We have a "slimline" water butt, which is deep and the opening at the top is small. One of these:
www.amazon.co.uk/Harcostar-Space-Sava-Water-Litre/dp/B000A63K2Y
A kind workman has broken the tap at the bottom when moving it. It's too complex politically to make it "his problem".
All the replacement taps I can find have a nut that goes on the inside of the water butt. However, I can't physically reach down far enough inside it to put the nut on. Nobody other than Kong could.
So, panel - does anybody know if there is a different sort of tap that magically works in this kind of butt? Otherwise I'll have to fork out for a whole new water butt.
Google, he tells me nothing.
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Can you replace the tap with a bung?
I've used a piece of wood with a rag as a gasket in the past, although that was in a steel tank.
Or cut off the tap and fix a short length of hose to the stub, with a new tap on the end of the hose.
Last edited by: Iffy on Mon 17 Jan 11 at 12:12
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I know what you mean. It's difficult enough with an ordinary water butt. Could you borrow a small child?
John
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Assume problem is to convey tap's fixing nut and washer/gasket to bottom of butt and secure while tap is made secure?
I'd try the small person solution first but it's not a job for a kid much under ten and they might already be too big. Otherwise, can you fabricate something from a suitable piece of wood, something of clothes prop dimemnsions, with a recess cut in to hold the nut/washer?
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Feed a piece of string through the tap and the hole, and drop the nut with rubber washer down the string inside the butt. Then keeping the string tight use one of those things for picking up litter to hold the nut in position while you or an assistant rotate the tap to engage the threads. Get it as tight as you can. If you can't hold the nut firmly enough to get the tap screwed in tight enough then lean in with a long adjustable wrench, or perhaps even a plank of wood with a notch cut in the end.
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I'm thinking along similar lines to Cliff, but maybe blu-taking the nut on to a strip of wood or similar, notched in the same way to try and stop the nut turning in the butt.
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If you dangle a small child in the butt by the ankles let them practice with the nut, washer and tap first. Good job the butt will be empty. :-)
If it is a borrowed one get the parents permission !
Last edited by: Old Navy on Mon 17 Jan 11 at 13:58
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These are all good suggestions, for which many thanks. I will endeavour to use a stick with a notch, some kind of tap spanner, and I like the idea of the bit of string. What a genius lot some of you are.
I did toy with the young person idea, but realised that as I don't know any, I'd have to tempt a strange one from the outside street, probably with a bag of puppies, and then dangle it headfirst in the water butt, and I just had visions of the neighbours jumping to conclusions.
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>> and then dangle it headfirst in the water butt, and I just
>> had visions of the neighbours jumping to conclusions.
>>
You don't dangle the child, you just put the water butt upside down over it.
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...You don't dangle the child, you just put the water butt upside down over it...
From the pic, I reckon you could do that with an adult of average build.
Which is probably the best suggestion yet.
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>> You don't dangle the child, you just put the water butt upside down over it.
>>
So you suggest that having grabbed the child, I put it in a plastic smelly prison full of slime and bellow "No, screw it harder. Harder!" through a tiny hole.
I don't think you've thought this through. It's a situation ripe for mischance.
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Cut a hand sized hole on the other side of the butt so you can reach in :-)
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...Cut a hand sized hole on the other side of the butt so you can reach in :-)...
Not as daft as it sounds.
I did wonder about cutting a hole with the intention of repairing it.
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>> Use a tap spanner.
That was a serious suggestion, BTW.
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Use a tap backnut box spanner. Cost about £4. Set the nut and washer in the spanner with a bit of putty,plasticine, or the like. You need a suitably long piece of steel rod to fit through the holes in the spanner. Get someone to hold the nut in position while you turn the tap into the nut.
By the way make sure the tap you are using is suitable, not a a mains hight pressure tap.
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I know it's a bit naughty, but is it still under warranty?
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screw a tap in about six inches from the top!. repair the original opening, turn the butt over, and cut the bottom off thereby creating a "new" top! '-)
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>> I know it's a bit naughty, but is it still under warranty?
>>
There is no harm in contacting the maker/importer. Some businesses will offer free parts as a gesture of goodwill even where they have no legal obligation do so.
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I took FT's tap spanner suggestion seriously, and that or a variant is what I'll do. (Or try to before the inevitable visit to casualty that accompanies most things to do with anything involving handtools).
Warranty - no, I wouldn't think so. Couple of years old. Anyway, I see that Harcostar have gone into administration anyway and been bought out by Gem, and I *think* Gem-Harcostar have gone into administration too now. Lost the will to live ploughing through Google looking for their website, which somebody will no doubt now find in a femtoseceond - but that's not a request to do so.
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Forgive the ignorance, but what is the point of this water butt? I assume its for a metered water area and you sue the water for your garden or something?
Coming from Scotland, the thought of paying for a big plastic barrel to store rainwater just doesn't sit right with me!!
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>> Forgive the ignorance, but what is the point of this water butt? I assume its
>> for a metered water area and you sue the water for your garden or something?
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>> Coming from Scotland, the thought of paying for a big plastic barrel to store rainwater
>> just doesn't sit right with me!!
>>
I know what you mean, a 210L butt with stand and diverter is best part of 50 quid! I haven't worked out the payback period but I suspect it's a long, long time.
Any suggestions for a cheaper alternative? I could do with one on my shed (according to SWMBO anyway) and I ain't paying 50 quid. I did wonder about cold water tanks meant for loft use, but they're a similar price and I'm not sure if they're UV stable.
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>> Any suggestions for a cheaper alternative?
Make one, if you can get some timber for nothing. Line it with DPM. Hey! Presto! 1 cumec water butt.
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Water butts are ludicrously expensive. I've wondered about a hole in the ground lined with plastic. But then you'd need a pump.
John
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>>
>> Make one, if you can get some timber for nothing. Line it with DPM. Hey!
>> Presto! 1 cumec water butt.
>>
That's an idea, I'll have a look through my wood pile tomorrow.
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>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> That's an idea, I'll have a look through my wood pile tomorrow.
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Don't overlook the considerable pressure on the sides. Nails won't hold it. Remember it's the depth alone that causes the pressure, not the volume of water.
(I could relate the story of my building a tank out of shuttering around my boat on a trailer, to test it prior to launching. Only a metre deep, but spectacular!)
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>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> That's an idea, I'll have a look through my wood pile tomorrow.
>> >>
>>
>> Don't overlook the considerable pressure on the sides. Nails won't hold it. Remember it's the
>> depth alone that causes the pressure, not the volume of water.
>>
Thanks for the reminder, I had done a quick sum and realised 210L of water is nearly quarter of a ton in old money. I've got some decking offcuts and old 4x4 fence posts. I do tend you use screws for more or less everything, rather than nails (apart from fencing)
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"Any suggestions for a cheaper alternative?"
You can get re-cycled plastic food containers used for the transport of concentrated juice etc for around 220l quite cheaply. Buy locally or online. You will need to add a tap but they are big enough to reach inside!
Have two on my allotment
stores.ebay.co.uk/RECYCLED-WATER-BUTTS
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>>
>> You can get re-cycled plastic food containers used for the transport of concentrated juice etc
>> for around 220l quite cheaply. Buy locally or online. You will need to add a
>> tap but they are big enough to reach inside!
>>
>> Have two on my allotment
>>
>> stores.ebay.co.uk/RECYCLED-WATER-BUTTS
>>
Thanks for that, I had heard of using old food processing tanks but my Googling failed me for once.
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Yes these are really good... have several in blue as feed/storage bins in the shed. They are far heavier grade plastic than a water but and the lids usually fit tight with a seal so when required whatever's inside doesn't get contaminated.
Easy to drill for a tap too.
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Does the tap screw into the wall of the butt? If so, and if it's the same thread size as that of a replacement tap then the locknut which would normally go inside the butt can possibly be dispensed with.
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>> Does the tap screw into the wall of the butt? If so, and if it's
>> the same thread size as that of a replacement tap then the locknut which would
>> normally go inside the butt can possibly be dispensed with.
>>
The various butts around Spamcan Towers are all fairly thin unthreaded plastic, with a big thick plastic nut on the back. I do recall having 'fun' putting a new tap on a normal size one, these skinny ones must be a right pain unless one has the arm length and dexterity of an orang-utan.
I've just realised I've got an 18 foot square pond liner in the shed, I can feel a plan for a honkin' great butt coming together.
Last edited by: spamcan61 on Mon 17 Jan 11 at 20:48
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Woman next door has one of those.
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"An ugly Americanism," said Iffy huffily, before going back to his Daily Mail.
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Back to the original question - why don't Araldite the nut to the inside of the hole and screw the tap in - simples.
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>> Back to the original question - why don't Araldite the nut to the inside of
>> the hole and screw the tap in - simples.
>>
A cunning plan, but you still need some way of locating the nut inside the long, thin water butt.
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I think Pug's suggesting fixing the nut to the drum via the tap hole. Once the epoxy's cured it'll works as though its integral.
Ingenious provided you get it in exactly the right place.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Mon 17 Jan 11 at 22:14
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After having got a new plastic tap like this
www.wickes.co.uk/Water-Butt-Tap/invt/194488?source=123_4
or on fleabay try " PLASTIC WATER BUTT TAP, NEW,WATER STORAGE,HOZELOCK
I would would get a length of wood and cut out a notch in the end to match the fixing nut of the tap. In effect a long open ended spanner.
With the water but on its side with the tap hole uppermost. I would dab a spot of Evostick or similar on the other end of my wooden spanner and temp glue the washer and nut to it.
Then put the other end of the spanner in the butt and line it up wth the tap hole. Put the tap in its hole and rotate the tap so that it starts on the thread. Might need to wedge it in the butt if SWMBO will not help.
Pull the spanner out before the glue sets and reverse it so the spanner end can now fit on the nut and fit the spanner to nut.
Turn the tap until it is near tight. Note where the spout is pointing and then with a little bit of tweaking find the position where with the spanner on the nut say a quarter turn clamps the washer and the tap is pointing to the base of the butt.
I hope this ltheory works and saves employing a little person as you will still have to train a little person to tighten the nut to the right torque :-)
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So how does a water butt save money? 1000 litres of water = 1 unit. The cost of 1 unit of water is about £2.50 on a water meter I guess (approx)? Buying the Araldite will impact the savings when you try fixing this.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Tue 18 Jan 11 at 00:13
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Any gardener will tell you the hobby isn't about saving money.
I have 2 of those water butts, but they only cost £24 around here and it enables me to water the hanging baskets and tubs when we have a hosepipe ban, which can be any summer really.
Rain water is also better for plants than the tap water we have around here.
Pat
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>> Rain water is also better for plants than the tap water we have around here.
Pat has the answer.
If one were to read the Beverley Nichols "Merry Hall" trilogy (again) then the point about rainwater would be amply made.
If you are a normal bloke, then forget it. You will be sick. Move along, nothing for you here.
If you are not normal, like me, or probably some sort of female, then you will derive much pleasure from this twee, gentle set of make believe little stories centred on gardening (and, I fear, cats).
I've read them about a million times.
First page here for those not put off so far.
www.amazon.co.uk/Merry-Hall-Beverley-Nichols-Trilogy/dp/0881924172#reader_0881924172
Last edited by: Crankcase on Tue 18 Jan 11 at 09:54
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Come to teh original story late.
Had exactly the same problem 20 years ago.
Plastic Padding make a pipe mending paste... called ? . I used that to glue in anew tap. Still working..
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Water butts and the diy dunce - Iffy
