Sealing up Cooler Mash Tun

Hey Everyone,

So I finally made the move from a two-bucket mash system to a square cooler. I have a 45qt Rubbermaid Victory cooler (Model: FG2A9102MODBL from Home Depot). I picked up a 1/2" brass male x male ball valve and a 1/2" CPVC CTS male adapter to attach a short length of 1/2" CPVC to. The plan was to run the short CPVC through the cooler's original gasket (it fits the gasket perfectly) but I can't for the life of me get the 1/2" OD CPVC pipe through the bulkhead with the gasket in place. If I put the gasket on the CPVC first, I can't compress it enough to pass through the 1/2" bulkhead opening and if I seat the gasket in the cooler first, I can't get the 1/2" pipe through it without damaging the gasket.

I'm guessing I could make it work if I widen the bulkhead opening a bit but before I go permanently modifying the cooler I wanted to get the opinion of some of people here.

you could try 3/8 dia pipe and see if that fits or like you suggested you could enlarge the bulkhead hole.

Maybe try a more simplistic approach and just use a drilled rubber stopper. Check out this thread.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/how-many-mlts-leak-287988/

Thanks BBL Brewer, looks like a simple and effective solution - just what I'm lookin for!

BBL Brewer - GREAT solution!

I ended up being able to use most of what I had already bought and it turned out much cleaner than I expected it to be. Never again will I mess around with washers and gaskets - rubber stoppers are my new best friend!

Thanks again

I just ran the tubing through the spigot of the Coleman & used a PEX valve. Here's a pic:

Thanks for the info hamiltont but I'm running a ball-valve on the exterior of the cooler that I didn't want dangling around. BBL Brewer's solution of using a tapered rubber stopper to create the inner seal allowed me to run 1/2" CPVC through a #3 stopper which created a water-tight seal and a sturdy junction for the ball valve to connect to.

Happy Brewing!

Sounds like you got it nailed. Cheers!!!

Glad it worked out for you KJB5200. Hope you enjoy the new setup.

Cheers