Holman Dial EZY Controller

Worst Ever – I built a new house and bought this controller and installed it .... it failed two years later at Christmas time during summer when we were away rang Holeman - no warranty. I replaced it with another one two years later When you turn the dial to the sequencing you want it actually goes to the opposite direction it now has random LCD screens when… Read more

the dial is off. it’s run stations the Dial doesn’t match what’s on the screen in the manual. I would never ever buy this again after two units packed up in four years Hollman are terrible with customer service. Bunnings don’t stock it now Probably because of the mass returns.

Still Working Well After 7 Years – I bought and installed this unit in 2013 before heading overseas on an extended holiday. It controls four separate solenoid water valves and has a rain sensor attached. The unit controls water to one water circuit for pot plants and hanging plants (staghorns, elkhorns and birds nest ferns) under a pergola, one controls a series of lawn sprinklers… Read more

while the other two control garden sprinklers. The rain sensor pauses the garden and lawn circuits after rain, while the pergola circuit operates at all times. The unit has been faultless for 7 years and still going. It is mounted on an outside wall in a protected position, and is subject to morning sunshine and rainfall. It is simple to program and reprogram as required ( I change the programs between winter and summer). The only maintenance required is to replace the 9 volt backup battery every couple of years.

Losing time – My 4 station Dial(not)Ezy controller has been losing time. I called Holman and was told to either claim under the 12 month warranty or bin it. It was not marketed as a disposable component so i think i had a reasonable expectation that it would last longer than 18 months. I would not recommend Holman to any reader. The irrigation fittings are… Read more

obscenely expensive and you can’t rely on the control panel to run them efficiently. Bin it? Bin Holman.

Faulty products – The second one only lasted 2 years the first one lasted 4 years holman please contact me to organise a free replacement . I will than alter my review. Now bunnings do not stock this product

EZY to program with lots of timing and watering options – New 6 station external unit replaced older Holman unit. Very easy change over about 30mins all up. Recently successfully fitted a Hunter brand wireless rain sensor to comply with NSW water restrictions. Performed as expected during recent thunderstorm. One small niggle can’t get the rain delay days program to save. I can adjust the number but it just keeps flashing without saving. Is there a missing sentence in the manual? Show details ·  1

Hopeless – Like many others here I have been through multiple units (two in my case) with each failing. They are clearly very cheaply made andjust don't last. Don't bother with this product, try something else. I've just put in a B-HYVE WiFi unit and it is a revelation!

2 time round this basic 6 station controller is working well, – First one died with no apparent error but no signal transmitted to stations, but returned to bunnings and they replaced it on the spot, the second one has been going for 12mths no problems. The Dial Ezy Irrigation Controller is designed for residential applications. This six station controller enables you to set up separate start times, to a… Read more

maximum of six starts per day. Each start time can be set as a separate watering schedule. The (valves) will water in sequential order and on the days selected.

This controller is great for low pressure and drip irrigation systems and for enabling flexible watering schedules to suit your local environment or watering restrictions.

Must be mounted indoors or under cover

Same problem as IAN 11 NOVEMBER 18 – Second controller, wont retain settings .Horrible product. Pity, i had previous model for years Worked fine.Have contacted holman via there email contact page. Haven't heard back.They should recall product and issue refund. Obviously all controllers are duds.Refunds and apologies should be issued. Make whomever is responsible for this batch accountable  Show details

Dial easy – Does not retain input values, date,time, start time, run times defaults when you turn the dial back to auto. Have to reset the times every time than it loses the information when you switch back to auto. Ok it's a brand new unit and doesn't do what you claim it should do.  Show details

which wires do you connect to get power and to use auxiliary manual water outlet from bore – The connection details are different from one Holman to another Holman irrespective of the same number of solenoid connections, when my brand new controller is turned on to power, it tells me the battery is faulty, far from happy, totally inconvenient, supplier too far away to make easy warranty return  Show details

holman pro 469 – Hi , What a lot of crap , I have spent so much wasted time trying to get the irrigation set up . The same thing is happening to the controller that I have . I have had this for over 2 years and has never worked properly . I have only 1 program set to go off with 4 stations . Station 1 starts when its supposed to but station 2,3 and 4 all… Read more

start one after another and not at the times that they are set to start and the entire cycle will just keep on going .

It is so easy to set and forget just great when you program properly I love my dual timer. It is my – Dual timer is my jewel so easy and saves me so much time I’m now thinking about getting the 400 I am so impressed with the 200 . My front lawn has never looked so good now I can put the mower to good use and give myself a workout as well . Don’t know why the bad reviews I give it top marks.  Show details ·  1

I have bought a dial ezy plus – I bought installed myself I cant understand why low reveiws rating by others out there I have used other makes before This is so easy use and works great If you have a problem read a very easy manual see the internet video I had a problem then i rang hollman staff in western Australia it was a user problem And they answered and where… Read more ·  1

great helpful

the problem was solved

So easy too use than expensive models on the market

Im waiting to see rain senor works (when it decides to rain)

Well done to hollman staff and thanks and great work.

They do know there products well

Power supply plugpack fail within 12 months – I bought the Dial EzyPlus from Bunnings. The power supply plug pack failed recently. Brought this to Bunnings for an exchange but was informed the EzyPlus is no longer available and they are unable to assist :-(. Very upset as I paid $89 for this. Would have expected the power supply to last longer than this. Power supply is kept indoor and no chance of rain damage.  Show details

Tricky but worth it! – So easy to instal. Had a bit of trouble programming my timer but called the staff there and they were amazingly patient going thru all the programming with me. Wonderful Australian support My irrigation now runs perfectly and i am very happy with it. Such a great product for a beginner gardener like myself and at a budget price. Good job Holman  Show details ·  1

CLOCK LOSES TIME – I have bought 5 DIALEZY controllers and every time they seem OK until they are turned off for winter... on switching on in summer the programmes are still in memory but clock loses up to 4 hours ever day. They really are only reliable for the 12 months of warranty and seem to fail just outside warranty ... will not buy another one.  Show details

Generally very good but very unhappy with Holman – Hi, I have used Holman for some years, I did have an 8 station on my front garden but found it hard to program due to the time limitation for settings, so I purchased Dial ezy Plus, great easy to program, I only used it for a short period in that summer and did not use during the winter, this new one was only a 6 station but I found it suitable… Read more ·  4

with a little rearrangement of the tricklon.

As I had not been using my reticulation most of the pop ups have been over grown, normally I would have done my own maintenance, but due to an injury to my back and shoulder I got a retic guy in to give me a quote, he used the controller to cycle the pop ups and tricklon and decried the Holman controller, wanted to sell me a Orbit at $200 , I accepted the quote and work was supposed to be done to day, I went out yesterday to turn it off as their were storms coming and this resulted in smoke and a burning smell, of course the controller no longer worked and being an electrical engineer it was obvious, I was surprised about the burning as the out puts had "Electronic fuses" (some sort of clamp if the circuit overloaded), as the unit had a 2 year guarantee I was off to Bunnings for a replacement, where I found the unit was no longer available, so I took a Dial ezy which while not having the enhancements of the Plus I could get the optional box as noted in the instruction manual, ha ha this box was no longer available., Bunnings were very helpful and they said they would use their special order system, they phoned me this morning and told me the box was unavailable.

This comes to the point where I say I have never to my memory had a Holman controller fail, just a few programming problems so why am I unhappy with Holman? Firstly the Dial ezy Plus failed clearly due to a short, ( I have checked my system and can not fault it) With the electronics fuses the unit should have shut down with out burning up. Secondly it could not be replaced as it was not available any more even though it had a 2 year guarantee, and the Dial ezy I purchased, instruction manual said there was an optional box available which it is not.

I believe I could have transferred the one I bought to the old box had I been able to dismantle it (4 screws) but thinking of warranttee I did not do so, the Bunnings guy did try but it is against their policy and he was not electrically literate.

So I think you can see why I am unhappy with Holman, going from never having had a complaint about the Holman controllers to wanting to tear my hair out due to their administration about the real world.

February 8th 2018 Update: This is the first failure I have had with a controller, my concerns was with the Holman administration

The controller was a EZY dial plus which had gone up in smoke, it was only 12 months old with little use, it had a 2 year warranty, I took it back to Bunnings for a replacement, where I found that the model was no longer available, neither was the weather proof boxes. (I ended up buying a Dial EZY and that is why I was looking for a box) Bunnings contacted Holman on my behalf and then got back to me saying the Plus model was not available or the Boxes).

I was upset not because of the failure but that Holman could not cover their obligation of the warranty, so I wrote a review explaining the story, I got a response from Holman asking me to contact them on an email or phone number, I choose the email but later found that I had to phone, (Had I phoned in the first case it would have saved a lot of frustration and typing.

This one phone call solved the problems, the people at Osborne Pk were lovely and understanding of the situation and went to their ware house and found a number of the Dial EZY Plus controllers, they could not understand why Bummings had been told otherwise.

Clearly there had been a communication problem, and this would not have occurred had I gone directly to Holman, part of the problem is people that deal with Bunnings know that if you have a problem with a product take it back and Bunnings will replace or refund, in this case they could not do that.

Hopefully this review has cleared things up, I have only had one failure of a Holman controller in the many years I have been using them and found them reliable, and if you do have any sort of problem contact Holman direct, and the product review area is a good place to start. Once in touch they are very helpful people.

Health Hazard – This unit compared to the 28 year old mechanical one it replaced is difficult to program, for the not so young, make sure the unit is at eye level, as recommended, then struggle with the tiny writing identifying each function. This unit should come with a health hazard warning, EZY is misleading, setting up 6 stations for 1start is a health… Read more

hazard, in my opinion, setting up 6 for multiple starts could prove deadly. This unit flashes OFP for OFF which was not a good start, will have to search for a mechanical controller and bin this, bought on eBay (will I never learn) at least Bunnings take returns over the counter.

FAULTY AFTER WINTER LAY UP – Im having the same problem. After the winter lay up - i.e. unit switched to OFF - turning unit back on to test run to AUTO the unit registers 'faulty' and 'AC supply' Using a test meter across the transformer output terminals (orange wires) correct current is showing at approx 27 volts ( 24 output from transformer). Unit is less than 1 year old… Read more

and already not working. Single station not working, test run not working. New battery replaced. Glass fuse checked and ok.

Not impressed at all. Old unit still worked even tho LED display was faded.

Just purchased a new unit to replace the old one, good controllers once set up correctly – Have used Holman Dial Ezy controllers before and never had a any issues if they are set up correctly' I have a CRS1556PR I replaced the old Dial Ezy I had that was about 8 years old, so old the housing perished and the numbers faded, never missed a beat, not bad for around 8 years and it was in the house when we bought the house so is likely… Read more ·  1

older.

Before you go and condemn any product make sure you have followed procedure to set it up, it is a computer after all. They must be installed on thousands of homes all over Australia, go figure the odds of getting a bad one.

Cheers gardeners

Unit is faulty, when I switch to set day intervals it just shows me the current time – Unit is faulty, when I switch to set day intervals it just shows me the current time of day...it's useless like this, goes off every day. This unit was installed about 8 months ago by landscaper and I don't have a receipt... Has cost me a lot in wasted water and has killed my Murraya hedge by overwatering according to nurseryman. Cost me $160 to replace 21 plants. Keep away from Holman, it's junk.  Show details

Just keeps watering! – My Ezy Controller just decides it wants to re-run the programs continuously. I set 4 solenoids to go off 15 mins apart. After the 4th it starts again until I switch the dial to off and then back to Auto for my next day of watering. Hardly "Ezy". The clock is also losing time so I have to adjust it each week. Wouldn't buy another one.  Show details

Rubbish – Just bought two of these products and both are consistently giving me trouble. The latest problem is both at different times telling me there is a power fault. Can explain this product in one word (as in title) Rubbish.  Show details

Loose connection inside unit – Bought this Holman Dial Ezy from Bunnings about 6 months ago. It has given nothing but trouble. There is a bad connection in the box which means it requires reprogramming every couple of weeks. It must be on the board because even a new battery doesn't keep the unit memory powered. Unfortunately have lost the bunnings receipt so can't return it. This is the second time that a Holman unit hasn't even lasted one year. Never again!!  Show details

Absolute rubbish!!! – The best and only advice I would give to potential purchasers is; get another product, from another manufacturer! I bought this from Bunnings to replace a 13 year old Hunter controller because the old one's LCD readout was getting unreliable. This Holman won't be programmed to run more than ONE station! Now I'll get the electrician back to reinstall the Hunter and hopefully get my money back from Bunnings. Holman?...........NEVER AGAIN!!!  Show details

Absolute rubbish – I have had two of the holman Dial Ezy controllers and both have failed. I do not recomend this product to anyone. Absolute crap.

A piece of junk! Bad product and customer service – Much like another post here, this is also the last product I’ll ever buy from Holman. I’m surprised Bunnings sells this junk. Unfortunately Bunnings range of Holman products is increasing. The only good thing is that the Dial EZY is that it’s easy to program. It’s very unreliable, mine turned itself on even in “off mode”. The build quality is… Read more

cheap.

This is the sixth item I’ve bought from Holman that has failed. I’ve had sprinklers, a WaterWhiz system and valves fail only after a very short time. Their customer service is no better, I only got a reply from them when pushed by Bunnings. And they didn’t even offer an apology for the amount of time and money I’ve wasted on their products.

Very poor for an Australian company - I purchase overseas now, professional brands like Hunter, not only are they sometimes cheaper but much better quality. As for Holman - never again!

HOLMAN irrigation controller - CO4406 - Didn't work from the moment of purchase – This is the second Holman product that I have purchased from Bunnings that I have found to be complete garbage. Upon going to Bunnings to check out the watering systems that they had on offer, I found the Holman 6 Station Dial Ezy Irrigation controller - Model number CO4406. I was initially concerned as the store that I went to (Artarmon) had… Read more

three already opened units on display (likely returned as they were sticky taped closed after the packets were cut open). I went to another Bunnings store - Rydalmere - and purchased one that had not been previously opened.

Testing the unit before installing, I found that the electrical terminals were poorly designed and and that the electrical terminal screws fastened into plastic with self tappers. This immediately made me concerned as this NEVER provides adequate fixing of electrical connections (I'm an electrician).

While the unit initially powered up under testing on the kitchen table, once I mounted the unit to the wall, the unit would NOT turn on. Testing the transformer indicated that the controller itself had failed within one hour of testing.

Further testing showed that the transformer was fine, but that the electronics appeared to have failed for some reason. This unit had failed BEFORE even being put into service - rather pathetic!

Speaking to a local landscape nursery store requesting if they had irrigation controllers and/or a different product, they indicated that: "yeh like we don't have any problem with those - that's sarcasm by the way".

That comment from a nursery was a definitive NO for any further purchases of Holman electronic products - EVER.

This being the second Holman electronic product that I have purchased from Bunnings that has failed without reason and/or didn't work properly, I would suggest that if you are in the market for an irrigation controller you pay a bit more and DON'T buy Holman electronic products - I have personally found them to be complete garbage!!!

In my opinion: Poor quality, cheap and nasty - complete garbage!