Better Fittings for Mash Tun (round cooler style)?

LindyBrew

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I'm building a new all grain setup using a few of the 10 gallon home depot round coolers. I HATE the flimsy feeling of the bulk head fitting when i'm opening and closing the valve. The flex of the bulk head makes me nervous especially when theres gallons of hot liquid in there. I also seem to have issues with small leaks. Any one have a some suggestions for better fittings to firm up the bulk head and valve?
 
A picture of what you have now might help, but I have found that even with the best bulkhead, there will be some flex due to the cooler being made of plastic and the bulkhead/valve being installed at the thinnest point. Having said that, I have flex in my mash tun, and I have done close to 50 batches with my current setup and have had no problems.
 
The extra large (ie. 2" O.D.) stainless washers on each side can remove some of the flex, by spreading the stress to a larger area when operating valve . Good quality , snug fitting O-ring on the inside of Tun should prevent drips. As many, including myself have learned the hard way, fittings, washers, O rings are not the place to be cheap and save $5 in your brew process.
 
Thanks for the replies, I sorta figured this is what I'd be limited to. My theory is that despite the manufacturer most of these 10gallon coolers have the same or very similar construction and specs. It seems that there should be a more refined solution for this that would be able to be used on just about any 10g cooler, but I'm probably just over engineering this in my head.
 

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