Adjust Little Giant 2550 auto-waterer?

[Ahab]

Is there a trick I'm missing to adjust water levels in the Little Giant 2500-series poultry founts?

Per the instructions, screwing the control nut toward the spring increases water level; screwing it away from the spring reduces. Clear and simple. Except that there seems to be an imperceptible microfraction of a turn between a damp puddle in the bottom of the bowl, and overflowing enthusiastically onto the ground.

What am I doing wrong? The fount is brand new. Could the valve be defective?

 

[mljohnson05]

not sure with that one, but I will give you a BUMP so ur post is on top

 

[smeek1]

I also am having trouble with my little giant waterer. The first one I had didn't turn off at all...the water just kept flowing. I took it back and they gave me another one, and this one won't turn on unless I push the bottom of the bowl up. I have a hard time believing both of them are faulty....but I am zero for two with the waterer ! tomorrow a friend who has one is coming over to see if he can fix it, I'm stumped. I followed the instructions but it ain't workin'!

 

[Ahab]

Well, I'm still fiddling with mine, and the difference between overflowing into the yard and a pathetic little puddle at the bottom of the bowl is less than one knurl on the control nut: I'm guessing less than 1/64 inch.

I bought it from Fleming Outdoor by mail so return is problematic, but it's unusable the way it stands.

Years ago you saw these in every poultry barn around here. Maybe the new ones, like everything else, are, uh, manure.

 

[Sore Thumb Suburbanite]

Sounds like you all got a bad batch of springs on your valves... I have two of the 2550 little giant waterers for my ducks, I had no problem adjusting them for the 1/2 full setting. Its all in the spring tension.

If you are desparate and you really can't do a return... you can always just order another valve and in the mean time put a few smooth pebbles in the bowl and have it set to the high setting until it arrives... then return the original valve as faulty...explaining the spring tension is the wrong callibration.

Hope this helps...I really love my waterers and I couldn't think of using anything else now... Sometimes manufacturers get parts that look and feel right but until tested (and used) would never show their flaws... I deal with this a lot in car parts.

 

[Sore Thumb Suburbanite]

Yikes! Looks like flemming is charging $29.50 plus $11 for shipping (at least to California they charge $11)... I would order them from Cutler Supply online for 22.00 and swap them once the new ones arrive, then return the originals as defective... at least that way you can recoup a little cost and I'm fairly sure Cutler's stock has good valves, I just got mine from them about 3 weeks ago and they work well.

Whatever you do, It sounds like you will have to return something... call the company first, they may issue you a call tag and UPS may pick it up from you for free or you won't have to pay postage... Make a big stink if they don't offer that type of service...you recieved defective parts and its their job to make good especially since you can get them elsewhere cheaper!

 

[Ahab]

I've now exchanged emails with customer service at Miller Mfg., which makes Little Giant. They provided some elementary troubleshooting information, which I'd already done but did again, and then they asked for a copy of the receipt, presumably to mail me a replacement valve assembly.

Returning them to Fleming so that I can order at a cheaper price elsewhere strikes me as a bit unsavory. My fault for not shopping around more, not Fleming's. (Cutler seems cheaper for pretty much everything, which was good to discover). But distributors ship what they're sent, and defective merchandise can come from any supplier.

 

[Sore Thumb Suburbanite]

Quote:
I'm glad miller is going to work with you... they sell a fine product and I'm sure they don't want word getting out about defects or poor quality valve springs... enjoy your waterers when you have them working... I love mine so much!

 

[Nandinaberry]

Is there a trick I'm missing to adjust water levels in the Little Giant 2500-series poultry founts?

Per the instructions, screwing the control nut toward the spring increases water level; screwing it away from the spring reduces. Clear and simple. Except that there seems to be an imperceptible microfraction of a turn between a damp puddle in the bottom of the bowl, and overflowing enthusiastically onto the ground.

What am I doing wrong? The fount is brand new. Could the valve be defective?

I just bought one of these waterers, and had trouble with it overflowing, no matter how I adjusted the water level screws. It would never shut off. When I took the bowl off I saw that water was dripping from the bottom of the valve stem, so I used some tiny jeweler's needle-nose pliers I had and tightened it up. Yay! No more dripping, no more water bowl overflow.

There is a special valve remover tool you can buy, but the mini pliers I used worked fine. You just have to be careful not to bend the tiny valve stem. Do not grab that with the pliers.

This watering system is working beautifully for my three ducks. The large bowl is deep enough for them to dip their whole bill in. I keep a very large clay pot saucer under it to catch the splash-out, and it's very nice that it is suspended. It's less messy that way and the ducks can siphon through the whole saucer underneath the waterer.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Most problems with these waterers are due to the Schrader valve.
Any auto parts store sells them, along with the tool used to remove or tighten them.
You can usuall buy several, with the tool, for less than $2