Review: Drinkwell Pet Fountain
Friday June 27, 2003
Although cats are descended from desert creatures, they do have a need for water, especially cats that eat only dry food, and older cats who may be prone to kidney failure. It is important to keep a source of clean, fresh water available at all times for thirsty cats. The development of automatic pet fountains has made that easier for busy companions of cats.Drinkwell was the first pet fountain. Is it the best? Read the review and find out for yourself.
Comments
I agree with most of your review. I have one criticism of the Drinkwell. I would communicate it to the Drinkwell people myself, but can’t find their website, so I would appreciate your communicating it if they don’t look at your review from time to time. . . .
Specifically, getting the motor out of the Drinkwell for cleaning is really difficult. The place to put one’s finger to pull up on the motor is too small and there is nothing to brace against without risking breaking the plastic bowl. The amount of force required to loosten the motor is too great.
Other than this quality, we really like the Drinkwell. The cats, the most important creatures in the house, love it, too.
Drinkwell, but don’t count on the pump
The white plastic looks cool and holds water as well as any bowl, but the pump (PP-333LV) sucks up kitty fur better than the special filter. In fact, I have to clean the pump every few days in order to keep the water flowing. Lately, the AC wire has broken off at the pump. I can only suspect that the plastic insulation gets soft in the water…
I checked with the manufacturer’s (Jebao) web forum and there are dozens of other people asking the same question: “where do I get a replacement?”. There are no replies, Jebao
is in China, the land of slave and child labor. May as well contact Petsmart or where it was bought.
My opinion: If you don’t want to spend thirty minutes taking the Drinkwell apart and cleaning it often and then breaks in a year, keep the bowl and forget about the bubbling water for your loving kitty. You’ll thank yourself…
rkm
go to petmate.com look for replacement parts and you will find it. 16.04 i believe.
I don’t think that petmate.com is the website for Drinkwell. I am actually looking for a new motor for our fountain.
Drinkwell Pet Fountain is made by Vetventures. Replacement parts and filters can be ordered from their website:www.vetventures.com. Jebao makes the pump but a replacement pump may be ordered from Vetventures much easier. The product is great,but I make my own pre-pump filter from aquarium foam snipped to fit. It works, keeps cat hair out and is easy to clean/replace.
As for the pump (in most cases the Jebao PP-333LV) it will die on you anywhere from 6 months to 1 year after you buy your fountain. I have had to purchase this fountain twice and my second pump died today. I would replace the pump itself if it wasn’t for the fact that it only costs $5 less than the entire fountain package.
The cats love this fountain. I keep it around for them but I am looking for a better product.
My cats absolutely love this product but I hate it! My pump PP-333LV by jebao has died twice. The first time I replaced the whole drinkwell fountain and now that it has died a second time I won’t buy it again so I am looking for a better product!
I bought mine in 2005. It came with an Italian-made Askoll A-6 pump which still runs fine today.
The fountain as a whole seems to have been designed with nooks and crannies that are impossible to clean without their cleaning kit (sold separately of course). Crud builds up pretty good in these little places and makes cleaning very time consuming. I have two cats and I clean mine every 3 weeks.
Now that it appears they replaced a good pump with these junk Jebao’s from China, I can only conclude that this company is trying to milk this product and its accessories for every last penny they can. When this one breaks, I’ll build my own or try another brand.
I agree with the others about the cheap pumps. I have been through too many pumps to count. The cats love the fountains, but the pump devices rarely last more than a couple of months!!
If someone would just put a DECENT pump in them, they would be great!
I came across this website for parts (http://www.vir-chew-all.com/_drinkwellparts.shtml). Unfortunately, I have an older fountain and will have to buy a whole new bowl since the old motor is no longer made. If anyone knows of a better pet fountain, please post!
My fountain brought in 2002 … the motor broken down few months ago. So I can’t get a new motor but a whole new fountain instead??
I have to say that my pump has just given up the ghost after just over a year. Although it had been very noisy for over six months of late. I read everyones comments as I was going to buy another big dog but decided to have a good look on the internet. I found a new fountain by DOGIT. It arrived today and it’s fantastic. All the water is encased in a dome and it pumps out from the top and down the sides. They make two sizes a small and large. I live in the UK and got it from http://www.petsparade.com and paid £45.99 and best of all it comes with a 2 year warranty and it’s soooo quiet. Don’t buy another Drinkwell get a Dogit.
We have the Petmate fountain that uses the Jebao pump. We also live in an area that has high mineral content in the water. The evaporation leaves mineral deposits (ring) in the bowl. We have had the same pump for several years. That said, we have had to replace the power adapter twice. Our model has a plug in the line from the pump to the adapter. The adapter is a 12 volt ac (not DC ==) adapter. The adapters are available at Walmart and Radio Shack. But Radio Shack model is a variable output and costs more. If you get the Radio Shack you have to be on the right output or the pump will not work.
Also we have to use a water and vinegar (50/50) to soak the pump to disolve the mineral build up. We soak for about 4 hours. We use a bucket with a small bottle of winegar then fill the bottle with water and add to the winegar. We soak the bowl too. Due to the minerals we have to do this every 2-3 months.
drinkwell web site is http://www.vetventures.com
Hi Everyone! I came upon this comment forum when researching this Jebao pump that circulates the water. So it isn’t just my pump that seemed to have quit. My cats LOVE IT as well! My one cat HAS TO drink right from the outlet rather than the bowl. I can’t agree with that one person more, the cats’ fur gets all stuck to the pumps inlet which slows the flow right down. I have to clean mine maybe twice a week. I even use my Absopure water instead of the tap to keep hard water from building in the pump. I got tired of filling that pathetically small water holder all the time so I modified it to hold a 2 liter bottle on top (like water coolers) that lasts way longer. I should just by a small pump, place it in a bowl and set it up as a fountain. The cats like it as long as the water moves. There needs to be something to collect the fur away from the pump. Any comments are welcome: tonys_9hundred@yahoo.com
Can someone tell me if the pump is that little thing that slides in the motor well and has four little arms on it that all spin around? I don’t have my original brochure and I’ve had the Drinkwell for about 3 yearas with no problem, but in the last few months it gets noisy even when newly cleaned and I noticed that 3 of the 4 little arms broke off. Also, I just got the cleaning kit which is fabulous, the brushes are just perfect for the fountain and make cleaning it so quick and easy. Thanks!
Thanks so much for the Drinkwell website (vetventures.com) – I was able to order a replacement impeller for my fountain – dropped it when cleaning and absolutely cannot find it! LOL – it had to go somewhere – but where?????? I’ve had this fountain for 4 years and have never had a problem with the operation of it. My motor is a RESUN and works wonderfully. I have found that I do not want to spend the money for “their” cleaning brush kit – so purchased a baby bottle cleaning brush at the “DOLLAR STORE” for a buck and it works great. Large end cleans the bigger portions of the fountain and the small end is great for cleaning the motor/impeller and those hard to reach spots. I recommend cleaning it at least once a week. It comes completely apart – and if you hang on to the impeller and don’t drop it – lol – it’s not so bad!!! Anyway – thanks again for the website – it’s not GOOGLE friendly to find!
I’ve had our pet fountain for 4 years now with very little trouble. We always use bottled water (sounds silly, I know) but the mineral content of our tap water would quickly destroy any pump. I wish the pump/motor assembly were a little easier to disassemble and clean. Finding the filters is sometimes a trial. They are a bit pricey, and now that we have four cats they get dirty a lot quicker. When we moved to Russia, I couldn’t find the right size filter anywhere so I’ve had to temporarily substitute it with a carbon sponge filter. So far it seems to be working. Also, we had to replace the transformer (the black part that plugs into the wall) because the electricity here is 220 volts, not 120. Unfortunately, most transformers are for transforming AC to DC. Then I discovered that the transformer to our old telephone would work. The point is, our cats love this fountain, although I doubt it is better than any of the other pet fountains on the market.
I bought a PP333LV at at the Oakland Mall in Sterling Heights Michigan. I went to an East Indian store that sells small water fountains ( some have fog hovering over the water ). I simply asked for the pump and the saleslady pulled one out from her stock. $14.98 on the box. Try that kind of store. Good Luck.
I’ve had our Drinkwell for 3 years and it’s never broke or had a problem. I do clean it once a week always and change the filter once a month. I just think it’s too LOUD.
Our Drinkwell Platinum just stopped working, after a year of hard use by our SIX cats. After reading all the above posts, I went to the VetVentures.com website and found this replacement parts list:
1. Replacement Filters 3-Pack $ 10.95
2. Housing Cover $ 6.00 Qty
3. Filter Housing $15.00 Qty
4. Bowl $20.00 Qty
5. Motor (with flow control knob) $18.50
6. Plugging Cap $ 7.50 Qty
7. Pre-Filter $ 5.00 Qty
8. Reservoir $ 15.00
I think it sounds as though they’ve covered the situation and I am about to order a new motor from them. My cats would die of thirst without their running water!
The pumps are probably not broken, but clogged with grime. The petmate version uses the same pump, but includes excellent cleaning instructions. I brought mine back from the dead twice simple by cleaning inside the pump.
http://petmate.com/pdf/freshFlowInstructions.pdf
I made my own pet waterer by purchasing a 6 qt. flat sided stainless steel bucket (make sure you don’t get one with the hooks) and a power filter for fish aquariums. I went with the Top Fin 10 model but would consider other brands if/when these ever fail. Cleaning is a breeze. the buckets are very simple and have no nooks & crannies or hard to reach areas. As for the pump, I simply pour the water out and use a drinking glass brush. The filter sometimes needs to be brushed off from grass and other stuff that is stuck to it from filtering. I have 2 Boxers and they always have dirt or debris stuck to their big lips
It takes less than 5 minutes. The 6 qt. buckets are more ideal than the 4 qt (too small) or 9 qt.(too large). They are the perfect height for my cat to drink or for small dogs. Power filters are like $15 and I paid $20 + shipping for the bucket at gundogsonline.com. I bought extra filters for around $5. They need to be replaced monthly according to the manufacturer. Other than that, there are no expensive parts to replace. No special brushes needed. No hassle cleaning. Works like a charm and my pets love it. As an added bonus, it also makes an automatic relaxation fountain! You get two for one! Check out http://www.housepaws.biz as I will be posting pics and instructions soon.
I just threw my old drinkwell pet fountain away as the part of the filter that attaches to the plastic holder broke. I did not use force of any kind. I did however, order a new one of the same brand but a newer version. I hope this is the correctdecision. Mabye we need more inventers to come up with a pet fountain with easy filter acess for cleaning, especially for seniors with bad hands.
I recommend the Petmate Fresh Flow Fountain over this one. Comes with a better pump and is easy to clean.
I read through all the comments here and have to say that the Drinkwell Platinum fountain is the best fountain I’ve found.
With one exception: the pump.
I had an older, smaller model that didn’t have a large water reservoir and was constantly having to fill it (I have three cats). I upgraded to the Platinum after the pump in my older model died.
Well, the pump in my new model died sometime overnight. I’m glad I googled replacement pumps because really, $70.00 is a bit steep to be spending on a whole new unit when all that needs replacing is the pump.
THANK YOU to those who pointed me in the right direction to the Veterinary Ventures site. I ordered a pump and saved myself $50.00. What a waste to have to throw out the entire unit when it’s only the pump that needs replacing! If only Petco and the like would offer to sell the replacement pumps, too.
WOW! Just logged on to find a replacement pump. Our two cats were going crazy this morning because the water isn’t flowing on our Original Drinkwell that we purchased just over one year ago. It is loud and also has hard water build up. Petco and Petsmart get on the ball with this vendor! Now to order a pump through Vetventures.com
After reading the reviews, I have:
1. Decided to give my kitty distilled water
2. Checked out the awesome directions for cleaning the water pump (I didn’t realize you could take it ‘that’ apart).
3. Cleaned the pump and gave it another shot.
4. Cleaning failed but I do have another pump that I thought was broke…will try tomorrow.
5. Checked out the vetventures website and will buy one more pump before I try a different product.
6. I found out I don’t have the jabao water pump but I have 2 resun? brand pumps.
7. I will be faithful in cleaning my water pump so my cat will stop acting neurotic.
I appreciate finding this site so much. My original Drinkwell just gave out. It doesn’t drip water, instead it makes a horrible noise, and leaks water out of every conceivable opening, especially the rear, and where the tower is attached to the bowl.
I was cleaning it, and dropped it. That solved the problem of how to take the two parts apart. However it did not break.
when putting it back together, the little drip regulating knob will NOT fit back on to the pump, that little thing with the 4 little arms that you can see through the little hole. I am wondering if I also dropped the IMPELLER that Mary mentioned. I also cannot find anything on the floor anywhere. But since I do not know what an impeller looks like, I don’t know what I am looking for. I don’t know if that is the prolem, or if it is the motor, or the pump, and I don’t even know if the pump and motor are the same thing or 2 different things. Cannot find the Drinkwell site, nor anyone to call. Lost my manual too, since I’ve had this for several years. Never actually tried to disassemble the whole thing before, I am very clumsy at such things, and just kept washing it and changing the filters without taking it apart.
Thank you to the person who gave us the vetventures website. I will go there now. However, it would be nice if somewhere I could get a hold of an online manual, so I could see what all these parts look like. Even better if I could phone someone and discuss what the problem might be. I guess that is not going to happen. Thanks again to all the people who discussed this problem with the Drinkwell. My cats LOVE them, I have 3, 2 originals and one Platinum. The criticisms of the platinum are RIGHT ON. But my cats love them all and I have a bunch of cats because I was a rescuer.
Once again THANK YOU soooo much. My Drinkwell is working fine now!!! I went to the http://www.vetventures.com website, found a telephone number, called and a wonderful young lady named Brittany, helped talk me through the whole reassembly procedure. All the noise was because I had unknowingly dropped the STATOR on the floor and it rolled behind something so I didn’t realize something was missing when I picked up all the parts off the floor. Of course the motor wouldn’t run properly without the stator in place. The stator, and control knob help keep the impeller in place in the motor.
I had not dropped that, just the stator.
Not only did Brittany patiently talk me through the whole process as I fumbled around trying to hold things together, and while I searched on the floor for the stator, but she told me how to get the pdf file of the owners manual and also the parts list. Poor girl must have spent a half hour on the phone with me, as I ran from back and forth from the kitchen and the computer room to check on all the things she was telling me. I do NOT need a new motor and now I know how to disassemble and clean everything. I even know what the impeller is now.
If anyone has a problem, they should just call Brittany at http://www.vetventures.com, and she will help you. What great customer service! And thank you all here so much too. I would never have found Brittany without your advice.
The motor is the black thing attached to the cord that plugs in. It is also the pump system. The impeller is the little magnetic cylinder with the four plastic fins on it, and it slips into the motor. BTW, NEVER start the pump dry…always prime it with water before plugging it in.
The cheapest I found the pump was here http://indoors.pricegrabber.com/cat-toys/Petmate-Fresh-Flow-Pet-Fountain/m64112916.html for just under $18 including shipping. I found that it is the small plastic impeller that fails. Until I decide if I’m going to spend my money on a new pump I just hooked up a cheap pump I had laying around to an extension tube and put it in a bowl. It’s like leaving a faucet on. Cat’s seem happy with it for now.
The person who recommended the replacement cheapie pump for the water fountains at the dollar store, you ROCK! Thanks, I jerry-rigged mine, too. Doesn’t look so pretty, but it makes me think now that I can make my own and it look prettier…maybe cover the pump is grey duct tape? Haha. Actually, it was a super cost effective method. Cost me a dollar and so what if it doesn’t look pretty? At least it is working!
Have had Veterinary Ventures Drinkwell Fountains for many years and am on my 5th with no problems although I agree some motors are more difficult to take out. I always use bottled water and actually when cleaning, take apart the fountain and dip the whole fountain in a bucket of bleached water including the motor. No more trying to clean corners etc and it comes out sparkling clean. Petroleum Jelly helps with a stiff motor I find.
I’ve had my Drinkwell for 7+ years- still on the original motor and pump. Cleaning the pump out has so far resurrected what I thought to be dead. Mineral buildup removal is a comparative breeze and takes only about 45 minutes with straight CLR and a Pampered Chef plastic scraping tool. Have only cleaned unit about 3 times a year. Cats are beside themselves without their Drinkwell. Love the fact that it encourages cats to drink more which keeps them way healthier and less prone to urinary challenges.
I have the Petmate Fresh Flow water fountain. I just poured CLR in there and I’m waiting the 45 min. you stated. When you said you used CLR, do you mean that you ran it through by plugging it in or do you mean that you just let it sit while it was turned off. I have extreme hard water build up.
I just got it today and it sucks!
For the 1st few hours it worked fine then it began leaking water and making a large irritating buzz. I’m now looking for an alternative and am going to return it.
Would not recommend this.
Nope. Didn’t work for me, either. I have the drinkwell platinum and this replacement did not fit. It was as though I had a completely wrong pump. Fortunately the dog and cat specialty store (i.e. not a big chain store) where I buy my cats’ food had a spare pump.