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

[debp]

pdirt wrote:
For the horizontal nipples, I used a 250W stock tank de-icer. IIRC, it comes on at 35F and shuts off at 45F, so even though it's 250W, it takes less time to heat the water and doesn't heat it as much.

I have horizontal nipples on a 5 gal bucket and they are working fine now, but I will need to think about winter. Do most stock tank deicers come with something that turns on and off with changes in the water temperature? Are they appropriate for a 5 gal plastic pail?

 

[Leahs Mom]

Mine comes on at 35 and shuts off at 45. I have one of the round ones that could also be used in a bird bath. I also plug it into a thermocube which has the same parameters. But the deicer is measuring the WATER temp and the thermocube is measuring the AIR temp.

Mine is like this:


You can get them at local farm stores: Tractor Supply, Big R, Etc.

http://www.amazon.com/Allied-Precis...=1407007843&sr=8-8&keywords=bird+bath+de-icer

 

[pdirt]

pdirt wrote:
For the horizontal nipples, I used a 250W stock tank de-icer. IIRC, it comes on at 35F and shuts off at 45F, so even though it's 250W, it takes less time to heat the water and doesn't heat it as much.

I have horizontal nipples on a 5 gal bucket and they are working fine now, but I will need to think about winter. Do most stock tank deicers come with something that turns on and off with changes in the water temperature? Are they appropriate for a 5 gal plastic pail?

I don't know about most stock tank de-icers, but the one I got does shut on/off automatically to keep the water thawed but not too warm (wasting electricity). The one I have has a plastic cage around the heating element, which keeps the heater from actually touching the plastic bucket, or anything else for the matter. I use a 3 gallon bucket, so it should be fine for 5 gal one.

FYI, it seems that most of the products sold by the brand Farm Innovators have very poor reviews on Amazon.

Here's the one I use: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002QXN1H8/ref=twister_B002QXN1I2 (the 250W version, I removed the floater ring)

Mind you, when I bought it, it was sold by a different seller and qualified for free shipping (I think even Prime). Vendors seem to change regularly all the time on amazon, so perhaps by fall there will be a different seller and/or free shipping.

 

[aart]

Here's the one I use: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002QXN1H8/ref=twister_B002QXN1I2 (the 250W version, I removed the floater ring)

Is this the one that didn't turn off when the water ran low?

 

[debp]

Thanks, pdirt, very helpful. I'll take a look at Amazon and check our coop, too.

 

[pdirt]

Is this the one that didn't turn off when the water ran low?

Yes.

My hunch though is that all these water heaters with a safety auto-off feature to prevent a fire is it's a one-way trip. Meaning, it probably burns some non-replacable fuse and then your device is toast. I suppose I could test the device by dry heating it on concrete or bare dirt, but I'd hate to do that just to "know" it works and have to fork out another $45 (currently $35+$10 shipping on Amazon) for a new one.

It's COMPLETELY my fault that I let the water get too low. The instructions say not to, but I got lazy and thought, "Well, it will shut off if needed". It hadn't shut off when *I* thought it should (being only partially submerged).

In other words, if they made the safety feature work too well, they would get complaints and bad press from folks who have them burn out because they didn't follow instructions. If they removed the safety feature outright, then they would get sued by folks who didn't follow the instructions and rather than own up to the fact that they screwed up, they will want to blame the manufacturer. Yes, I think that manufacturers need to design and sell safe products, but IMO, way too many folks avoid their own responsibility and want to blame someone else.

Had the unit failed to shut off at all and it burned down our coops and chickens, wow I would feel just terrible. But I wouldn't sue. It wasn't their fault, but mine. If the thing suddenly exploded and electricuted me, the chickens then started a fire (and I was following instructions), then I might consider a lawsuit.

Perhaps these devices should be sold with strict warning on the box label to not let the water get lower than the device and in the very fine print in the instruction booklet a passing mention that it has a safety auto-off feature.

I trust this design over some of the others for a couple reasons, 1) It has a cage to keep the heating element from touching anything and 2) It's not encased in aluminum (I have a thing against aluminum touching food or water).

 

[debp]

Thanks, Leahs Mom. Another place to check out. It's hard to imagine winter again, but summer goes quickly now.

 

[pawtraitart]

For my trio of polish, I set a food safe BPA free 2 quart container on a seedling heat mat with one horizontal nipple in it. Even at well below zero it never froze. It worked perfectly and I didn't have to remove ice from my polish head dresses.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Forgot to say that when I was using that deicer in mine, I put a pyrex container down into the bucket and set it in the pyrex. (I have round, high-sided pyrex containers in 3 different sizes.) That way I felt more comfortable that it wasn't sitting directly on the plastic.

 

[iwiw60]

Forgot to say that when I was using that deicer in mine, I put a pyrex container down into the bucket and set it in the pyrex. (I have round, high-sided pyrex containers in 3 different sizes.) That way I felt more comfortable that it wasn't sitting directly on the plastic.

GENIUS!! I'll be hunting yard sales to find me one to use in my bucket for the stock tank heater thing...THANKS!!