Galvanized double walled Waterers leaking

[Barred4Life]

I had a problem with the 2 Gallon, Double Wall Fount from Little Giant. Water kept seeping out slowly. Same story I've been reading about on here, how you get back to your coop a couple of hours later to find the litter soaked!! The only thing I could think of was that air was leaking in somehow. So I fill the outter jacket with water and waited to see if water was coming out. And it was! All along the top seal and the side seal of that cover piece. Ah ha!! That's where the air was leaking in preventing it from creating a real vacuum seal. We put silicone all along the outer edges...and voilà! Haven't had a leak since

 

[jawinder]

Oh, thank you! Filling the lid with water is brilliant! I've been searching
this thread for answers to diagnose and fix my leaking waterer. I will
try this today!

 

[lorenzosbaby]

We got chickens for the first time last week and bought a 5 gallon waterer from TSC. We've been wondering why it's continually leaking and figured we had wasted $50 on it. So, I decided to check online and see if anyone had posted about the same issue. I was so happy to find this thread and the final suggestion of checking the lid for leaks and sealing it with silicone! Today, we did that, and of course, there was a leak!! We used the silicone and it WORKED!! I am relieved and so thankful to have stumbled across this site! As a newbie to raising chickens, this is a helpful community and I signed up to be a member, as well!

 

[LoneOak]

I just posted this earlier tonight for another member, more people need to learn how to use the search function.


The top part of the galvanized waterer most likely has a leak allowing AIR to enter the waterer which lets water flow out the bottom. Even if the washer on the little spring loaded valve is bad the waterer shouldn't leak. The only way for water to run out of it is when AIR goes in.

Most likely your waterer has developed an AIR leak around where the handle attaches to the lid. You can carry it by this but it is not designed to be hung up by the handle(not saying your hanging it). To find your AIR leak, take the top off and turn it upside down and fill the top with water, you should see where the water is escaping and that is where your AIR leak is. Use some silicone gasket maker like RTV Blue silicone, available at auto parts store or auto section of Walmart, To seal the AIR leak from inside. It will work better on the inside than outside. Wait till it dries completely and refill the waterer and put the lid on. If there are no more AIR leaks the waterer should then work fine.

I tried to explain this the best I could, if you still need more help don't hesitate to ask. The science behind the theory about how these works is the same for nearly all the waterers of this type including the plastic ones as well. Water can't escape the reservoir unless air can
get in. When the birds drink the water down it generally uncovers a small hole or in this case the entire top which allows air to enter, when air enters water escapes until it covers the hole or top. If it leaks you have to find where air is entering.

 

[lisa523]

I am having the same problem. I can not get these fixed and I even purchased a new one and I think it was damaged prior when I bought it at TSC. I will check my lid, if it is the air leaking, what type of silicone do I use? I only have silicone caulking.

It is so frustrating!

 

[LivelyHens]

I've tried both Orscheln's and TSC double walled founts, both are different company made, I found Orscheln's to be far superior to TSC, however Orscheln's does not keep any double wall founts on hand and must be special ordered they only carry nipple and pan waterers, however during the winter months I only put water in a pan, 1 gallon, twice a day, as my coop isn't heated and I'm in southern Indiana.

 

[LivelyHens]

Also make sure your fount is level, if it isn't level, it will all leak out, I put my fount atop a cinder block so the girls and guy won't get any trash into it and block the flow, even a blade of straw hanging over the drinker will leave 4 gallons out over night.

 

[jst2285]

My 5 gallon galvanized water was leaking too. So I took the cover off. Turned the cover upside down and filled the cover with water. Sure, enough, I leaked water around the cover handle. So I sprayed it with Rubber Flex Seal. Watered works great now. I will not carry it by the cover handle anymore. Thanks for your help!

 

[afelici]

Thanks for the silicon tip.

I was so disappointed with my galvanized water feeder that I tossed it to the side on 9/15. It was so useless and I did not have the time ti mess around with a defective problem. Then I read these posts and Silicon, "Brilliant"!

1 hour after applying it, I filled it to it's max capacity and not one drop leaked!

 

[JerryC999]

I am going to risk a really dumb question here, but I ordered a 3 gallon Harris Farms double wall online when the chicks were chicks, and so actually did not get around to using it until several weeks later. Now that I am trying to use it, it is in three pieces, with the inner tank not at all attached to the pan. I see no way for it to hold water, be carried - anything of the sort. Water just simply runs freely through it and out the pan and onto the floor.

Is that inner tank supposed to be attached to the pan? How do these things work? It is too late to return it now.