Side by Side Comparison of: Etna vs Oatey vs Flower House vs Flex-Drain

This works wonderfully as a rain catchment system for the many rain storms we have had this spring. I particularly like that the top zips open completely to clean the barrel as I have not found another rain barrel that does. It is sturdy and the price is right.

I used this to collect the condensation from my air conditioner to water my garden. Works very well, with no leaks. Next year I am going to add another so I don't loose any water when it gets full.

I have told so many people about this product - since we are so dry in our area, I have been able to use collected rainwater for my bird baths and potted flowers. Wish I had gotten one of these years ago!

Anyone saying this is aweful is just not using a touch of creativity. Buy a $5 tube of silicone and use it between every spicket fitting. Common sense. This is a STEAL at $35. Works awesome. I have two chained together with one lower than the other to help drain. This is a steal. Bottom line.

I just set my rain barrel up and placed it where water runs off my roof. I don't have rain gutters, but this should fill up soon with the moisture we are getting. The kit arrived in a timely manner. The assembly was really simple. I am highly satisfied with not only the product, but the transaction. I will be ordering this again as a gift and recommending it to friends who might be interested in keeping a batch of rain water handy.

I ordered two of these for my office and warehouse where I have put in flower beds and want to use rainwater instead of clorinated water from the hose. I originally saw them in a gardening catalog but found them here on Amazon for about half the price. I was especially attracted by them because I can unzip the top and dip in with my watering can. I also will be emptying them in the winter and storing them away. I have other styles of permanent rain barrels at my house so I've learned that it is very important that they be accessible to clean. After about two weeks the water becomes smelly and algae will grow in the barrel. These will be very easy to clean although I haven't done it yet.You will need the mosquito larvae killing tablets since the screen will not keep the mosquitoes out. I use the donut shaped ones and break them into smaller pieces. You can tell from the instructions how much to use.It took me about ten minutes to assemble each barrel. The fact that the rods are hard plastic rather than metal has no bearing whatsoever on the strength. As for moving them, who would consider moving anything full of fifty gallons of water; in other words, 400 pounds of weight? Of course, you cannot move them once they are full so plan placement ahead of time.I posted the before and after photos. You cannot fill them to the top because there is a runoff opening a couple of inches from the top so I find they don't exactly look as full as the ad shows. I am going to have to be very careful using the weed eater around them, or better yet, hand cutting the grass, but I am very pleased with the purchase. They do what I bought them to do, that is, hold water.

Made my own water barrel, and everything works perfectly. The barrel must be a closed system in order to reroute all the water back to gutter's down spout when full. Get the 1-1/4 Banjo NPT fitting for the barrel end. Lay the hose out in sun for a few days will help, wont be perfect but enough. See my water barrel system at youtube search "loa8RmKUYII".

Works pretty well. It was easy to install (you need a hacksaw or equivalent to cut the downspout, of course). We were surprised by how much water was collected. Obviously, the amount of water collected depends on the roof area feeding into the system as well as the rainfall. As others have noted, the flexible diverter hose going to the rain barrel needs to have the kinks straightened out a bit before installation. One small issue was that, in theory, when the barrel is full (it needs to be a closed barrel), the rainwater is supposed to back up in the diverter hose so that all additional water is sent back down the downspout. For that to work, you need a water-tight seal between the water barrel and the diverter hose. Our first attempt did not have a very tight seal even with a hose clamp and so the additional rainwater continued to be diverted to the barrel and out of the connection to the top of the barrel instead of continuing through the downspout as intended. We have made some adjustments (filing off raised areas on the fitting to try to get a better seal) - but don't yet know if the fix was successful.UPDATE: the minor adjustment referrred to in the previous sentence worked perfectly. Now, when the rain barrel is full, the additional rainwater re-diverts to the downspout as designed. - Upgrading rating to 5 stars

This is a great rainwater diverter! It works well and is reasonably easy to install. If you have metal gutters it can be a little difficult cutting out the back part of the gutter but its not terribly frustrating or even time consuming. I'd also like to address a common comment mentioned in both the questions and reviews.To Connect this to a Blue 55 Gallon Food Barrel:1. Buy a 3/4 x 1/2 Reducing Male Adapter at your hardware store. (Picture included)2. Buy a small hose clamp. (also pictured)3. The threaded end of the PVC Adapter will fit in the smaller hole in your lid.4. Place the Hose Clamp around the Enclosed Tubing.5. Place the tubing over the other end of the adapter and secure the clamp.This filled an entire 55 gallon on the first mild rain we had. Realize however that the amount of water you collect is influenced by a lot of different factors including how much guttering you have and how many other down spouts are available.My only complaint about this product would be the tubing. It is very stiff and somewhat kinked. Overall I would much prefer something a little easier to work with. However given that it still collected a large amount of water and handled overflow correctly I can't complain too much.

I just purchased this ahead of a projected rainy weekend in Utah, which is a rarity in the second driest state. I measured exactly and ended up cutting out 6 1/2 inches of gutter vs. what the recommendation was. This allowed me to use the same hole for the gutter strap but regardless it is easy to push the sheet metal screw from the strap through the gutter to make a new hole if needed. I started with a Dremel tool to make the cut but a hacksaw was easier all around. Place cardboard behind the gutter before you cut and be patient, the back cut is the slowest. Took about 3-5 minutes per cut. Make sure you are above the top of your rain barrel. The hose that comes with it I am sure is fine but I used the corrugated hose that came with my rain barrels because it won't collapse and the black is less obtrusive.I filled both 55 gallon barrels in about 8 hours. Would have been much time less had I waited for the heavier rain that came overnight. My barrels are not the sealed type and so I can either divert the extra runoff away from the house with the hose from the barrel or use the plug that comes with the unit to winterized it. I chose to plug it until the next storm because the runoff from the downspout goes into my garden. It works exactly as others have said. The water sticks to the inside wall of the gutter and thus diverts easily to the barrels. Very little comes down the downspout until the barrels are full. I don't remember if it said this anywhere but obviously you can have it divert to either side.

'Thank you' whoever invented this thing. I've been struggling with the gutters going to my multiple rain barrels for years, having to re-build the spouts every winter when the barrels are not in use. Also, the barrels don't overflow during a heavy downpour. The reservoir system channels the water to the barrel at a regulated rate while some of the rainfall continues through the gutter spout. When the barrel is full and the water is backed up the tube to the mystic collector the water bypasses and continues down the gutter spout. If your rain barrel is the type that the water pours into an open hole you will need to put a fitting directly into the barrel for the tube to connect to or the water will not back up into the tube when full and your barrel will overflow. You can buy a pvc fitting for about a dollar. If you take your barrel out of service for the winter simply take the tube off and put a cap (included) on the opening. Easy install, no rivets,screws or glue.

Purchased this to divert water from the gutter into a rain barrel without having to install an overflow valve. Worked like a charm. When it first rained after installation, it filled up a 55 gallon rain barrel to the top and then diverted the water back thru the downspout after the barrel was topped off. It is a very heavy duty white plastic. It can be painted if you wanted to. Follow the instructions when installing so you do not cut too much out of your gutter (just holding it up and measuring by the size will make you cut out more gutter than you need to). The hose it comes with is thick plastic and is folded. You will need to remove the creases from the hose or the water will not flow thru. A blowdryer to heat up the creases while you bend it will work. Also comes with a stopper to plug up the diverter during the winter months. We initially ordered just one, to make sure it actually worked. We are very happy and have ordered more._______I forgot to add that this worked great on our rain barrel systems, as we have a closed top with bung holes. We left one bung hole closed and put the end of the hose thru the larger bung hole. If you have an open top rain barrel then it will just keep filling up and flowing over. The way this system seems to work is by pressure. As your rain barrel fills up, water is forced back up the hose and down the downspout. If you have an open top rain barrel (no top or just a screen) then there is no way to generate the pressure to stop the flow of water into the barrel once filled.Also: these will fill up a 55 gal rain barrel pretty quickly, even with just a normal amount of rainfall.

Does not leak as others claim, but I can see the potential to do so. It's vinyl folks, a good starter kit. Four instead of 5 because of lack of mobility when full (I put mine on wheels).

This works for intended purposes. Once the container has filled with water, it doesn't actually sit on the legs, they come off the ground, they're for keeping its shape??? After the container sat in the sun the faucet head broke off when I tried opening it.. Otherwise it's a good container. It works, not pretty and you should place it on a lifted base to use the fuacets as intended. I have two connected and use the water on my potted plants. I'm satisfied for the cost.

At first I was disappointed with the legs. I felt that it should have come with more than the 4 legs to support 50 gallons water. The picture shows product with aluminum legs. I thought the plastic would be inferior. I had purchased another brand, 35 gallons collapsable that PVC was thicker and better quality. It have 5 legs and more sturdy. I didn't think that the 35 gal barrel would be enough so I ordered this one and used it as my overflow. It has been more than 2 weeks with the barrel filled to capacity and to my surprise it is holding up. I was a bit overwhelmed with the diameter. It's bulky and taking up space on my patio. I do not have it on a raised platform, so I cannot use the spigot to fill my water pail. Unzipping the top is a cool feature and is quicker. I placed duct tape over the top inlet to keep mosquitos out. Wished that it had come with a better screen that would allow water to flow in freely and small enough to keep mosquitos out. So far it is doing what it is suppose to do. Collect rain water and saving me money. I only hope that it can stand up to coming summer heat and that I am able to get more seasons out of it to make it worth it's value in collapsibility and storage.

After 2 years, this rain barrel finally is done. The hole at the bottom spout has warped to the point where it always leaks when you put in water. It started leaking after 1 year, but it was still usable as the leak was small. I can't complain as this is still the "economy" version of a rain barrel. 2 years is a good bargain at the price.

Warning: Only 36-40 dollars in the Heartland America catalog. Works great collecting, as long as you keep weight in it. We are on the top of a ridge and the winds will blow it right away if we don't. The only real problem is neither spout works a hose. There is not enough pressure from the bottom spout, even running downhill, but we can fill buckets from the overflow, so there's that. Great product for the price.

I received this 5/17/13. Took it out and attached the drain. Went to move on to the frame and.... no metal rods to construct it... Product gets a 1/5 till I get the frames in order to test it.:-)5/5/14. Way overdue on this one... 4/5 stars. The company was very helpful and sent out another set right away. It lasted the summer quite well and we got a TON of use from it. Unfortunately I did not take it down for the winter which destroyed the seal on the bottom and made it useless. PACK IT UP FOR THE WINTER. :-)

Easy to install, filled my rain barrel in one short rainfall. Seems that water can spill out the side of the diverter (causing unwanted water too close to the house) in a heavy rain as it can't flow down the diverter tube quickly enough (I checked to make sure nothing was clogged, and the diverter is installed 24" above the barrel as specified in the instructions). Not sure if this could be ameliorated if the top & bottom pieces were tighter fitting or had some sort of gasket. (Included picture: water still flows down the downspout properly but some is bubbling out of the side of the diverter)

I bought this as a solution to an overflowing rain barrel that I had. During torrential downpours, my overflow hose wasn't enough to handle it and it was spurting out of my inlet, which was an open funnel-type system. I bought this and when I installed it, it just didn't seem like it would work. I couldn't imagine how enough water would get caught in the catchment area. I thought most would just go straight out of the gutter. I was quite wrong. This this works! It easily cost most of the water, there was water coming out of the overflow, and water coming down the gutter. So, problem solved.Install was easy. I have blue, food-grade barrels. The bung holes come with an inner 3/4" tap that just needs to be drilled out. I added a $0.36 adapter from the plumbing aisle and a hose clamp and I was in business with a working closed-system.I gave it 4 stars because water is overflowing slightly from the seam where the top fits into the bottom. I will likely seal it with silicon.

I was a bit skeptical when I first got it, could't figure how it would divert much water to my barrel, but I guess rainwater does run down the sides of a downspout, rather than falling down the middle. Granted, it does not collect as much as a diverter that directs 100% of the water, but there is a lot less debris left on the top screen or settling at the bottom of my barrel. The only negative thing I experienced so far is the hose provided... it comes collapsed and rolled so tightly that it takes forever to reshape it and get it to stay open... even after leaving it "warming in the sun" as the directions advise. I finally gave up and just cut a small segment to use as a sleeve to join a one inch PVC pipe to the outlet instead.

I can't believe all the sub-par reviews.Install was simple. Hose was a little obnoxious yes, but I was able to use it just fine after stretching it out as instructed. Heavy rain, no problem, full barrel, no problem, all these reviews claiming it doesn't work? You did it wrong!

We installed this a couple weeks ago and finally had some rain yesterday. This device easily filled our new rain barrel. It also looks nicer and keeps the rest of the downspout connected. One of our sump pumps connects to the same downspout so I didn't want to just cut off the downspout and leave the bottom open.The drawback - although the instructions say to install it 12" above your rain barrel - this will only work if your barrel has no other open outlets. Our barrel is open on top and covered with a screen. I wanted to install it next to the barrel - figuring that we need it no higher than the screen on top of the barrel. My husband wanted to install it higher. We went with his height. The barrel of course overflowed through the top screen and didn't cause the back-up into the tubing that would prevent more rain from coming into the barrel. We are going to have to put an overflow hose on our barrel to keep this from happening again.It's a great product - but definitely think about your style of barrel and the height when you are choosing the position of this device.

To fight the drought in CA, I installed this on one of our down spout.Installation Tip:=================The hose came with kit is too short and stiff for anything. I bought a Flotec FP0012-6U-P2 Universal Discharge Hose Kit, 24-Feet by 1-1/4-Inch or 1-1/2-Inch to replace the one in kit. It fits just right, bought an additional hose clamp(1 came with hose kit), 1 clamp to diverter, the other over the inlet of rain barrel. Very easy to install and cheap. The hose is pretty long, but it can be cut at 3 places. (I guess you can cut anywhere, but I chose to cut at the flat section, so it's easy to clamp).Problem 1.=================The bottom part of the divert that supposed to slid into the down spout is a little too big, it is impossible to slide in, I even tried to hammered it in.Fix:I ended up use a hand saw to scrap some plastic off 2 of the corners, so it's a little bit thinner and smaller. A utility blade prob will do the work too, but I didn't want to accidentally cut off too much.Problem 2:=================It did not collect very much water during a full day of raining. the problem is the interior design of the diverter. Most of rain water would go through center of diverter and out into the down spout, only around the perimeter of divert would divert water out into the small outlet and to rain barrel. So, unless the rain is so heavy that it fills the entire interior section, most water would simply go right through the middle section.Fix:I cut diagonally through a water bottle, place the bottom section of the bottle over the middle section of the diverter interior, so it forms a cap and covers the middle section to divert all rain water into outlet. Today, after only a few hours of raining, I have 1 foot of water in the 275 gallon tote.

Not gotten yet, but being a bag, I can squeeze it into a protected odd shape confinement.Not the Round shape, I like that.

The pro of these is that they can hold a lot of water and it saves you money the con is that since they are collapsible they are not very sturdy ones they are totally full they tend to fall over and dump all the water out so the only way you can use them is if you have some kind of support to hold them up right. I already had one that fell over so many times it broke where the zipper was now I have to either get a rain barrel bed is solid or get a trashcan and put the Rainbarrel inside of it these are only good if you have something to lean them or prop them up against

I mounted this rain barrel and am happy that it is shorter than my other collapsibles, because the overflow from one goes down to this one. Had to make my own connection; not foreseen. But it has only 4 plastic legs for a lot wider barrel and does not look stable, kind of leans (my other taller ones have six: more support). Also the legs are one inch shorter than the actual barrel ! The whole thing kind of sits lopsided. So far it has not burst nor does it seem to be leaking, but it's been up for only about three weeks. Of course the price is good. Maybe it will be possible to give an update at the end of the season.

it has to be protected from the wind, or else it might tip and move if there is not enough water in it.it also has to be on perfectly flat land or it will tip over,i had bought a bigger one that was wider that did not have these problems,the place where you attach a hose is cheap plastic and was not able to attach a hose without it leaking so i had to put in 3 hose washers, the threads would not allow me to tighten the hose tight enough but the extra washers allowed it to stop leaking.so once i figured out extra washers when attaching the hose, level ground, and protect from wind it worked as expected!

The reviews for this product are overwhelmingly pointing to weak seams, leaky spigots, and instability. After buying two and sending one back for replacement after a first day of use, I could certainly confirm all.Here is what not to do when assembling and installing one of these.1. Do not to insert the plastic legs all the way in. You will need them to stick out beyond the base (1/2-1") to provide needed support all around. (I failed to do that, and my barrel fell to the side after taking in some water)2. Do not place the barrel on an uneven or soft surface. (I have placed mine on an overall straight but slightly uneven and soft ground, and it contributed to the collapse, described in bullet 1. No room for error with this barrel, foundation has to be straight and solid.3. Do not misalign spigots during installation. The seals are subpar and will leak even with minimal movement.4. Do not pull at the seams to test the strength, you may rip them open.Overall, these barrels are certainly not your typical "Set it and forget it!". As they fill in with water, they change shape and could shift, potentially leading to a collapse, and burst at the seams - an awfully weak point in the construction. Therefore, some level of baby seating is required, and if you don' have the time to do that, find something else.Versatility is great though! Tuck it away in dry season and reassamble next year.

Really nice size and being collapsible makes it easy to take down during the dry season. Note the box says it comes with 4 sturdy metal legs...the legs are actually plastic.

had to return; didn't fit in our small down spouts; stuck out too far from the wall

Works pretty good for collecting rainwater and keeping large particles out, but kind of a pain if you don't have an overflow protector on your rain barrel. I have to remove the hose and put the plug in to keep it from overflowing my barrel.

"Works" with MAJOR CAVEATS! SEE: [...] for installation. Unfortunately, I seem to have a "special size pipe", just smaller than the ideal! (2 7/8" x 1 7/8")-- Bottom half Too Tight a fit, needed to "crimp" my pipe with pliers to make fit, therefore only able to fit <1/2" or less inside. So stabilized with duct tape around it, which is Not exactly attractive (but in backyard so livable). Since tight fit/most of water will run down pipe & NOT into diverter, so Duct Taped hole of Bottom Section leaving only 3/4" x 1 1/2" side slit open for "overflow".-- Top section Too loose so slides down to sit right on top of bottom section, which leaves very little room for water to go into bottom section & Large Gap at top so if heavy rain will all pour out at the top. So, Duct Taped top section to not slide down so much.NOT TERRIBLY ATTRACTIVE with all the Duct Tape! If this sound like TOO MUCH WORK, Recommend Get Another Brand!(I was determined to make it work after cutting a 6" section of pipe!)

I purchased this diverter for my new 55 gal rain barrel. My barrel has a screen on the top so there was no way to seal the connection around the hose. At first, the dirverter worked well. The barrel was full in no time. Once the barrel was full, the water did not divert back through the downspout like it was supposed to. After a hard rain, water was going everywhere...out of the barrel and squirting out of the connection between the diverter and downspout. It looks like the hole for the rain water to go back through to the downspout is not big enough for it to handle a heavy rain. Maybe if the hose was sealed on the top of the barrel, it may work better (?) Not sure...

The unit itself is heavy duty and made well. After installing it on the downspout I first changed out the awkward plastic hose with a 1 1/4 inch inside diameter flexible hose that I purchased locally. It was a step up from the included one. It does collect some water but not as much as I expected. I've had a few heavy rains so far and my 40 gallon rain barrel is only 1/4 full. When I purchased this I thought it may fill up the container faster than it actually does. It just trickles a small amount through the tube to the barrel sending the majority of water down the downspout. I would like it better if it filled the barrel up quickly. I will most likely send it back for a refund and try to figure out another way to collect water.

I understood that when the water barrel was full the Mystic Rainwater Collection diverter would close and the water would then go down the down spout. My rain barrels filled to capacity during a recent storm but one of the diverters does not seem to close and the water continues to run into the rain barrel so that the rain barrel overflows instead of going down the downspout which goes to a collection area further down the yard. I checked the opening in this collection area and very little water is coming out. Both were installed exactly the same, just one seems not to work.

Ok at first, but then they just fall apart.

it collapsed and torn the lid off..

Top doesn't stay up

didn't last more than six months.

PVC piping does not stand up to extreme temps and curves rendering it unusable.

Came in great condition according to expected delivery. Put together without problems and noted no problems while filling with water. Next morning when going to use the water to water my container plants found the water container was only 1/4 full - had leaked out over night through bottom and sides of the container. I would not recommend this for water collection. Also there is no way to tie down to prevent blowing away. The rain storms that we have here often have winds that gust up to 60 to 80 miles per hour. I will find something else to use for water collection that I can secure better.

we hooked this up per instructions. The water does not go into the side slot as we expected. Most of it goes straight down the rest of the gutter like normal. We are not very thrilled with the product. Wish we had bought something else.

This is exactly what I needed! Filters water right to my barrel, I just wish it filtered more water to my barrel. It takes a lot of rain to fill my barrel.

Won't install unless your gutters are the exact perfect shape. Mine are the right dimensions but square instead of rounded, so I ended up having to use brute force. Also seems to work much less effectively if it is not 100% level (another reason you need a perfect fit).Again, if your gutter is not: 1) the 2x3 "rounded rectangle" style and 2) hanging straight down you will probably find this a frustrating purchase.That said it does work even in suboptimal conditions and trickle-filled a 55 gallon drum over a week or so of light rains. So for your purposes it may be adequate.

I was hoping to divert and filter most of my downspout rain to my barrel. This design is a pass-through downspout and will only divert a portion of the water into my barrel. It had potential but they stopped short of a real good solution. The description reads "channels rainwater flow from the sides of the downspout while allowing debris such as leaves and dirt to go down the center." Do you realize how much rain is also going through the center along with the debris? Tons more rain than is being collected. If you are truly trying to collect/harvest as much rain as possible, I recommend researching and finding another solution/product. I'm still searching.I will, probably, chop this thing up into something more useful for my needs.

Although this looks well made and fairly simple to install, you can't tell by looking at the picture that just a small amount of water around the edges inside the device actually go into the outlet and into the rain barrel while the rest of the water flows on down the pipe. As the reviews of this product were very good, I ordered 2 but returned them (cost $5.00 for return shipping). What I really am looking for is a simple "Y" gutter spout with a diverter which used to be fairly common, but for some reason now is very scarce and when you do find them very overpriced. However, you can find a variety of complicated, high priced and questionably designed products that may or may not do the job as well.

Living in NM we don't get much rain, the few times I tried this I got maybe 20% of the water into my rain barrels and most went right though, didn't seem worth it. Instead I put mesh over the gutters to keep the leaves out, plumbed the gutter straight into my rain barrel with a ball valve to redirect the water if needed. Four months in that works a heck of a lot better than a system that only collected about 20% of the water

Ordered Aug 31, installed within a week. Fell over the first time it filled up. I leveled the ground using 3 concrete blocks with plywood across. It worked for three week then fell over again after filling. This time the entire zipper top ripped off at the seams. I would not have a problem with the flipping, but the sipper seam was weak breaking within 4 weeks.

This rainbarrel split at the seams as soon as it finally filled up...

First night outside the wind blew it over, the stitching ripped off the top, and one of the legs broke in 2 places

This is a piece of crap. Unless it's aways full, it sags and won't stand upright. This makes it extremely difficult to put water into the 'barre'. I wouldn't waste your money.

Does not stand up on its own unless full of water. Does not push water out unless sitting on a shelf or at a very high level than the item you want to water.

It can not stand by itself may be due to the bad design. I tried to fix it but very difficult to made it stand balance. When the rain came it could collect a whole bag of water. However, I surprised that the barrel was empty and all the water leaked within 1 day! It's not as good as I think. In fact, it is not work, I finally didn't enjoy any rain water. Don't waste money.

Product arrived on time, That is the only good news. Product is well constructed but poorly engineered. I will be lucky if I can collect 5 % of the runoff from my downspouts. After installation I ran the garden hose into the gutters on the roof. very little water was collected. I must of poured 100 gallons into the gutter . I collected about 2 gallons. If I was in a dire need for water , this collection device would be the cause of my death., I am looking for a way to RETURN them .

What a let down. The hose is so stiff it's impossible to work with. It literally takes days in the blazing hot sun to get it pliable enough to bend and expand to your needs. Its made in 2 parts, but the top part just rests inside the bottom part, there's no seal to keep water from escaping all around the joint. So the first rain overwhelmed it right away. Wish i could get my money back but I've had them too long.

Plastic drain tubing was kinked and flat. Stiff drain tubing could not be opened enough to drain water even after heating to soften to try to shape it to stay open..Poor design as the water is supposed to run along the inner walls of the drain to be diverted to the hose spout. So little water is diverted that the system is effectively useless. Would not recommend this product.

OMG I actually bought 2 of these. Wasted my Friday off installing them, we had the heaviest rain we had all year,...and I was out there tweaking and rigging so my foundation didn't get soaked (the whole idea of having gutters) Misleading piece of junk! doesn't fit standard gutters, and the instructions in box differ from their you tube video. Now I have cut up gutters that I need to fix, thanks Oatey for ruining my weekend. Going back. If I could give negative stars I would.

 Purchased several of these diverters for my rain barrels. They do not work as represented. In theory the water in the downspout gets interrupted and transfers to the rain barrel – when the rain barrel is full, the water is supposed to continue in the downspout to the yard drain. … Though not mentioned in the instructions, this ONLY works with a CLOSED SYSTEM rain barrel – otherwise the water continues, overflowing the barrel (defeats the purpose of rain gutters with foundation flooding). Calling the Oatey technical support line confirms this and that company information does not mention the issue. Secondly, the device leaks (see video – view with QuickTime) – in a heavy rain the two piece diverter cannot handle a heavy downpour and leaks at connection point for the two pieces (also, the supplied plug does not positively cut off flow and contributes to the leaking – again, defeats the purpose of raingutters with foundation flooding). Third – even if the product worked, the diverter hose shipped with some of the items (since I ordered several, I received two different types of hose) are stiff – no matter what you do (i.e., leave out in the sun, use a hot blower, insert a dowel to attempt to straighten out kinks) they are not pliable and do not allow for a connection without kinks. The other type that was included in some are soft and easily pliable – technical support was unaware of two types and states the hose only needs to be left out in the sun or heated (this does not help).Only gave one star as that is the lowest possible - THIS PRODUCT IS A TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY – worst of two worlds – contributes to foundation flooding and does not allow for efficient rainwater harvesting - basically does not work as expected or represented. If you choose to ignore my warning and purchase this product anyway, I caution you NOT to place your downspout in line / adjacent to your foundation vent – the leaking Oatey will divert some water directly to your foundation vent which will result in flooding your garage …. I learned the hard way (make that, the “wet way”).

The female half of the diverter - that goes around the upper end of your pipe - is 2.25" x 3.25 (inner measurements of the female part) but it's rounded. So if your pipe is actually 2"x3" and rectangular, not rounded, it won't slide over the pipe.The maile half of the diverter - that seats inside the lower end of your pipe is 2.2" x 3" and rounded (outer measurements of the male part), so it won't go inside a 2x3" downpipe, whether it's rounded or rectangular. Boy am I mad! mad! mad! I cut a 6" section out of my downspout, as directed. This product is not the size it advertises.