PETLIBRO Cordless Cat Water Fountain

I have the Petlibro Dockstream cordless rechargeable fountain in black. I bought this because I was wanting something that did not have an electrical cord in the water and I wanted something that didn’t have a rechargeable component in the water, in case of batteries somehow leaking. I wanted a safer fountain. This fountain fits the bill, for now. The only thing inside the water tank is the pump and that’s it. I’ve had it for 3 months now with 4 cats testing it out, and here’s what I like and don’t like: PROS: ***No energized cords in the water for safety, no battery components in the water that my cats drink ***Pump has zero wires and runs by induction *** Light weight, easy to clean, very few nooks and crannies, NO cord to deal with ***Aesthetically pleasing, if that’s something you’re looking for ***** Super quiet! ****** Very EASY to fill, no need to unplug because there’s NO cord. Just pick it up and fill. ****** Pump is easy to disassemble and clean(and I’ve had my fair share of dealing with pumps), the included cleaning brush has a metal loop on the end that makes it easy to remove the cover & impeller. **** Option for two flow modes to suit timid pets(bubbler or spout) and continuous run(plugged in) or motion sensor activated. ****My cats definitely are drinking MORE water with this, so that’s a good thing! ****** I’ve had no issues with the pump getting nasty or sludgy like some users. I think some of this comes down to water quality (wells vs. city water, filtered or non-filtered water, hard vs. soft water)and it’s going to vary in quality and the mineral makeup and hardness of water depending on where you live. I have city water and use filtered water from the fridge, which is a GE that filters chorine, chloramine, trace pharmaceuticals, cysts, arsenic, mercury, lead, and a whole lot of other stuff. If you have a GE fridge with the same kind of filter then you know what I’m talking about. Also, it might depend on the individual pet and whatever particular bacteria that gets into the water from their mouths. I do a water change and rinse well after one week and then a complete washing with hot soapy water after two weeks, along with cleaning the pumps and installing new filters. I use vinegar for hard water buildup as needed. I’ve had no issues, and have never had issues with slime or weird growths in any fountains or pumps that I’ve owned over the years. *******Battery life seems pretty good. I get close to a month from one charge. NEUTRAL: ****The tank is solid on the black version and you can’t see the water level(it’s opaque on the white model), it’s not a deal breaker for me since I wash them every week and it does indicate if I need to add more water. I can pick it up and guesstimate how much water is in it, but sometimes it would be nice to know at a glance. ***** Has a stainless steel drinking tray, which I’ve had no issues with such as rust, but I would like the tank to be stainless steel too and some alternative safer option for the spout like food grade silicone. It would be great to have as little plastic as possible. ***** Hand wash only. Not a deal breaker for me since it’s quick and easy to clean, but if you hate doing dishes then this might not be for you. CONS: Concerning LEAKS— some users have reported leaks down the into the dock, but can’t find any apparent source of the leak. Some users say they don’t see their pets being the cause of the leak. My observation is that this DOES NOT LEAK(provided you don’t overfill it). But I DID have the issue of having water pooling in the dock and around it and what I found is it absolutely was MY CAT making the mess! My cat would drink at the very edge of the tray on the back side and flick half of the water out of the tray down the side of the tank and into the dock and surrounding area. I solved this problem by moving the fountain against a wall so he couldn’t access the backside and then I had a splash guard 3-D printed that covers around the back. But then my cat would still make a mess drinking along the edge of the sides and front. The problem is that the drinking tray needs slightly higher sides. Also, Petlibro should make a splashguard for optional purchase similar to the one they have for one of the higher priced “smart fountain” models. I have another different brand fountain that I also use that has a slightly deeper drinking tray and no mess is made when my cat drinks from that one. After about two months, my cat learned how to drink from the water spout and now there’s no more mess and I’m happy about that. To those that have had this same mystery leak, it’s not a leak at all and is 100% your pet drinking and splashing water out from the edge of the water tray. ****** Motion sensor could be better. Sometimes my cat just stands there waiting for it to turn on and the sensor doesn’t detect it. It’s nice that it’s not being triggered by movement 5 feet away, but it needs to be more sensitive. It seems to do better if the pet approaches from the sides but can be slow to respond when the pet approaches from the front. *******Doesn’t run automatically every hour like it says. The description says it will cycle for 42 seconds every hour in order to keep the water circulating through the filter. It doesn’t. Maybe I got a bad one, I don’t know. I watched it for a solid hour and got NOTHING. I walk by to trigger it myself every so often just to get it to circulate. ****Filter holder tray does not disassemble for cleaning. It probably could be forced apart, but I don’t know if it would go back together very well. For those that get slimy pumps and buildup, this could be a problem area. *****Battery takes a very long time to charge. Sometimes a good 8 hours or more. ******* Water tray dries up. I’ve seen other users having this problem. THIS particular issue has been the biggest let down with this fountain. Everything was fine at first and the water stayed in the tray until I did my very first filter change. Ever since then there’s been problems with the water not staying in the tray. I found another user that investigated the issue further and it seems to be connected to the gasket that lays under filter tray that sits on the top side of the water tray. It seems that removing the filter cover for that first filter change loosens or shifts the gasket and it doesn’t sit properly after that and it allows the water to drain back into the tank too soon and not remain in the drinking tray. I am able to press down on the tray area and sometimes it’ll fix the issue for a week or it might be just a day. If my fountain automatically activated every hour like it was supposed to, then the tray would replenish and this wouldn’t be such a problem. The dry tray is also how I know the fountain isn’t automatically activating every hour like it’s supposed to. So again, I walk by to trigger it every so often to try to keep the tray filled. This problem, coupled with the sensor not always activating might leave your pet thirsty when they come for water. I could simply plug it in and then the fountain would run all the time, thus keeping the tray full and water circulating through the filter more but then that would defeat the purpose of purchasing this more expensive rechargeable model so that it can be placed absolutely anywhere over the less expensive non-rechargeable model that is plug in only and must be near an outlet (for power only, still has no cords in the water and I have that model as well in white). I’ve had many fountains over the years, some were a pain to clean, some were ceramic and heavy and got broken by a cat, some were just not quite what I was looking for. This Petlibro rechargeable fountain is not too bad on some levels, but overall it’s middle of the road for me. There are things I love, like no chance of a shock hazard from cords in the water, but there’s definitely things that Petlibro needs to improve and make it work properly, especially the water tray drying up. It’s clear that they did little if any testing to see how it worked in the real world. If they would fix these flaws, then it would definitely be a 5 star product. I hope this is helpful information for anyone considering purchasing this fountain.