Freezing Nipple Drinkers

[Ole rooster]

I'm in a state of denial. I'll never see frozen water. It won't happen. Not here. No way.

 

[ajlynco]

Who is a reputable dealer to order the red nipples from?

 

[Tomski]

I ordered mine from here:

http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplie...01&langId=-1&division=FarmTek&productId=17664

 

[gale65]

This is good info-thanks.

As for buying, I bought mine from the OP and although I haven't installed them yet, I am confident that they are perfect or if not, he'll make it right.

 

[chikenwisconsin]

During freezing The threaded style nipples expand and the threads "strip-out" and then when the system thaws they fall right out and you loose all your water. Happened twice now to me in real world use. I am now looking for solid stainless or brass ones. these cheap plastic housings do not work in very cold climates. I could care less about the cost as long as they are tough enough to hold up to freeze/thaw cycles. I have 6 of them on one pipe and only one or two freeze at a time. Also will help that metal will transfer heat better to keep from freezing. I have warm water being circulated via pump, but the exposed nipples still freeze at around 10-15 degees

 

[KPhomestead]

I have never had any problems with my thread type nipples "striping out" during freezing weather. I haven't had the water in my pipes freeze solid though, which I'm sure is what could cause this to happen. My experience it that if kept properly heated and insulated the pvc pipes rarely will freeze, but since the nipples are exposed to the air they do seem to freeze.
I have mitigated this by using heat tape on the pvc and circulating warm water through through them at all times. Between the heater in the holding tank, the heat tape and some cheap foam insulation the water stays warm enough to keep my nipples at least half thawed out, depending on where they are along the pipe run. This all may be overkill to most people, but with night time temps around -15 -20 lately, it keeps my birds drinking.