Vertical (gravity) vs. horizontal (spring loaded) watering nipples

[LindaB220]

I copied it from a listing on e-bay.... I think that seller is a member on this forum.... Good guy to deal with... I bought my nipples from him...

I see, I didn't look at the post correctly. Like you, I ordered from him.

 

[TheGeekySheep]

Ugh, if anyone is going to use those translucent buckets I posted, be VERY careful with your drill. Low and slow or you will end up with a wonky cracked hole.

That one I thought I saved with silicone ended up leaking at the crack, so I tried another one, pulled the trigger on a drill a little too hard and ended up with another wonky hole. Luckily my third attempt was perfect. May turn the other two into transparent feeders.

 

[iwiw60]

Ugh, if anyone is going to use those translucent buckets I posted, be VERY careful with your drill. Low and slow or you will end up with a wonky cracked hole.

That one I thought I saved with silicone ended up leaking at the crack, so I tried another one, pulled the trigger on a drill a little too hard and ended up with another wonky hole. Luckily my third attempt was perfect. May turn the other two into transparent feeders.

That's what I was afraid I'd be seeing someone posting...I went to the Home Depot website and they look nice, but 'thin' somewhat in the photos. Yes, they looked 'thin' to me, too. Sorry you had that experience. I just use food-grade white plastic buckets..the thick-walled kind.

 

[iwiw60]

This is from one of the sellers site....


5 Horizontal Poultry Nipples

Horizontal poultry nipples don't drip and leak like vertical nipples tend to do. Chickens easily learn how to use them and you can feel confident that your birds are drinking clean water. The tapered thread makes it a breeze to install. Your order will include instructions. Nipples are spring loaded and made in Europe.


100% Guaranteed no leaking or dripping~Always Pristine Water~Easy Maintenance~100% Customer Satisfaction

Please email [email protected] if you have any problems with your order, We will ALWAYS FIX IT. Thanks

Installing Tips:
The manufacturer recommends using 11/32 Drill Bit.
One nipple waters 6-8 birds.
If you are making a bucket we recommend drilling a 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 inch hole in the lid for easy re-filling or adding de-icer for winter climates.

More tips are included in our instructions as is our email address and our phone number....We are here to be of service to You! Happy Watering!
The manufacturer may recommend using an 11/32 drill bit, but Rich, who sells the nipples on eBay, said to use a 3/8" drill bit or you're asking for probs with leaks.

 

[DaveOmak]

The manufacturer may recommend using an 11/32 drill bit, but Rich, who sells the nipples on eBay, said to use a 3/8" drill bit or you're asking for probs with leaks.

Does Rich sell the horizontal nipples..... or a different brand..... just curious.... so we are all on the same page....

I tried a 3/8 drill and the holes was a little small and the nipple leaked... went to an 11/32 drill and it worked perfect....
I was drilling into 1" thin wall PVC pipe.... FWIW....

 

[iwiw60]

Does Rich sell the horizontal nipples..... or a different brand..... just curious.... so we are all on the same page....

I tried a 3/8 drill and the holes was a little small and the nipple leaked... went to an 11/32 drill and it worked perfect....
I was drilling into 1" thin wall PVC pipe.... FWIW....

Thanks for posting that pic, Dave...mine are fitted into a white bucket, yours are in a PVC tube, so there's where the difference may very well lie....I'm not familiar with putting them into tubes, just the buckets....thanks for enlightening this 'ol senior citizen!

 

[aart]

5/16 is smaller than 11/32.
11/32 is smaller than 3/8.
Had to carefully check fractions chart as I often get them confused beyond the eighths.

I've used 5/16 on HDPE(#2 - typical 5 gallon bucket, milk/juice jugs) and PETE(#1 - common food jars) with great success.
You don't screw them in all the way, just until it's finger tight...test with water and tighten one turn further if you have a leak.
This gives some room for error and further tightening down the road in case of leaks.

Have not tried to install into a hole drilled into PVC piping, but I would think that it's hard to self thread into PVC as it's much harder than the HDPE and PETE.
OK, I had to go try it quick, 3/8 hole in shd40 pvc pipe. Threads in OK but I didn't test for water tightness.
The Soloway (Rich represents them) HN will also thread perfectly into an 1/8" National Pipe Thread fittings.

It helps to understand the properties of plastics(especially hardness) and how threads work to have no leaks(this can take an experienced touch, some folks just don't have that touch). I have extensive machining and manufacturing experience so look at it from a different perspective than most chicken keepers.

JM2cents

 

[DaveOmak]

Good point...... Maybe the 3/8 were a little big... Heavens, I'm to old to remember what I had for dinner yesterday....

 

[threadcrafters]

I pretty much figured that on the hawks. I would have a hard time doing that anyway. I'm planning on trying that tree mesh over the paddock area. I'm thinking they will not want to attempt going through it. They would get tangled I would think Its funny because we had chickens years ago and only had a few raccoon attempts on the birds. Now we have every kind of predator you can think of
I couldn't open your attachment on my iPad but will later. I was wondering if my bucket might be double walled. That would not be good. Thanks for the tip
Cheryl

 

[Leahs Mom]

5/16 is smaller than 11/32.
11/32 is smaller than 3/8.
Had to carefully check fractions chart as I often get them confused beyond the eighths.

I've used 5/16 on HDPE(#2 - typical 5 gallon bucket, milk/juice jugs) and PETE(#1 - common food jars) with great success.
You don't screw them in all the way, just until it's finger tight...test with water and tighten one turn further if you have a leak.
This gives some room for error and further tightening down the road in case of leaks.

Have not tried to install into a hole drilled into PVC piping, but I would think that it's hard to self thread into PVC as it's much harder than the HDPE and PETE.
OK, I had to go try it quick, 3/8 hole in shd40 pvc pipe. Threads in OK but I didn't test for water tightness.
The Soloway (Rich represents them) HN will also thread perfectly into an 1/8" National Pipe Thread fittings.

It helps to understand the properties of plastics(especially hardness) and how threads work to have no leaks(this can take an experienced touch, some folks just don't have that touch). I have extensive machining and manufacturing experience so look at it from a different perspective than most chicken keepers.

JM2cents

Mine are on the regular food buckets also. Used 11/32.

I have also used the white pipe thread tape on them if needed.

I did have one bucket that cracked just above the threads so I had to do a different bucket. Other than that no leak problems yet.