heat stick nut piece problem

http://www.cedarcreeknetworks.com/heatstick.htm

I see a lot of people have used this for making their heatstick. My only problem is the nut that screws the element into the pipe- what is this piece? I went to lowes and looked at a 12 pipe extension piece, it had a nut like thing at the end but did not make any kind of decent seal against the heating element at all. Please advise, I know nothing about plumbing.

This threw me at first too. The "nut" piece you are looking for is actually the same bit that is used for compression connections on the drain pipe. I think you can get them separately at the same place you get the drain pipe, if one isn't included already. The threads match up and it works OK.

It doesn't seal, however. This is why most folks use JB weld or something similar to seal up all the cracks and gaps around the element. These threads aren't meant to seal by themselves, since they're only meant to apply pressure to the nylon or rubber piece on the drainpipe that does the actual sealing.

ah I see, even so, when I tried to piece it together with the element and extension pipe piece there were visible gaps between the edge of the hex nut at the base of the element and the inside of the lip of the "nut" compression piece. I mean 1/8 inch visible gaps. Is JB weld supposed to cover these visible gaps?

wow, actually, screw the heat-stick idea. all I really want to do is maintain a mash temp with a temperature controller, I can boil with propane

http://www.wortomatic.com/articles/The-Electric-HLT-(or-how-I-built-a-water-heater-in-a-cooler)

if you use a 1 1/2 - 1 1/4 reducing slip nut (use chrome not zinc, purchsed seperately) the o-ring on the element will seal up against it! (it has a smaller opening)

But you do still have to seal the threads! I have one sealed with PFTE and one sealed with Food-grade silicone sealant, and both seem to do fine