I went to the folks at More Beer in Los Altos (B3) who hooked me up with a pre-built kit for a weldless stainless steel valve. The drain plug was already popped out and a hole was drilled for the nipple to poke through. The cooler is way too thick though and I struggled trying to make it work. I finally dremmeled a larger hole in the outer casing so I could get the 1 5/8" washer against the inner casing. Still the nipple was too short with the tightening nut on the near end of the nipple and too uch nipple with the nut on the far end. After an hour of frustration and a roll of teflon tape, I came up witha solution to have the nut on the outer threads of the nipple and use a nipple ring to cover the distance between my nut and the washer. After an hour at home depot and $50 (why the hell can't I go to home depot and not spend at least $50??) I was back at it. I cut some copper tubing into a 3/4" ring and slid it over my nipple against my nut then pushed my nippe through the inner casing and attached the coupler to my nipple using the appropriate number of washers and o-rings. I cranked it down backed away and admired my hack job. I filled it with water and headed over to a friends to brew a MaltyPA.
When I checked it later and again this morning, my nipple didn't leak one drop. Heed this warning. Be prepared to be creative cuz making this shit can be a bitch!
