Lewisia Battery Backup Solar Fountain Pump with LED Lighting 8W Solar Powered Water Pump Kit for Pool Koi Pond Garden Bird Bath

Ok, I was skeptical. I'll admit that some of the comments were discouraging, but I've got to say, it is exceeding expectations today.When this arrived, it was rattling. I was told to look at the diagram to assemble--there was no diagram. Told to clean the pump regularly by removing the screws. Since it was rattling, I took out the screws (these are seriously horrible and the heads started to strip--one of my discouraged moments) to discover the screws are for an external box and the actual pump was inside. The cover had come off the working part of the pump, but it snaps right back in place; it's the way you get in to clean the pump. Put it back together, cursing the screws. I unplugged the pump from the solar panel and went outside to put it in the ground for at least a day to charge (of course, make sure the switch is on). Called my friend and told her to come the next day and we'd start the fountain experiment.Hilarity and blown theories later, we came up with the perfect combination of urn, support that prevented filling the entire urn with rocks (upside-down planter to narrow the space needing rocks but allow water to fill the base, pump on top of planter, upside-down plastic mesh basket over the pump to keep it from floating up (another discouragement) while being high enough up the urn to allow the light to shine up under the fountain part. After completely wearing ourselves out from emptying and refilling to find a solution, we couldn't get the pump to pump high enough to fill our spitter. We even opened the box again to make sure we hadn't gotten silt in the pump. This is when I got very inventive and wrapped the case in velcro cable wraps to avoid the screws ever being an issue again. Still wouldn't work and sounded like it was dying. We weren't about to empty the urn again, and I didn't want to encourage mosquitoes, so we scraped away the top rocks, took the spitter off, and let the pump gently circulate the water all night. Sighing and discouraged, she went home and I went to bed. This morning, however, I went out to clean up, and the pump was happily spraying water everywhere. Yesterday is sounded like it was straining; today it's silent. I quickly finished reassembling everything and now I have a cool fountain for my butterflies and bees. There is strong sun now, and it's even prettier than the picture below. I don't know what the problem was yesterday, but today it's fantastic. I'm considering getting another one for another remote area of my yard.*UPDATE* One week later (seemed like a failure point from other posts), and it's still going strong. Was a little cloudy today, but it ran all day. Still very pleased, and I will be ordering another.Further update: 9/5/17. Still going strong. I went out during our local visit from Tropical Storm Harvey, and even with the reduced sunlight, it was running! Then last night, at 11:30, after a nice sunny day, I went out to pick up some tools I left outside, and discovered the pump was STILL going strong and the little light was making the whole pond glow. I'll be putting in another pond and have now ordered a second pump, but unfortunately it will take a while to get here.Update, June 2018: I have both pumps going this summer in my little urn for butterflies and bees. I hooked up everything, turned on the pumps (of course, nothing happened because it needs a mo'), came back half an hour later, and everything was running. The water level got too low at one point, and it was several hours before I noticed, but I added water, turned the affected pump off and back on, and it started working in a couple of minutes. I can't say how pleased I am. If it's been a sunny day, they are running well into the night with the little led lights showing ripples and rocks. Very nice set.

I read reviews before buying, and expected it to perform adequate but not 24/7. My expectations are not met, as I had gone to this one for more $$ than some others, and the battery backup. It has a nice panel, nice accessories. came packaged well. BUT ...Well, it barely pumps over a bubble. it will not pump to any height so dont buy it thinking you can power a fountain. The LED lights work most all the time. Even in direct sunlight at noon, the pump sounds like its working but no water comes out, you can fiddle with it, sometimes move the pump, tap it, and it might work for 20-30 minutes. Sometimes, well about 3-4 times it had a small 2-3" water spray for about an hour, but most of the time the only thimg works is the LED. At night the LED works for about 2 hrs after dark. Dissapointed and I would not recommend it and wish I had saved my money.

Over the years, I've had a number of solar fountains for my little pond (4 ft wide, 6 ft long, ~1 ft deep), but none have held up quite so well as this little guy! It even kicks on when it's cloudy, which is nice... and it's cool to see my little lit-up fountain at night. It doesn't run all night, but well enough into the evening to be enjoyed. I was a little suspicious when I first got it and it didn't work - you really do have to let it charge up for a couple of hours initially before first use (note - it only charges in the "on" position).If you are considering this fountain, you should know that the stem from the impeller motor to the fountain head is rather short. If your water feature has only a few inches of water in it, it works great - but if you have anything over four or so inches of water to overcome - in my case, anywhere between 8 and 12 inches of water - the stem will be way too short. What I did to solve this issue was take a mason jar, fill it with rocks and pond water, and rest it upside-down in the pond and surround it by bigger rocks. I then stuck the impeller base onto the bottom of the mason jar (the impeller has handy little suction cups!). It looks like my fountain is rising up out of a mound of rocks in my pond. I sometimes surprise myself... :)

The media could not be loaded. Update: the unit is Working nicely again! There seems to be an issue with the switch on our unit.Perhaps a loose connection. One I confirmed that the on switch was indeed on (lights were shining), we left it in the sun for a few days and the battery charged up and the pump is working nicely now. Lewisa provide guidance to help us address the problem. So I am happy wth their customer support! The only reason I’m not giving five stars now is that the switch does seem to be finicky on our unit. Will keep an eye on it, but so far the pump is working rest in our Fountain. I attached a video so you can see our set up and over all flow.Now that the system is working. I plan to order the extension cables so we can put the panel somewhere less conspicuous.—/The pump and panel were off to a good start. But now are not working. I switched the panel to 'on' and put it in the sun. The LEDs and pump turned on in just a few minutes. Within about 30 min the pump was outputting a good flow and doing a great job in our little fountain. While the pump was working, I then turned panel switch to 'off' to see what would happen. As expected the pump and LED went off. Then I turned the switch back 'on' but nothing happened. The LEDs and pump are now stuck off. The panel is sitting in direct sunlight still, and the switch is still 'on' but neither the pump or the LEDs are working. Checked back hours later...same problem. Perhaps a finicky switch? I flipped it off and on several times leaving it in the on position every time...still no dice. The thing is dead. I would love for this to work...but it's not!! I've had it for <24 h!!