Cheap & Easy 10 Gallon Rubbermaid MLT Conversion

[poobaca]

so you attached it with a hose clamp im assuming and added a ball valve and were good to go?

 

[will_rouse]

When I cut my SS braid with a back saw It left the ends pretty frayed. Do I need to clip these off or not worry about them?

 

[JonGrafto]

When I cut my SS braid with a back saw It left the ends pretty frayed. Do I need to clip these off or not worry about them?

I clipped mine with side cutters and still had some frayed ends. I just took needle nose pliers and folded them inward and it worked well.

 

[GetSudz]

Just finished a 5 gal Rubbermaid cooler and had to make a few mods...
I purchased the Create a Bolt at Home Depot. Used one SS washer inside and three outside.
I purchased 5/8 faucet O-ring for outside nipple but needed to add one rubber garden hose washer and added extra zinc washer to outside.
I also need to add additional rubber washer to inside to keep it all snug and water proof.
I used a 3 foot SS braid and just wrapped it around the bottom of the cooler instead of cutting it into small straight piece
Water tight with 170 F water !

 

[newbies13]

Made some 3D models for this mashtun to help people understand how the pieces fit together.

 

[Pratzie]

great job

 

[newbies13]

Thanks, hope some people find it helpful. Wish they showed up a bit bigger so you could see the labels properly though.

 

[TheRooster]

Love the instructions!

 

[Melchior]

I've searched a bit through this thread, but haven't found anything that addresses the fact that Home Depot 10 gallon coolers have a larger opening now, and the 3/8" size is no where close to what is needed.

Has anyone built one recently with this new cooler, and if so, did you just increase the size of all the parts?

 

[day_trippr]

I built my 10g Rubbermade MLT using a 1/2" bulkhead. Stripped all the plastic spigot parts from the cooler first and the bulkhead fit perfectly through the spigot port...

Cheers!

 

[mtdenham]

What's the difference between brass and stainless. I've bad things about brass fittings. Even though some of those fittings say lead free they are not.

 

[Melchior]

Thank you kindly day_trippr. I am glad someone else has already done the leg work, so I can avoid multiple trips to HD to get the necessary parts.

 

[day_trippr]

Fwiw, I'm not sure one can obtain parts for an optimal 1/2" solution from a big box store. I got my all-SS bulkhead and 3-piece ball valve from my lhbs, and iirc they got it from either Midwest or Northern Brewer. But it's all 1/2" SS fittings...

Cheers!

 

[vinylrooster]

Fantastic thread OP. As a soon to be new AG brewer this tutorial was invaluable. Unfortunately,I couldn't find food grade or high heat vinyl tubing at my home depot so I might have to get that online in order to line the inside of my hose.

You easily saved me hours, thanks!!

 

[vinylrooster]

Thought I'd let FlyGuy and everyone else know that I just posted my DIY build that followed this guide, but changed a few tiny things because I had an Igloo 10 Gallon Industrial (yellow) Cooler. You can see my build here:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/di...rcial-yellow-water-cooler-416889/#post5280527

You're amazing FG, thanks!

 

[bzwyatt]

I found this stuff to make some washers. Anybody know if it is or is not 'food grade'?

 

[newbies13]

I've searched a bit through this thread, but haven't found anything that addresses the fact that Home Depot 10 gallon coolers have a larger opening now, and the 3/8" size is no where close to what is needed.

Has anyone built one recently with this new cooler, and if so, did you just increase the size of all the parts?

I just recently built this using pretty much all the parts listed here. You may have got a weird cooler, I got the 10 gal orange home depot brand for around $45, I think it was. The nipple portion fit tightly through the original sealing ring that came in the cooler, and the oring fit perfectly inside from the other side. I did need quite a few more washers though to make it tight.... but I cheated that part.

Instead of more washers, I used the extra orings I had (could only buy a 10 pack) and alternated between an oring and a washer to increase the thickness. Using this method I got a very tight seal with only 3 washers.

 

[newbies13]

What's the difference between brass and stainless. I've bad things about brass fittings. Even though some of those fittings say lead free they are not.

I am no expert, but my understanding is that some brass has lead in it. So you will want to look for the parts that state they are lead free. Stainless steel is considered high end for most builds, but cost more. So if you have the money, I would go stainless and impress all your friends.

If money is an issue, look for lead free.

 

[bzwyatt]

I finished my cooler MLT. Used this rectangular cooler and the hole where the spigot was was pretty big. I used the stuff in my post above to make enough washers to get it tight, couldnt find any steel washers in the right size. I didn't use enough rubber ones at first, and it leaked, but I made more and now it is tight.
I also boiled some water with some of this material in it (smells like the neoprene rubber washers I also used) and tasted it to see if I couod taste any flavors. Not a very scientific method maybe, but it tasted better after boiling with neoprene than from my tap, maybe 'cause the chlorine was gone. By a taste test at least, this stuff seems to not leech anything in boiling water.

 

[snoslidr]

Had to create an account to say thanks, came across this in a search. Build was quite a bit of fun as was reading the various posts. My rectangular 'NAPA Auto' cooler (actually a Gott) only needed a stainless washer against the built in O-ring as the 5/8" hardware pretty much screwed right into the gasket since the fit was so tight.

Juiced the brass with HP and Vinegar for 2 mins, that was good to know.

I actually PULLED my plastic hose out of the supply line stainless housing. Someone mentioned it's like a Chinese handcuff, totally right, super helpful on that tip.

Skipped the hose clamps and zip tied it.

Outside valve can turn like many have said, but it doesn't leak, may hit it with a dab of epoxy on the exterior of the valve/cooler.

Gotta agree that for the hard to find parts, the big box stores just don't work. Ace in Beaverton, OR has Stainless washers (not Fender washers, dunno if that matters) for about 60 cents each.

 

[bzwyatt]

Yeah, I got better stuff at an Ace too. I hate HD, it really sucks!

 

[dyqik]

I've searched a bit through this thread, but haven't found anything that addresses the fact that Home Depot 10 gallon coolers have a larger opening now, and the 3/8" size is no where close to what is needed.

Has anyone built one recently with this new cooler, and if so, did you just increase the size of all the parts?

I was struggling with getting my 5 gallon Rubbermaid/Home Depot cooler HLT to seal properly with 3/8" fittings (although my MLT did seal OK eventually) - I gave up and just ordered a couple of 1/2" S/S kits from a brewing vendor (I forget which), which I eventually got to work right - you need thread tape on the inside fittings as well as the outside one. I think these kits were probably cheaper than buying the components at Home Depot as there isn't the waste of money and time trying to get the right bits that fit.

I could have sourced the parts myself I think, but it would've taken a lot longer...

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

I was struggling with getting my 5 gallon Rubbermaid/Home Depot cooler HLT to seal properly with 3/8" fittings (although my MLT did seal OK eventually) - I gave up and just ordered a couple of 1/2" S/S kits from a brewing vendor (I forget which), which I eventually got to work right - you need thread tape on the inside fittings as well as the outside one. I think these kits were probably cheaper than buying the components at Home Depot as there isn't the waste of money and time trying to get the right bits that fit.

I could have sourced the parts myself I think, but it would've taken a lot longer...

You may have answered the question i came to ask, can half inch nipples fit through the hole properly?

I ask because after going to the brew store to look at some Cam lock's i realized that my 3/8 barb makes it basically impossible to hook a camlock up to it.

Actually while writing this i realized for my kettle i ordered a 1/2" nipple that was too long and made my ball valve stick way out...maybe just maybe i can find that!

 

[dyqik]

You may have answered the question i came to ask, can half inch nipples fit through the hole properly?

I ask because after going to the brew store to look at some Cam lock's i realized that my 3/8 barb makes it basically impossible to hook a camlock up to it.

Actually while writing this i realized for my kettle i ordered a 1/2" nipple that was too long and made my ball valve stick way out...maybe just maybe i can find that!

They do fit through nicely, with one washer on each side and a couple of o-rings to seal the washer on the front to the cooler seal. The kit I ordered had a 1/2" nipple about 1.5" long - the kind which just shows a 1/4" gap in the middle between the threads, plus a female coupler, two o-rings, three washers, the ball valve and hose fitting, all in stainless.

Looking at the prices online at Homedepot, I think the kit was cheaper than buying stainless parts from somewhere like there - $28.50 each from bargainfittings.com - but you can probably part it out cheaper if you have a good local independent hardware store or if you are OK with using brass.

 

[mbach72]

I'd like to thank Flyguy and anyone else who has contributed to this thread. I recently started wading into AG via the BIAB route. However, I'm a tinkerer and can't leave well enough alone so I wanted to move to a three vessel setup. After reading this thread(and about a thousand others) I took the plunge today and cobbled together a 5g mash tun using a Rubbermaid 5g cylindrical cooler.

I left the stock rubber or plastic grommet in the spigot hole and used all 3/8" parts. Everything fit like a glove. On the inside, I used a 5/8" o ring and a s/s washer in front of a T , with a barb on each side, allowing me to create a loop of mesh braid. I'm not sure that this even makes a ton of difference but I did it anyhow. The outside required 3 washers to give the valve handle enough clearance.

I know most of you would go all s/s, but I was able to find everything in lead free brass. Not ideal, I know, but it fit the current budget. Here's the good part, I put the entire MT together for $46. That includes the cooler.

For those of you in WI, I sourced all my parts at Menards. They have the 5g Rubbermaid cooler for $16. They even had the elusive 5/8" stainless washers.

Now, to upgrade my boil kettle...

 

[sok454]

Found a 10gal cooler on a local FB site for selling stuff. Got it for 15. Excited to get everything else so I can dive fully into AG. Great notes on here.

 

[liquid134]

i did a similar setup just the other day with a 48qt cooler. i found the stainless fender washers at Menards. pretty cheap too. came in packs of 5 if im not mistaken

 

[Trippel-A]

I was going to build my own with Home Depot parts, but with a false bottom from a homebrew supplier. Unfortunately HD didn't have fender washers or silicon O-rings. I was still going to have to search for them, and I didn't know about bargainfittings.com, yet.

That same weekend, Northern Brewer was offering a free refractometer with their 10-gallon mashtun/sparge tank combo set, which included a false bottom. The refractometer happened to be the difference in price between parting it out myself (I know--I made a spreadsheet!) versus just ordering the damn thing from NB. So I drove back to Home Depot, returned my parts, and ordered the system from NB. Without the refractometer, I would have built it myself.

Unfortunately NB sent pipe nipples too long for the cooler walls... hopefully that will be resolved shortly.

 

[Damoxemus]

Well, just started on this project. Got everything but... you guessed it... 5/8" SS Fender Washers.

First thing's first - is a Fender washer mandatory, or would a flat washer work? There's WAY too many posts to go through to find the answer to that.

Second - I called a couple of Marina shop's and they have tonnes of SS washers in all sizes. I live right on the coast so there's lots here and the price for one washer is 67 cents.

Sweet.

All I need is that O ring (which HD carries but were sold out of) and I'm good to go.

 

[grem135]

SS washers are what you need whatever they want to call them. "Fender" washers are usually large washers with smaller holes. Take your fittings with you to make sure the washers you buy fit.