Mash Tun and HLT build- Water Cooler

Hey all,

I built my mash/laughter tun and HLT out of two round 10 gallon coolers from Home depot (based on the wiki but with a false bottom instead of braided line).

My question, is I am unable to get the washers over top of the 3/8" nipple in the middle. So i have not been able to get a tight seal. (I cant get the 5/8" washer over the circled part)

What I did on my first AG batch worked, but its not as "solid" as I would like it to be, its a temp fix. I didnt use the stainless steel washer, ran the 3/8" nipple through the middle of the cooler, with one washer and an oring on the outside (it is held stationary by the circled part), and tightened that do the Female barb adapter inside the cooler (the cooler still had the watertight ring in it). Not sure if this makes since, but I am having trouble explaining it.

Had anyone ran into any problems while constructing their mash tuns?
Any ideas as to what I am doing wrong?

The nipple I used was shorter and didn't have the flat middle part. I want to say it was 1", maybe 1.25".

gotya. I think I can make it work, I may need to take yet another trip to the hardware store

Heh heh....I made a few. Last trip had me almost assembling my whole system in the aisle.

Guidry said:

Heh heh....I made a few. Last trip had me almost assembling my whole system in the aisle.

Click to expand...

Been there; done that too many times. Mark

yep, think you need a close nipple, then you won't have the flat in the middle.