PF-21B Remote Controlled Automatic Pet Feeder Programmable LCD Control with DC adapter

I bought this because I read some reviews of people who also had the previous model, and really liked this one. I requested a return on the 2nd day because the thing just stopped working and I couldn't figure out what was wrong, but canceled the return when I figured out it was jammed. One week later I am about to re-request my return because in 1 week this thing has given me more problems than the previous model gave me in 2 years. With the previous model I only had problems when the batteries died (and I didn't realize it, which made my dog not get fed) or if we went 9+ months without brushing out the food crumbs which in turn played a part in causing a jam. In 2 years I had maybe 5 jams with the old model, and I only decided to buy a new one because the last 2 jams were in the past month, and others said they got about 2 years before it started to die, so I just decided maybe it had run its lifespan and it was time to upgrade. I will be returning and looking at other brands.PROS: - This model plugs in instead of solely relying on batteries like the previous model. - The digital screen with the time and the buttons are on the front this time. - They give you 2 disks to provide options based on the food size you have. - I originally chose this brand because of how large their food container is compared to some other brands.CONS: - Starting on day 2 the thing jammed and therefore didn't feed my dog. - This model provides no indication there is a problem - the lights stay normal, there is no error message. The previous model at least said ERR across the screen (which was difficult to know about since the screen was in the back facing the wall!) - I tried both size discs, as our food (Nutro Large Breed Adult) is 1.5 centimeters which is the cut off from the small to large disc. The large disc has jammed at least every 3rd feeding, and the small disc repeatedly jammed after putting out about 4 pebbles. - Because the thing has jammed so much, I am repeatedly tipping the thing upside down in order to take the food container off to get the jammed food out - this lid is designed in a way that allows food to get stuck behind the sliding locks which makes it so you can't take the lid off until you shake the heck out of the thing to get the food unstuck. The previous model had a pretty flat designed lid and I never had that problem. - With this model and the previous model, the shape of the food container makes it so the food near the dispensing area gets dispensed, and the food not near it, just stays in its spot (imagine an upside down ant hill), so looking at it, it seems there's a bunch of food in there, but in reality, it doesn't dispense out the right amount. My solution to this was to just nudge the thing every few days when I walked by to level out the food again.

I have been using this product and have been very satisfied for a couple weeks now. Today I noticed my dog seemed very hungry and upon checking the feeder realized it was clogged and not feeding. I cannot trust that it will work when I am away from home now.

This unit worked flawlessly to feed a colony of feral cats that I take care of. It dispensed the right amount of food and prevented any other critters from accessing food in the bin ( it was placed in a shed with the cat door on it). Unfortunately the system only worked for 9 months, then pooped out. So function was good but durability was very poor.

I was nervous ordering this because of the negative reviews. Here's the back-story. We were getting ready to take a trip for about 5 days. Our cat is older and does not do well when she is boarded. She refuses to eat and freaks out big time. Our regular petsitter passed away, and we didn't have time for proper vetting of a new one. She's on a portion controlled diet so we needed something which would measure and dispense her food.Now, on to the actual product. It arrived on time. I took it out of the box and looked it over. It comes with 2 discs for dispensing the food. One has 5 fins and is for smaller kernel food. The other has 3 fins and is for larger kernel food. I put in the 6 fin wheel. I took off 1 star off my rating because of design flaws. The battery compartment can only be accessed by removing the food hopper. This results in all the food pouring out on the floor. Remember to empty the food out into a grocery bag every time you need to change batteries. I put in the batteries, reassembled everything, and plugged it in. I pushed the "On" button on the control panel and nothing. At that point, my spouse pointed out the on/off rocker switch on the side which I hadn't noticed. Flipped that and it came to life. The programming isn't the most intuitive, but it is also not some alien thought process from Star Trek. Once I got it programmed, I measured the amount of food it put out. 2 portions turned out to be exactly the amount my cat needs each day. I recorded a message to tell the cat to "Come and get it." The sound quality is very poor. It sounds like one of those talking greeting cards, but that doesn't really matter. It's only there to notify the cat.It's been running for a couple weeks now with zero issues.Pros:It measures a consistent portion of food.It allows me to set several feeding times per day.It allows me to plug it in but still have the batteries for backup in case of power failure. (we've had 3 and it still retained its programming and fed on time.)It has been very reliable.Cons:NOISE - this thing sounds like a cement mixer while it's dispensing.Recording quality. My cat comes because she hears the grinding of the dispenser, not because she hears my voice.Batteries can't be replaced without emptying and removing the food hopper.

Unfortunately I bought 3 of these and all three are terrible... They jam at almost every feeding and the food hopper head fell apart. I had the old model and it worked pretty good but was just soooo slow, only battery powered, and hard to program. This model is much easier to program and much quicker but constantly jams. I have a lab so it is not the tiny food but standard grocery store dog food. I have tried 3 different types of dog food thinking the shape and size would fix it but from disc shape to round to basically square food all three types constantly jam with the hopper head that is supposed to be for larger size food. I switched to the original head and that did not help. On one the head actually fell apart and I found a big chunk of plastic in the food bowl. The funny thing is every time it jams it shuts itself off but as soon as the feeding cycle time is over it comes back on. So unless you are standing there you will not know that your dog did not get fed.