DIY Thread - Let's see your "Inventions".

[Leahs Mom]

Coming soon!

 

[jimmywalt]

I've got pumps smaller than that...55 gph and only 1-1/2"L x 1-1/2" H x 1-5/8" tall...use them for my small tabletop fountains.

I will be real curious to see if the water in that small leg stays thawed.
The water in the bucket can be kept moving but it's not going to move the water in the pipe much.
What size pipe is that, looks like 1/2 or 3/4"?

I think if the nipple was on a pipe loop, it would have a much better chance of not freezing up.
Yeah Baby, it gets cold in Michigan.......it can stay below freezing, day and night, for weeks!

The pump I have goes up to 92 gph, but can be adjusted down which is what I have done.

The pipe is 3/4" and I can send a piece of flex tubing down it directly from the pump if needed. The pipe is only 6" long so it should maintain the water temp of the bucket.......... and it will be INSIDE the coop which should be a bit warmer than outside. Assuming the heater really can get to 78 degrees in an aquarium, I would hope that it can maintain at least 35 degrees outside in the winter...... Time will tell.

 

[jimmywalt]

Where's the water level need to be on this thing?

It's submersible.......... SO the entire thing including the cord can be under water............. Its the same as mine.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Jimmy - I don't know what watt your heater is but mine was 50 watt and it kept the water warm even in near-zero temps.

 

[aart]

I used the mini cups on a bucket last year. I LOVE the mini cups, but the necks did freeze. Even with the warmer water from the aquarium heater. But the necks are much smaller than the pipe on the nipple waterer above.

You can read the saga here if you're interested. I love 'em for summer, but not using for winter again. This post does show the bucket and the heater I used: http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/2013/02/poultry-cup-drinkers-waterers-winter.html



I did make an ALL GLASS waterer (I hate plastic) that I'll do a post on in the next few days. Was inspired by mlowen. I will be using them year-round and will sell some to other folks if they want one but don't want to invest in the tool or are afraid of working with glass. Will post soon.

Nice write up on the cup waterers and your experience with trying to keep them working in winter...thank you!.... gives me some ideas ;-)

I like the cups too....only using one on a bottle at this point.

 

[jimmywalt]

Jimmy - I don't know what watt your heater is but mine was 50 watt and it kept the water warm even in near-zero temps.

Mine is 50 Watt too.

Thanks for the info!!!!!

 

[Leahs Mom]

The cups are nice because you can just swish them out with your finger, turn them upside down, then return them to upwards. Easy to clean and not big and open so they don't get gunky.

My next project is going to be to try to put one on glass. But I'm not going to do that until next spring.

 

[perchie.girl]

I used a glass submersible aquarium tank heater (50 watt) all last year with no trouble. It had a thermostat on it. Worked MUCH BETTER than the birdbath heater I first tried that was 250 watts!!!!!

The one I used was this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Aqueon-Submer...2313261&sr=1-1&keywords=aqueon+50+watt+heater

Kewl.... thats the size i am used to seeing.... The nice part about these too is you can drop them into the PVCpipe waterers ....I like the fact that both this one and the little one in the tub have rubber bumpers on the ends to protect and assure space between any surface its against.

deb

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote: if its laying down probably not much but the ones I used to use were at least twelve to fifteen inches long so unless you are laying it down they have to have that much water depth.

deb

 

[perchie.girl]

Oooo I want to see your glass waterer!!!

Meeee too....