Is it time for a new cooler?

Mission Aborted:

I woke up this morning excited about brew day. Today I was supposed to be brewing my 1st lager. This would be my first brew day in 7 months. I got my stuff out, cleaned it up, and begun heating my strike water.

Once I was up to temp. I dumped it in to my cooler to preheat. I was taking a temperature reading getting ready to dough in when I noticed that I was standing in water. After a little inspection I found this:



I took it apart and discovered my brass nipple had ruptured. Apparently some water had frozen in there over the winter. I ran to Lowe's picked up some new brass and put it all back together.

I started filling it with water to test and it still leaks. I took it apart again and discovered that the cooler walls around the hole had warped.



As I tighten the fittings, apparently it pulls the rubber grommet up into the walls of the cooler allowing the water to pass through.

So three hours later, and the crushed grain in the fridge, I've given up for the day. Do you think I need to get a new cooler or can you think of another solution?

bigger rubber......

washer that is. Also get some big stainless washers.
You can always plug leaks with more pressure and more gasket material.
Worth a shot before buying a new cooler.

I checked at Lowe's the other day for something rubberish to use. The only thing I was able to find was black rubber grommets. I don't like the idea of that black rubber leaching petroleum based chemicals.

I'm thinking I may try some Silicone Caulk behind a stainless washer.

Maybe one of these would work better:

http://www.greatbargain.net/order/shop1.html

scroll down to the section titled "COOLER WELDLESS CONVERSION FITTING KIT." make sure you get the proper one - either "thick walled" or "standard cooler."

yrs-
Evan!

For cheap gasket material, try making your own out of silicone baking trays. They are usually dirt cheap, you can cut them to size and are FDA approved. One tray will give you loads of care-free sealing to be used in even the hottest brewing application!

Sorted

malt_shovel said:

For cheap gasket material, try making your own out of silicone baking trays. They are usually dirt cheap, you can cut them to size and are FDA approved. One tray will give you loads of care-free sealing to be used in even the hottest brewing application!

Sorted

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Holy crap! I can't believe I've never thought of this.

TBLbrewer said:

Holy crap! I can't believe I've never thought of this.

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Bed Bath & Beyond carries them. Lot's of heat-resistant silicone there.

Also, Home Depot carries sheets of silicone for making your own gaskets. It's red. At least mine has it. I use that stuff for everything. they are about 4" x 6". Plumbing aisle.

That's a great Idea. I only wish I'd read it yesterday...

Yesterday I bought a small tube of Silicone and some larger stainless washers. I put a small bead of silicone between the layers of washers and between the largest washer and the cooler. I'm going to give it the water test Friday night after it's had a few days to cure.

Pretty soon I'm going to have as much money invested in this old cooler as I would have spent on a new one.

Wish me Luck.

kornbread said:

Pretty soon I'm going to have as much money invested in this [insert DIY project here] as I would have spent on a new one.

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Ah. This is one of the perils of wandering down the DIY path.

when i converted my cooler to a mlt,
I had a issue of finding a way to get copper manifold to the drain hole with dilling out the plastic drain.

I walked around the hardware store and came up with the idea of taking a copper nipple and putting a piece of plastic tubing on that nipple and jamming it as hard as i can into that hole.

And it works like a champ. Tight fit and never had 1 leak.
Hope that helps and makes sence.

If all else fails, there's always aquarium sealant or JB weld. JB weld is amazing stuff.

passedpawn said:

Ah. This is one of the perils of wandering down the DIY path.

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I know what you mean. However, I do get some measure of satisfaction from making things myself. The cooler hasn't been too perilous so far. I had the thing laying around already and I've already made a dozen or more batches with it with less than $20 worth of parts.

I guess in the future I should test my equipment the night before I brew if it's been out of service for a while.