metal waterer question

[delfargo]

with winter coming on, i had to switch to those double-walled metal waterers because they don't want you putting plastic ones on the heater bases i bought. so... a question to those of you who use these (i've not used them before)..
is there a trick to them? i bought 2, same make & model, i filled 'em both up and put the "lids" on them. 1 of them worked as i expected it to; the base filled up with about an inch of water & stopped there. the other one kept overflowing. i can't have an overflowing waterer in my coop, so i returned it and got another one. it, too, overflowed. i thought maybe i was doing something wrong, so i emptied it out and refilled it and it stopped where it was supposed to. "great, it works" i thought. i came back an hour later and it's overflowing all over the place.
so i took it back outside, empty it again, refill it again and this time it stops filling when it's supposed to. as of this morning, it's still o.k., so.... i'm wondering why it works sometimes and sometimes it doesn't.
any tricks to these things? any thoughts?
thanx

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

There is a small hole at the base where the water comes out. This must be level enough that it doesn't come out from being underwater.

Otherwise it just keeps draining.

If you are on a hill like me, turn the waterer so that the hole is facing downhill.

 

[woodmort]

Yeah, it has to be level. Once water goes over the edge it will keep running out until it drains. I've been using these all my chicken-keeping life and learned about them the hard way.

 

[delfargo]

so i just need to keep it level, eh?
i have each of them on a concrete "paveing stone", so i guess i'll just get my level and some shims and level 'em up and that should do the trick?
hope so. thanx for the info.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

i have each of them on a concrete "paveing stone",

If you had just put that stone on top of your heater, you could have used plastic waterers sitting on the stone​

 

[delfargo]

Quote:
If you had just put that stone on top of your heater, you could have used plastic waterers sitting on the stone

what's that you say? sounds interesting. please explain.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

what's that you say? sounds interesting. please explain

Simply set the concrete paver on top of the heater, and the waterer on the paver.
The concrete moderates the heat so it won't melt the plastic

You may want to set another paver under the heater to help it stay level and keep mice out

Plug it into a Thermocube and it will turn itself on and off

http://www.nextag.com/thermo-cube/stores-html

Another variation is to put a 40-60 Watt light bulb inside a large clay flowerpot, and set your waterer on that​

 

[delfargo]

thanx for the idea, bear foot!
if i can't get the metal waterers to not over-flow, i will try that and use my trusted plastic waterers.
thanx again.