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Review on ๐Ÿฅค Rabbitnipples.com Presents Automatic Farm Grade Stainless Stock Waterer for Horses, Cattle, Goats, Sheep, and Dogs by Mary Cornett

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Decent affordable choice, could use some improvements.

At $40, this is probably the best drinker you can get for less than $100, but the float assembly needs updating and you'll need to relocate it if it's wall mounted. It would be nice if the mounting holes were slotted so that they can be mounted on the wall and removed again. ADVANTAGES: Stainless steel bowl, easy to install. When you install a new water line like we did, it uses the same connector as your toilet. The entire threaded float assembly is $8. So if she needs to be replaced, she can be. CONS: Plastic thread/float assembly. I nearly ripped it trying to attach the hose. The screw holding the float is finicky. Expect to have to reinstall this a few times during setup. Hopefully he stays where he is now. You can't mount this in a simple shoot-and-drop fashion. Finally, if you lift the lid while there is water inside, the water will flow to the back, into the hinge area, and eventually drip onto the screws holding the hinge. I put the bowl on the bench and fastened it. the hose first because that was the most trouble for me. I used some teflon tape but that was mainly to protect the threads. Even on a bench with no tension on the hose, this was difficult and he continued to move crookedly. Maybe it would be easier if I clamped the bowl and oriented it so the threads are pointing down. I then essentially plugged it in and tested on the top of the box/hands to get the correct height while my wife marked the wall mounts. Then I took a piece of board, attached the bowl to the board and then attached the board to the wall and leveled it as I went. I tried to find a combination that would allow me to put the bowl on some screws and tighten them. This setup would allow me to remove the bowl later simply by loosening a few screws. But since the holes are perfectly round, that doesn't work (maybe if I had some sort of half washer I could put on top of a screw that's already partially countersunk in the wood). My compromise is that I can easily remove the board from the wall. I had to remove the float from the assembly to attach and tighten the bolts. It was very easy - a small plastic screw with a knurled head. But I found that if I hand tightened it I had to tighten it up to a certain point and not go any further or it would loosen again. Maybe a small piece of teflon tape would help here. I will order http://a.co/31mbmJZ Kerick Valve MA052 as it looks much more reliable. Turning on the water was an experience. At the first angle, the water flowed in the bowl and flowed out the other side (even when the water was barely turned on). I had to turn around a bit to stop this behavior. I then started working with the float but couldn't find the angle where the water would shut off before the float touched the top of the bowl. In fact, this is because the bowl is not installed close to the wall. Mounted diagonally downwards from the wall. I added a few pieces of plywood as spacers to the bottom of the board and then the float really started to work. If you don't lay the foundation, it looks more like a water canal. One problem (not entirely the manufacturer's fault) is that my 4-year-old son played with it against our strict guidelines. That evening he called out that the water would flow, so I would return. The bowl was half an inch from overflowing and he held up the float. When he let go, she tried to keep refueling. Turns out he was holding it to fill and then it wouldn't go out. This means I have to fiddle with a screw that almost (but not quite) holds the float in place to get it working properly again. I'm worried it might slip off even when the kid isn't playing with it, so we'll turn off the water in the bowl quite often. Questions. For indoor use I would highly recommend the Nelson 1200 drinker but for something selling for a third of the price it certainly works. I mentioned ordering a Kerick MA052 valve (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0077RAP1I/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_dp_oWQ8yb8QQRE75) so it will be much more reliable. I plan to update this post once I install it. If you're looking for the "perfect" dog feeder, look to the Nelson 1200. It mounts anywhere, is all metal, and the bowl can be easily removed for cleaning. But if you don't want to spend $125, it's probably a good second for $40, or less than a third of the cost. UPDATE The Kerick valve I ordered does indeed leak a bit. The best solution would probably be to spend the money on a stainless steel nut and bolt to upgrade an existing float. Since then I've evolved and created a drain pan that sits under the waterer. We often turn off the water at night and during the day. On hot days, dogs drink a lot of water and we don't have to worry about it overflowing. But on other days it got really crowded. If it were outside under a scorching sun, maybe it would evaporate as quickly as a slow leak.

Pros
  • Best in Niche
Cons
  • Modern