PVC Nipple Waterer questions

[catchthewind]

We're planning on making a waterer very similar to this one: https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2636-chicken-nipples-anyone

That ones uses silicone to seal it, but I noticed a lot of other people use PVC glue. I thought the PVC glue might work out better long term since it's meant to stick to PVC, and bought some, but it has all sorts of warnings about being toxic, etc. Is it okay to use in pipes that will be holding drinking water for chickens as long as we make sure to let it cure completely?

Also, how do you clean a PVC nipple system? One of the couplings I bought swivels so we can take the bucket off easily to clean that, but how would we clean the actual pipe and the nipples?

Lastly, the nipples I bought are a little different from some I've seen here. They're yellow threaded nipples. The instructions I got with them didn't say anything about needing a gasket or grommet or anything like that. I have an 11/32" drill bit to make the holes (which is what it specified). Do I need anything else around it? Is it safe to put a little silicone or PVC glue (as long as I make sure none is on the outside where the chickens will peck) around them just to make sure?

Thanks!

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I used regular pvc glue for mine. I think it's fine once cured. I made my system so it could be easily disassembled with threaded pvc fittings. You might also consider assembling it without any glue. It might hold together just fine. I used a bottle brush tapped to a wooden dowel to clean the longer pipe with the nipples. On my threaded nipples I put a thin coating of silicone around the threads. You could use teflon tape or nothing at all--which is what I'd do with the threaded ones in the future. Good luck!

 

[catchthewind]

Thank you so much for all the information! Yes ours should be able to mostly be disassembled, though I overlooked the elbow joint. I might try not gluing that piece and see if it leaks or not. It certainly would make it easier to clean if I could take the elbow joint off and on.

Thanks again!

 

[BWKatz]

The biggest thing about the nipple waterer is to make sure it is supported on either side so that it doesn't get damaged.If it gets hit , it gets knocked sideways and cracks the bottom of the bucket. even with repairing with silicon it eventually becomes unusable.

 

[sanyijr]

I have used both the Stainless Steel and plastic threaded ones. I have a tapping set and I threaded 3/4" PVC. So no glue is needed there. And for the caps and elbows and such, I used very little glue so that none would actually bleed or flood into the piping it self.... Good luck!

 

[CarolynF]

Hi all,
This thread is old, but the topic is just what I need. I have the bucket and pipe, but realized there are a few details we need to iron out before starting to cut.


This is what I have at the moment (pvc pipe will take the place of the pen). The green thing is a hose fitting that allows me to shut off the flow of water if & when I need to clean or replace the nipples. The 2 pieces on the right are the ones I think will attach to the bucket. The one on the far right goes inside the bucket, the one next to it screws into it from the exterior of the bucket. Do these look right?

We want to have the pipe go into a hole in the side of the bucket not the bottom because the bucket will be sitting on a platform. How do we seal that hole to be water tight? The 2 pvc fittings don't include a gasket and don't screw together tightly enough to make a good seal with the bucket itself. Would a rubber washer work on the curved side, or would silicone be better? I've seen silicone come loose when used on a surface that has some flex to it. If the bucket gets moved around for cleaning and such could that be enough flex to loosen the silicone seal?

I'm assuming I'll need to disconnect the bucket from the pvc line occasionally for a thorough cleaning. What type of fittings are best to make that easy to do? Would it be smart to use a quick connector like I use for my garden hoses & sprinklers? The ones I have are brass, but I don't think it's good to mix pvc & metal, right?

If you happen to have photos of how you did it, or links to the correct pieces/fittings that would be really useful.

Thanks so much for your input!

 

[catchthewind]

We have ours built now, and did ours very similarly to what you have pictured there. There are pictures on my blog here: http://citygirlinthecountry.ca/2011/homemade-pvc-nipple-waterer including the fittings we used to be able to take it apart. I used silicone between the bucket and the fittings. It works okay, but does leak a little bit. Not enough that I'm overly concerned right now, but I do have to watch it doesn't get worse and I'll need to fix it before winter. I think a rubber gasket might work really well if you can get the right size of one. I'm pretty sure the reason our silicone is leaking is because I tried to take short cuts and siliconed it while the bucket was still a bit wet, and after the fittings were already in place. Next time, I would let it dry completely and also put silicone on the fittings as I pushed them through so the silicone would sort of bulge up on both sides, if that makes sense. I think that would prevent issues from the bucket flexing.

 

[CarolynF]

Lindsay, thanks! I didn't know about the swivel piece. It looks easy to turn since it's large-ish. We were thinking of using 1/2" pipe, I wonder if it will be hard to drill accurately. We have some extra pieces around so will probably test it. I like your comments on how/when/where to use the silicone. I really appreciate your great documentation and photos.

 

[dbounds10]

Hi - I used PVC glue for mine and all seems to be ok so far. Mine is not as elaborate as the others but it seems to work pretty well. I have a regular water jug inside the coop and the PVC one in the run. Here are a couple pics:

In the coop:

The one is the run is a 4 ft section of 4 inch PVC with a cap on the bottom and a nipple inserted into the cap. The top has a rubber stopper in it kind of like what you use to stop the sink to was dishes. It keep the water clean and I just take the top off and fill it with the hose once a week. With only six chickens they dont go through the whole 5 gallons or so that often. I also use ACV and ice in this one (The mist you see in these pictures is from the misting system we installed last weekend)

This is the close up of the bottom where the nipple is:

 

[gabe4223]

lo