I want to open it see see what the problem is. water not pumping through it and even though i put in new batteries there seems to be no power in it. cant see a way into it and not sure if its a sealed unit.

Margaret, April 2011

Yes prising apart the two grey joints and drying the inside with a hairdryer worked for me. I also spayed wd40 on all internal connections and sealed with a spots of glue in each corner.

Ronnie, April 2023

Prising the cover off and allowing to dry works.
But! If you are in the UK this costs £99 (Amazon £50). Screw fix sell an equivalent one guaranteed for 1 year for £13. You can buy five for the price of one Hozelock unit and if it breaks in a year they still last longer than Hozelock does (mine two years).

Dave, April 2022

My AC1 has a stripped reducer gear. Can't seem to find a spare anywhere (even Aliexpress) :(. Shame that's all that's wrong with it. If someone has a broken AC1 - please send it to me :). gj at busker.org.

Gerd, January 2022

Hi mine continually made the whiring open valve shut vlave noise,when i looked down the hole it was staying shut.I couldnt get it to split so i used a junior hacksaw to cut the bottom open(cheers for that tip) and then prized it completely open with a screw driver to crack the top half . There was no water ingress but i think it froze so the ball couldnt turn and when i removed the cogs the last but one had a tooth missing.This is the second one ive had with the same problem(with the second one i wrapped it up against frost but to no avail).Anyhow there is a small top cog then four more cogs before the larg bottom one,these four are all the same size and design so i pinched one off my first AC1 and replaced the toothless cog rebuilt and working properly again.Cheers Alan Birmingham UK 06/01/2022

Alan Sheward, January 2022

Hi everyone. Just a quick thanks to the earlier posters. I would not have guessed that it was glued. I also made the mistake of initially thinking that the black "tangs" inside the battery compartment needed to be released: they don't....just lever between the two front grey sections as others have said. Thanks all

Gary, July 2021

I managed to open my AC Plus using Sinan's instructions (4th post from the top). I found I needed a variety of flat blade screwdrivers, starting with a small thin one and working up to bigger ones. I had to be quite rough and the plastic edges didn't look too pretty afterwards but I got it open and managed to fix a corroded battery terminal. When I reassembled it I just put a small dot of glue in each corner in case I ever need to fix it again. I also added a couple of layers of waterproof electrical tape around the join.

Tim, May 2021

Mine become full of water and stopped working! I couldn't prise it apart as described elsewhere so I used an old wood chisel and hammer to carefully break the glue seal. It's now outside, baking in the Summer sun to make sure it is completely dry, although I had also soaked it with WD40 through the hole in the battery compartment. If I manage to get it going again (doubtful!) then I'll be drilling some drain holes in the bottom of the case (thanks whoever mentioned this).

Dennis the Menace, August 2020

Like someone else mentioned, I took the batteries out and sprayed WD40 in a hole in the inner casing. It eventually worked its way into the mechanism and the horrible noise stopped. Mine is nearer 30 years old - not bad value eh?

Duncan, April 2020

Two people above, like me, have motors which wont stop. The valve endlessly spins round.

Does anyone know why please?

AF, September 2019

No need to saw through or snap the black clips. In fact the in my case I didn't need to bother with the clips at all.
First remove the yellow cap; makes the next process easier.
Try to pry open "gently" through the two grey parts. It is glued together. So if you find a spot where it is flexing or work gently to separate the two parts and push through a flat-fine screw driver and crack the glue and walk sideways until you have a bigger opening and then softly break the whole glue. This will access to the gears and the motor.
Mine was making distrurbing sounds while turning on and off. I did open and spreyed with a silicon grease and now it's fine. But now also know that it was not necessary to open the box. I think if I were to just sprey through the small whole behing the left battery it would be solving the problem too. I think it is good design but not designed to open it. :)

Sinan, June 2018

I am giving up with mine. Spent hours trying this, that & the other. WD40, new washers, etc etc. Even tried calling Hozelock in Birmingham but couldn't get to speak with anyone. What a shame but never mind!!

Ed, May 2018

I am giving up with mine. Spent hours trying this, that & the other. WD40, new washers, etc etc. Even tried calling Hozelock in Birmingham but couldn't get to speak with anyone. What a shame but never mind!!

Ed, May 2018

My ac plus timer was cycling the motor. I ended up opening it with a hacksaw between the grey slotted part. Turned out that when I dropped it the motor had come out of its housing and was not engaging the gears Pushed it back in. Bit of WD40 all over the gearing and now works perfectly. Siliconed the sawn part and taped it and now works perfectly. Be careful not to saw too far through. You will know when there is no resistance

John, July 2017

A big issue, is the rotary switch.
Carefully remove the 5 screws holding the circuit board, and lift it out.
Clean the contacts surface with switch cleaner, or similar.
Before re-assembly, very carefully bend upwards slightly the rotary contacts on the switch side.
Note that this is all vented to atmosphere through the selector knob on the front.- water ingress is easy.
No way of sealing it up.
Poor design really.

Steve, December 2016

Just had a go with peoples help. Just squirted WD40 in the little hole in the battery compartment, gave it a wave about and sit a few ticks and now it works. I didn't take it all apart.

Marcus, August 2016

I managed to open mine courtesy of hints on this page but access to the ball valve looks too complicated and agree that the black clips securing the gears will probably break off which is a shame as my problem is the valve doesn't shut off properly. It still passes water through all day - just enough to keep everything over-watered sadly. Still the advice on this section was helpful but a way to grease the ball valve would improve the design no end.

Stuart, June 2016

Mine endlessly cycles the motor. You can see the valve opening and closing through the ports.

The unit does come apart. The groove just behind the yellow facia plate.

My unit is dry no sign of water inside. I think one of the transistors has given up

Alan, April 2016

I agree with Nigels answer above. Mine has failed twice (in 7 years) due to water ingress. Getting it apart is easy and contact cleaning (particularly the battery contacts) might be required but the main thing is to dry the electronics. Once you have it apart, sit the unit in front of a fan heater for an hour or so. Refit the batteries and test while dismantled. If all is well, spray the interior with WD40 and reassemble. Looking at the rust stains within the unit, I have decided to drill a 2mm drain hole in the base of the unit on the principle that if you can't stop the water getting in, give it somewhere to get out. On reassembly, I have put a bead of silicone sealant around the joint between the housing and the front face. Here's to another 7 years!

Mike, September 2015

mine is sealed all the way round too. its over 20 years old, so i suppose ive had my money's worth. pitty though. problem is, the motor wont stop running.

keith, December 2014

If you do manage to get in past the bonded shell (I did) then a good repair might be hot glue. Makes a good seal and easier to get off again if needed. Unfortunately, mine wasn't repairable due to a battery leak onto the PCB (my own fault).

Tony

Tony, April 2014

If you have a leaking unit, then the cause is probably just that the washer between the valve and the gear mechanism has dislodged. It's poorly designed I think. I dropped my AC1+ 30cm on to a hard floor and it leaked after that.

To get to that washer you have to open the case (as above) and then get the motor/gear mechanism out. I tried hard to avoid breaking clips, but didn't succeed. There are four - two obvious and one on either side of the inlet.

After snapping them, I drilled a few 2mm holes in the casing and used a few small self tapping screws to fix the machanism back in place.

Calum Shaw, July 2013

I have two hozelock timers with the same problem each time it is closed water still seps out like a leaking tap that needs a new washer , is there a replacement seal.

John, June 2013

I think Hozelock read the response above - my unit was bonded all the way around! Still opens (eventually) between the two Grey pieces though.

1st Ade, May 2012

You can carefully separate the front shell joint with a flat bladed screwdriver. Insert the screwdriver in the joint between the two grey plastic sections of shell and work around carefully levering them apart. They are bonded in four places but with care you will be able to separate them.

There is no need to remove the yellow section of shell.

Once inside check the electrical connections for rust because they are prone to this due to water ingress. If any connections are rusty, clean them with a small wire brush. There is a spade terminal that can be unplugged, cleaned and re-connected. This is a cause of issues.

Once cleaned, re-insert the batteries and test the unit by switching between on and off. If the valve opens and closes (look down through the water inlet and outlet to see) then it is fixed.

If any of the gears are damaged or the motor does not turn it may have been damaged by frost in the recent cold winter. This is not repairable.

When you have cleaned the inside of rust and if all is well you can re-assemble the shell. You will need to re-bond the joints between the shell sections with some superglue or, better still, polystyrene cement.

I did this with mine and it now works fine.

I hope this helps

Nigel Witham, April 2011