Credit for my idea goes to Muddy Hill Farms and their cooler adapter for insulated Coolers. When I purchased them, they were $26 for 4 of them. They lasted two summers but this third summer. I decided I wanted something that would overcome the design flaws with this particular setup.
• Must silicone to the inside of the cooler, making it more difficult to thread in the water nipple and not spin the inside breaking the silicone
• Gaskets rip and you cannot order replacements
• The plastic tube is thin and the nipple side flares out and doesn't hold form. Making nipple replacement requires silicone on the replacement
Parts:
• A cooler that you are willing to drill holes in. I went with the Coleman 316 series from Amazon. $47.79
• Sharkbite PEX-B 3/8-in (1/2-in O.D.) 5' for $2.98
• Uniseal 3/8" $1.14 ea. They are available on Amazon but they are $4.45 ea. (you need 1 per nipple)
• Horizontal nipple, prices vary but the ones in this project are tapered.
•
Tools:
• 1/2" drill bit
• 7/8" hole saw (you could use 15/16")
• Tool to cut PEX pipe
• Ice pick or something to poke a hole through the plastic
Build:
• Cut the PEX pipe to your desired length. This build was about 4"
• Screw nipple into the PEX pipe.
• Use your hole saw on the inside and only cut the first layer of plastic. You will need to clear some insultation to make room for the Uniseal.
• Insert your Uniseal, with a 7/8" hole you may need something to help you if you finger strength isn't there.
• Now use the pick from inside the cooler. Center it best you can and poke a hole outside.
• From the outside, use a 1/2" drill and drill back through the hole you just poked.
• Insert your PEX pipe with fitting already installed through the Uniseal
Comments:
I installed two of these using a 1" hole saw and felt the fitting was a little lose. One of them has a drip but isn't terrible. I then installed two more nipple on the backside using a 7/8" hole saw and felt the fitting was much tighter.
Notes:
• I rotate a frozen gallon jug of water into the cooler so the girls have cold water during the summers. It doesn't freeze much in Texas but last winter it did. I discovered that the nipples froze and my birds couldn't drink from this. I purchased a Farm Innovators Model W-409 Submergible Bucket Livestock Water 1000 purchased from Amazon and solved the problem.
Benefits to this design:
• PEX pipe is much thicker and will hold its shape better than the other
• No silicone should be required if seated properly (or acceptable drips per minute)
• Replacement nipple can be done quickly by having another 4" PEX with nipple ready. Pull out the old, insert the new with minimal water loss.
• Must silicone to the inside of the cooler, making it more difficult to thread in the water nipple and not spin the inside breaking the silicone
• Gaskets rip and you cannot order replacements
• The plastic tube is thin and the nipple side flares out and doesn't hold form. Making nipple replacement requires silicone on the replacement
Parts:
• A cooler that you are willing to drill holes in. I went with the Coleman 316 series from Amazon. $47.79
• Sharkbite PEX-B 3/8-in (1/2-in O.D.) 5' for $2.98
• Uniseal 3/8" $1.14 ea. They are available on Amazon but they are $4.45 ea. (you need 1 per nipple)
• Horizontal nipple, prices vary but the ones in this project are tapered.
•
Tools:
• 1/2" drill bit
• 7/8" hole saw (you could use 15/16")
• Tool to cut PEX pipe
• Ice pick or something to poke a hole through the plastic
Build:
• Cut the PEX pipe to your desired length. This build was about 4"
• Screw nipple into the PEX pipe.
• Use your hole saw on the inside and only cut the first layer of plastic. You will need to clear some insultation to make room for the Uniseal.
• Insert your Uniseal, with a 7/8" hole you may need something to help you if you finger strength isn't there.
• Now use the pick from inside the cooler. Center it best you can and poke a hole outside.
• From the outside, use a 1/2" drill and drill back through the hole you just poked.
• Insert your PEX pipe with fitting already installed through the Uniseal
Comments:
I installed two of these using a 1" hole saw and felt the fitting was a little lose. One of them has a drip but isn't terrible. I then installed two more nipple on the backside using a 7/8" hole saw and felt the fitting was much tighter.
Notes:
• I rotate a frozen gallon jug of water into the cooler so the girls have cold water during the summers. It doesn't freeze much in Texas but last winter it did. I discovered that the nipples froze and my birds couldn't drink from this. I purchased a Farm Innovators Model W-409 Submergible Bucket Livestock Water 1000 purchased from Amazon and solved the problem.
Benefits to this design:
• PEX pipe is much thicker and will hold its shape better than the other
• No silicone should be required if seated properly (or acceptable drips per minute)
• Replacement nipple can be done quickly by having another 4" PEX with nipple ready. Pull out the old, insert the new with minimal water loss.
