Another leaky bulkhead

chrisbarnes5000 · 03-17-2009, 03:08 AM

I am trying to put together a bulkhead on my MLT but it keeps leaking. I fear that the problem is that when I made the MLT I drilled the hole with the idea of doing something like Denny's setup with the drilled stopper in the hole. Now that I am putting the bulkhead in I think that I drilled the hole too low in the cooler; leaving very little structure to support a washer. The hole comes down right to where the wall curves to meet the bottom. Has anybody else encountered this, or have any good ideas of how to fix it (I may even entertain getting a new cooler)?

Thanks!

ODaniel · 03-17-2009, 03:33 AM

I take it it's a cooler with no drain faucet? Any idea how big the hole you drilled is? Do you have any O-rings in between the washer and cooler? If not, try that. There are numerous sizes in the Plumbing section of Lowes.

chrisbarnes5000 · 03-17-2009, 04:30 AM

I have, I believe, a 1" hole. At least when I went beck that was the biggest bit that fit in there, and I am using a 3/4" nipple that seems pretty snug. And I have a flat black (neoprene?) washer that I had to cut down to fit the bottom of the MLT, then a SS washer then a brass nut. Is this where I sould be focusing?

chrisbarnes5000 · 03-17-2009, 04:32 AM

Right no drain faucet.

BarleyWater · 03-17-2009, 04:47 AM

I did the same thing, drilled the hole as low as possible because I wanted to be able to drain as much as possible. Unfortunately this made it impossible to attach the ball valve and bulkhead... I ended up tossing the cooler.

ODaniel · 03-17-2009, 04:50 AM

Can you take a picture of it? Some O-Rings may be worth a shot. They're cheap.

**samc** · 03-17-2009, 05:44 AM

Tubing that is next size up in OD from your drilled hole. Dunk it in very hot water for a minute and push/pull it through the hole (needle nose pliers work well - if you don't need them than the tubing is too small). Attach whatever ball valves, barbs ,etc you want off it and let it dangle. Not as clean looking but the tubing when it cools will seal up the hole.

chrisbarnes5000 · 03-17-2009, 11:56 AM

I would love to attach a pic, but some guy has our camera and hasn't given it back yet. I may look at some o-rings, I have this Friday off so maybe I will go shopping.

I don't want to do the large tube thing. I am switching from a drilled stopper and tubes because I just didn't have any faith that it would stay put. Good idea though.

mZnthebend · 03-17-2009, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by samc

Tubing that is next size up in OD from your drilled hole. Dunk it in very hot water for a minute and push/pull it through the hole (needle nose pliers work well - if you don't need them than the tubing is too small). Attach whatever ball valves, barbs ,etc you want off it and let it dangle. Not as clean looking but the tubing when it cools will seal up the hole.

Plus One on this idea, I actually just did the same thing for a bulkhead on my cooler MLT, I used silicone tubing and it works great. There is a picture of it on a thread that I just posted.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-new-10g-eherms-system-109166/

BenP · 03-18-2009, 07:58 PM

You may also want to try, in addition to the o rings, finding a small piece of pvc, pex or other plastic pipe with the same OD that your hole is and the same length as the wall is thick on your MT. Insert this in the hole and then insert the bulkhead. This will provide more structure than the insulation can provide, letting you wrench the o-rings a bit tighter without creating dimples in the MT walls. This worked great for my leaky MT.