Brass Nipple Size For Mash Tun

[delvec28]

I bought a 48 quart Coleman cooler with a drain plug for use as a mash tun. I've been to Home Depot/Lowes/Ace probably 7x so far and I'm still having issues with parts.

First off, I originally bought a 3/8" brass nipple, ball valve and male/female barbs to use with another cooler, but found that this was a bit too small for the Coleman, so I upgraded to 1/2".

However, I bought 3/4" SS washers from Lowe's and after I got home realized they were not large enough to fit over the 1/2" brass nipple. I'm trying to find my dad's Dremel since I don't have one (and as luck would have it, it's nowhere to be found) - I wanted to shave a bit of the inside diameter to fit over the brass nipple, however I'm wondering if it would be fine to use the 3/8" pieces since I have a better chance at finding a 5/8" SS washer at a nearby Fastenal (according to their website, my local store doesn't have 7/8" SS washers in stock for the 1/2" brass nipple).

As you can tell, I'm getting frustrated getting all of these parts, and somewhat angry that such large stores seem to have every size that I don't need and none that I can actually use!!

If anyone has experience using 3/8" equipment with a hole that can fit a 1/2" brass nipple --- or if someone from the South Jersey area has a few 7/8" SS washers, please let me know!

 

[Sciyan]

Here something that will work perfectly for your 1/2 nipple :

http://www.homebrewstuff.com/stainless-steel-washer.html

 

[JRems]

Can you use an aluminum washer? I couldn't find any ss washers so I used aluminum ones as spacers on my 1/2" fittings. I got them at my local Honda dealer, they were drain plug washers of some sort, I think for a differential. They were cheap ( under $1)and they had plenty of them

 

[The_Dog_42]

If you haven't invested too much money into it at this point, check out Bargain Fittings.

and I've only heard good things about them.

 

[Tinga]

Before my last batch I did a lot of system upgrades and it seemed when I went to Home Depot I should have gone to Menards and vice versa. You would think they would have similar products but nooooooo.