G3033 Floating Solar Fountain for Bird Bath

Literally works right out of the box, seriously, the little pump turns on when exposed to sunlight as I removed the unit from the box.I work with leading software and hardware in my job, so a great deal of time is spent trying to get things to work. So for me it is amazing when something works without any effort on my part.I had no expectation that this would be so easy to use. Other pumps often didn't work, or required charging before turning them on.The bird bath that I have is shallow but this works in it. This is just a fun thing to see.Also, in my neck of the woods we have light cloud cover for much of the day (thankfully it's like a free air conditioner) and the fountain works find without the direct sunlight. But if you put your hand over any of the cells in the platter it will turn off. So light cloud cover it still works, but tree shade or similar, it won't work.

Ordered this along with a few other solar pumps. It worked well for about two months and just stopped working. I have had a difficult time trying to find a fountain pump that will work more than a few months. When it worked it really worked. This little thing can pump water, and it pumps it about a foot in the air. Cons: I had difficulty getting it to stick to the bottom of the birdbath. It preferred to float around. The problem with it floating in a birdbath is at some point it hits the side of the birdbath and half the water is flowing out of the birdbath. It is compounded by factors such as wind. On a windy day even with the fountain in the middle of the birdbath the water would fall outside of the birdbath. Sooner or later there is very little water left in the birdbath and you end up burning this thing out. I think it would work better in a small pond than in a birdbath but that is just my opinion. I would not order this item again.

This is a great item, especially for the low price. I purchased an expensive birdbath, with a fully submerged solar fountain, from a company that I won't mention by name (it Supplies Gardeners, though). That solar fountain pump died within a month, and the replacement died after two days. This Solarrific floating unit was the most appropriate replacement I could find. It has been going for just one week, so I can't speak to longevity, but the pump runs so well that I had to forgo using the spouts (they shot too much water out of the bowl). The fountain runs fine without them, though, pushing a stream of water about two or three inches high at mid-day. The reason this doesn't get full marks is the anchoring line, which is simply a suction cup tied to fishing line. The suction cup is too easily dislodged, and the unit cannot be fully stabilized. If you use this in a pond you will do better to anchor it to a rock or something more stable. Really, I think it should have been designed with two to four four eyelets on the edge of the panel so it could be cross-tied. Overall, though, this is a good choice for either a (deep) birdbath or pond. The motor is very quiet, btw. (Regarding anchoring, there are also three tiny suction cups on bottom of the pump itself, presumably for anchoring the fountain a flat-bottomed birdbath. Using it that way would partially submerge the panel, which would probably tamp down the power of the pump's flow a bit. My birdbath has a deep well in the center, designed to hold a submerged pump, so for that application it is best to float the fountain.)

This little gem looks far nicer in a real pond than the product images suggest - just posted a couple of photos in the "customer images" section. It also makes a gentle pattering sound, creates rainbow glitter when the sun is low, and generates beautiful ripples. At this middle latitude, it operates for about 7 hours daily in mid-summer.I plan to bring it in when the weather is near freezing. That works out to about 1000 hours per year. If it lasts at least two years, I'll keep the five stars - $15/year is a fair price for this much enjoyment. If longer, so much the better.People who complain about product life may be experiencing clogging, inevitable in most situations. The maker has posted a link to a simple video on clearing the pump: [...]. My little frog pond is full of floating plant debris, and algae grows on everything (including the underside of this fountain). But the pump hasn't needed cleaning yet, and is powerful enough to blow the nozzles clear.Quite satisfactory, especially if it lasts a few years. I am also trying their fixed-mount units and solar air pump; will report separately on those.