So I had a 22qt. cooler sitting around that we sometimes use for camping, a day at the lake, etc. It's really too small to bring much though, so I figured, why not make a mash-tun?!?
Like most/many people I ordered the bulkhead kit form bargainfittings.com, all very high quality stuff I might add. However my cooler didn't originally have a spigot, so there was no pre-existing rubber gasket, and the walls had a lot of flex between them.
I read, and I read, and I tried this and that...I coated the threads with ptfe tape, I assembled the parts every which way...it kept leaking (underneath the nipple between the cooler wall and nipple, which meant liquid in the insulation).
I saw where a few people had used baby bottle nipples for a gasket on the inner wall of the cooler. Finally last night I picked up a two pack. These are the smaller nipples, not the huge 3" jobbies.
Here is an illustration of where I cut the nipple and then a few pics of the assembly. I can happily report no leaks!
The little flange left by cutting the nipple this way actually seats it in the SS washer. I'm using 1/2" hardware, too, FYI.
The PVC goes between the two cooler walls. You make the outer wall hole slightly larger. It's a 1/2" PVC union, actually, but I'm told 3/4" PVC works too. So from outside to inside the assembly goes:
Ball valve, SS washer, PVC/Union,inner cooler wall, baby-bottle-nipple gasket, ss washer, locknut.
Like most/many people I ordered the bulkhead kit form bargainfittings.com, all very high quality stuff I might add. However my cooler didn't originally have a spigot, so there was no pre-existing rubber gasket, and the walls had a lot of flex between them.
I read, and I read, and I tried this and that...I coated the threads with ptfe tape, I assembled the parts every which way...it kept leaking (underneath the nipple between the cooler wall and nipple, which meant liquid in the insulation).
I saw where a few people had used baby bottle nipples for a gasket on the inner wall of the cooler. Finally last night I picked up a two pack. These are the smaller nipples, not the huge 3" jobbies.
Here is an illustration of where I cut the nipple and then a few pics of the assembly. I can happily report no leaks!
The little flange left by cutting the nipple this way actually seats it in the SS washer. I'm using 1/2" hardware, too, FYI.
The PVC goes between the two cooler walls. You make the outer wall hole slightly larger. It's a 1/2" PVC union, actually, but I'm told 3/4" PVC works too. So from outside to inside the assembly goes:
Ball valve, SS washer, PVC/Union,inner cooler wall, baby-bottle-nipple gasket, ss washer, locknut.
