Ball Valve conversion help...

Ok. This should be a pretty simple thing.

I have a 48 qt Coleman rectangular cooler that I'm trying to convert into a mash tun.

Took out the drain, and followed the instructions on this instructable - http://www.instructables.com/id/Installing-a-ball-valve-on-a-Coleman-cooler/

(Not that it's rocket science, it just gave me a decent parts list to go off of..)

Get the ball valve all installed, and I've got a slight leak when I put any kind of pressure on the ball valve. Ok, so I take everything apart, re-tighten. Still a leak, and now it's worse.

The ball valve and the associated connector on the inside of the cooler will rotate if I try, so I though it might need to be tighter. Doubt that's the case because tightening it up just crushed the rubber washer on the inside and th leak got worse.

I think the washer that goes on the inside of the cooler and through part of the way is the culprit. It doesn't seal tight against the pipe nipple. My local Menards doesn't have anything like that. I'm thinking some kind of epoxy to try and seal this up? Any other ideas?

Did you use a liberal amount of ptfe pipe tape on all of the threads?

I definitely wouldn't try epoxy...

Cheers!

i used multiple washers on the interior of my conversion and high temp oring to get the seal tight enough. I think i ended up using 3 washers

Liquid will follow the threads. Build up a path of resistance by using lots of pipe thread tape. More washers is not going to help. Make sure you have step #7 right and don't over tighten.