Little Giant 3 gal plastic waterer not siphoning

[taveltkamp]

I have the same one you are describing, only it's 11 gallons and it's worthless! It worked in the beginning, then I had the same problem one day after setting it back up. Well, I checked it to make sure that the hole in the white dome part was matched up with the hole on the red bottome part. Well, that did the trick. Water came out fine then. So, I marked the top and the bottom with a marker so I'd know how to connect it the next time. Well, it's been 4 months and now the dumb thing just leaks and leaks. It leaked all 11 gallons in 2 days. There are no holes that don't belong. It's almost as if the plastic has stretched from the weight of the water and so the base doesn't seal on there any more.

I'm trying to decide if I should just get a metal one or another plastic one just a differen kind. Any suggestions? This is really frustrating!

 

[Robo]

I hate all of the plastic waterers exept the one gallon screw on Little Giant. These things are very simple and work very well. I only wish it had a handel to hang it from.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

I have since switched to the galvanized waterers,,I have 1-5 gallon sized one,,and 2-2 gallon sized ones,,the big thing to remember about these is,carrying them once full,,as my 5 gallon one now has some places around the top handle where it was spot welded,that have cracked-ect,and now allow air to come in thru the top,,so I took some bathroom caulk and smeared around the inside to close these small leaks. And don't forget about freezing weather,,a few nites when it was only supposed to get down to 33-34 range, I didn't bother to empty mine,,next morning it was a pain to get the top off,as the thin layer of water freezes between both canisters. I have bought all mine on sale,,5 gallon size I bought for $19.99,,and the 2 gallon size for $11.99,,,they are very dependable,as long as they are positioned on flat ground,and with these,the dirty water that accumilates in the actual drinking area,does not get siphoned into the unused drinking water,making this water still good all day,,

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Have you checked to make sure the hole is actually open?

There is no LOGICAL reason for water not to come out UNLESS the hole is blocked

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Bearfoot,,I have bought 2 of the 3 gallon sized plastic waterers,,I changed water in them every day,and in the summertime twice each day,,they are JUNK,,many times I would come back and look at the level in them during the day,and see they maybe was down a gallon,but the drinking bowl was completely empty,,as soon as I pushed down a little on the top water would go into the drinking part,,but there was nothing blocking the hole,it was not frozen at the time,and the holes was lined up. I even tried hanging them,since they had a handle on them,thinking the weight of the water and gravity would possibly always put downward pressure on the red drinking cup part,making it easier for it to siphon,,,this did not help,only made it harder to refill twice a day.Something is not correct in their design,,possibly not a large enough siphon hole,,water holding part may be too tall,and should be shorter and fatter,,but there just isn't enough "draw" in the drinking cup to constantly allow siphoning for equalization of water levels in the drinking bowl.

 

[Azriel]

I have the one with the heated base. It works well, and I do like it, but it is a pain to turn over, and more than once I've ended up with 3 gal's of water all over everything including me, then not only do I have to go get another bucket of water, I have to put up with 16 chickens laughing at me.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Something is not correct in their design,,possibly not a large enough siphon hole

Thats what I'm referring to .

I've seen some that had excess plastic from the molds partially blocking the holes​

 

[Rockytopper]

14 years later, the same problem with Miller 3-gal heated base waterer. It will not let water down. I went online to see if others had the problem and found a solution, but have not found any.