add fertilizer, so its handy if the upstream valve is close to where you install the unit, but it won't hurt anything if you have to walk back and forth during the refilling to shut the water on/off.The unit has a plug on top, which screws out to let you refill without taking the bowl off. There is a dish in the black plastic top to help funnel the fertilizer down into the unit. I find that this is a really slow way to fill it up. The liquid tends to form an air seal over the hole, and you have to wait for it to bubble down and break the seal, which is pretty slow. I find it much easier to just take the whole bowl off, fill the bowl, and then put it back on the unit.These are quite tall, more than 1ft (30cm), so they might be difficult if you have a tight space where you want to use them. If so you might want to look a the options with smaller bowls, as those should be identical, with just shorter bowls.A full load of liquid fertilizer will be flushed out in two 15min drip watering sessions of 8 4ft/9ft (1.3mx3m) garden beds fed by 0.5gph 6in emitter drip line. I haven't kept close track, so it might go faster than that.

I’ve had this a couple weeks now and I have had zero problems with mine. If I had one complaint it would be the small filler hole. But it’s well made and worth the money and saves me so much time by not having to take out the sprayer!

Does the job, with some limited effort.+: sturdy, reliable, easy to install-: Not super easy to fill, and the small plastic pipe in the middle falls off sometimes

Needless to say, I was elated to finally see, what I thought, was an answer to my prayers.I have an extensive collection of succulents on lighted racks, plus 90+ assorted potted plants, but I was using earthworm tea and SuperThrive as my nutrients, so ended up using Chapin pump sprayers.(7, 1gallon sprayers) They worked great, albeit extremely tedious having to open, dose each sprayer, refill, retighten, etc.I saw this device, and it seemed like I would be able to water/fertilize on tap. Say less! Sold!On paper this is an amazing device. In practice, critical parts, such as the male and female connections to the water supply, should be metal, not plastic, as this is. I was super stoked to get this thing hooked up and use it, but from the beginning, I could see that the connections could be a problem, so I made sure I had extra rubber gaskets in hand.After filling the canister with my juices of choice andvturning on the water, the unit leaked out of the male end, slightly on the female end, and a tiny bit around the canister. I tightened the canister further which stopped, the male end, which remarkedly got worse, then slightly better when I backed off of it. The female end was the worst, even with Teflon tape, taboo, I know, and extra rubber gaskets.Eventually the female end unscrewed itself and burst in my face and blasted the gaskets, I would assume, into many neighbors yard. Removed the tape, tried again, but the leak(s) would not stop.Since I was already a fan of the Chapin pump sprayers, plus the possibilities of this device, I SO wanted this to work.In short, Chapin, if you’re listening, make the hose end connections metal, possibly use less brittle plastic on the whole thing, especially on the pressurized canister, and you’ll make even more money than you are already making, with quality over quantity being your driving force and saving grace. I would pay even more than this currently costs for the theoretical convenience and potential that it has.

I gave the fertilizer injector a 3-star rating on easy to install and easy to use because the rubber gaskets do not work properly. I tried every combination that I can think of by putting the blue gasket on the top. And the black gasket was positioned under the basket. And when I use the fertilizer injector the gaskets failed and water was spraying from the device putting fertilizer all over my patio I switch the gaskets around multiple times they did not work at all the device leaks severely losing fertilizer products by spraying them out of the top of the fertilizer injector. I fixed the issue by using plumbers tape you must use enough plumbers tape just satisfy the Deep threads on the injector. I went around the threads four times. No more leaking.Product suggestion: include some plumbers tape with your fertilizer injectors. The tape works 100% your gaskets failed every time and anyway I tried.