BrewHardware bulkhead on HD cooler

[RyPA]

I recently purchased the below bulkhead for my 10 gallon Home Depot cooler mash tun. I am getting very little threads on the outside of the cooler to attach my ball valve. Do I have something wrong/out of order? I used a thinner nut instead of the thick one that came with the bulkhead to buy me a few threads.

https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/truebulkheadmale.htm

 

[Bobby_M]

You didn't install it correctly. Only one oring goes between the center hex and the inside cooler wall. The metal washer and nut go outside. You should also be able to remove the rubber grommet from the hole in the cooler. If you choose to leave it there, I would remove the oring from the assembly and just let the hex flange of the bulkhead rest directly on the grommet.

 

[RyPA]

Is this the correct order, assuming my finger is the cooler wall? I removed the smaller o ring.

 

[RyPA]

Realizing now that I do not need any red o-rings on the inside, since I am using the factory home depot white o-ring. I think if I do bulkhead->washer->HD o-ring on the inside, it will buy me a little more room on the outside.

 

[Bobby_M]

With the smaller oring removed, you will HAVE to use the white gasket but also remove the larger red oring. Double rubber is redundant.

The smaller oring we include that stacks against the larger one is meant to be installed directly through the naked opening. The smaller oring falls into the hole intentionally to center the fitting. In your case, the white grommet will provide both the centering and sealing so remove the orings fully.

 

[RyPA]

Here's where I am at now. Still not a ton of threads on the outside and my ball valve handle hits the cooler. It would be nice if this bulkhead had a few more centimeters of threads.

Can I get this to work without using the white grommet?

 

[RyPA]

So you're saying if I use both the small washer and large washer together, going form the inside of cooler to outside, I can eliminate the white. It doesn't seem like it would seal well without the white washer.

 

[RyPA]

I got it figured out, thank you for quickly responding, and for the fast shipping!

 

[Bobby_M]

No matter what, the metal washer should not be inside the cooler at all. It completely defeats the design and can cause leaks.

 

[RyPA]

Here's what I did. I think it will seal fine since there is always rubber between metal. I wanted to avoid the bulkhead rubbing against the home depot o-ring as I tightened it.

On the inside, from the wall going towards bazooka tube:

Home Depot factory white o-ring -> metal washer -> rubber o-ring that came with my ball valve -> bulkhead.


On the outside, from the wall going towards the ball valve. I added parts I had to provide more room to fully close the ball valve:

Washer -> nut -> 1/2" threaded tube -> 1/2" threaded connector -> ball valve