Leaf Eater gutter filters

[bystander]

Has anyone tried these? I never knew anything like this existed. Sounds great but do they work without splashing water?

http://www.rainharvest.com/filtration/pr...ilters.asp

[bystander]

So nobody has tried one of these? Looks like a great idea if it really works. I ordered the ultra model based on the testimony below I read on Amazon. I just hope it doesn't get clogged up by the large amount of leaves that fall on my roof and the "pounding" rain we sometimes get here.

I went to local water tank store today and noticed they have the original Leaf Eater for over $50. Much cheaper to get on Amazon for a little over $30 and that's with free shipping. That would be a good deal if it really works. I'll post my results so we shall see.

quote:

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I bought this filter because it made it easier to clean the leaves out of the gutters that previously I put a screen in to filter the leaves out. Now I don't have to climb a ladder to do this, I put it at a comfortable height so that I can do it from the ground and now my wife can even do it! I live in one of hawaiis rain forests and we catch water to sustain our life here. Great product and very easy to install.

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[MarkP]

Everybodies situation is different. I have only a first flush diverter that catches the first few gallons of water and allows it to slowly leak away between showers. I suppose it could get full of leaves eventually but the few times I have taken the cap off there has not been much in there. I have no overhanging trees though so my experience may not count for much. Looks like it should work though.

[Peter Epperson]

We sell these http://pacificgunite.com/gutter_strainers.htm but I have the page here that shows you how to make your own.

[hotinhawaii]

I have installed these on 5 homes and have lived with them in use for several years. There are pros and cons. If you mount it directly under the gutter, they require a large rectangular hole in the gutter which is good because it makes the gutter very difficult to clog. If you have a lot of debris falling in your gutter, the mesh will tend to get somewhat clogged and cause some water to splash. If your gutter is low to the ground or reachable from a deck, it is easy to brush off. (The fine screen inside the device is too fine for my taste. Depending on the type of debris, it will clog completely and shed all water, but it does keep all the small stuff out of the catchment. I have never left them installed.) Ohia blossoms tend to clog the mesh so that you have to take it off and whack the blossoms off after a good rain. I have only installed them directly under gutters not inline in the downspout. If you don't have much debris or your debris tends to be small, this would be a good idea as you can reach them more easily for cleaning. There is another model sold at Waterworks that has a more vertical screen. I am guessing this would flush the debris off more effectively. In any case, they will drip a bit in a heavy rain. The mesh catches some rain and splashes it over the edge. All in all, I find them very useful if there are trees around which will shed debris into your tank. Combined with a first flush for catching the small debris, it keeps most of the junk out of the catchment.

[terracore]

I was looking into these at one point but sometimes in the winter the rain comes down so hard that the downspouts can't keep up with it and the water pours over the gutters. I checked and everything was clear, it was just too much water too fast. It only happens a few times per year but if I had any type of strainer in the gutter or downspout I can only imagine that cleaning it would more frequent than I like.

[hotinhawaii]

These can actually help prevent the overflow from heavy rain. The weak point in the typical gutter system is the hole that leads to the downspout, even when clean, this hole is small and limits the amount of water that can flow out. With the leaf eaters installed under the gutter, the hole in the gutter is about 3"x6"- very difficult to clog or overflow.

[Donivan]

You don't *have* to cut the big hole in the gutter, you can just use standard fittings. I have a leaf eater and then the first flush diverter. You are right, *some* water does splash over in a downpour. That's why I mounted mine on the fascia where the gutter is mounted. I just cut a small piece of 2x8 and screwed it to the back of the fascia then the leaf eater mounts to that. Below the leaf eater is a first flush diverter as well. This intake is very close to a lot of Ohia trees that I don't want to cut down. I think my water is staying pretty clean, so I'm pretty satisfied with it. I wouldn't mount the leaf eater on the house, however. That would splash too much water around.

[bystander]

I received my Leaf Eaters a few days ago and have them installed. First off I have a couple of complaints which are minor. The ultra model I ordered did not come with the top cap as depicted on the rainharvest website. You don't need this unless you install right against the wall. The adapter adapts to a 3" schedule 40 pipe. All my gutter pipes are schedule 30. This was actually a blessing in disguise since I used a coupling sleeve as an adapter for the adapter. Doing this allowed me to use most of my old pipe simply by cutting it down some.

After last night's rain, I noticed lots of leaves on the ground underneath so it must be working. It does splash and drip some which I expected. So far I think it's a good product but want to see how it handles heavy rain to give my full endorsement.

[Bullwinkle]

"been looking at robot gutter cleaners ran into these

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=irobot+gutter&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=22816985457&hvpos=1t2&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2145189648184376546&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_q8dc37hlf_b