Greetings all,
I just installed my first rain barrel. Got a hold of one of those big 55 gallon white plastic drums for free and had to put it to good use. I did not realize until after I had it in hand that the lid is not removable (easily). So, I had to figure out a way to get a faucet into the bottom edge so I could drain the water. I did a bit of searching on the interwebs and all I found was instructions that said to use a tapping kit to make a threaded hole. Well, I don't have one of those and the last time I looked, they are not cheap.
So, I went to a Restore (Habitat for Humanity fundraiser) and looked through the box of faucets anyway. I was thinking I might be able to find a tapping kit to borrow from a friend or something. While I was in the box of faucets, I saw a iron nipple that was the same size as the faucet end. My brain went into overdrive and I bought the faucet and the nipple for a total of 67 cents. I went right home to try out my idea (which I am sure is not new, just new to me.) I turned on the stove and set the nipple on the burner to heat up. After it was good and hot, I threaded it into and through the side of the plastic barrel with a regular pair of pliers (so as not to burn my fingers). I left it in place to cool, then unscrewed it from the barrel and presto, a threaded hole for my faucet!
Ok, I did discover that it works better if you drill a 1/4" hole into where you want the faucet to go first, gives the melted plastic a place to expand into. Also, depending on the thickness of your barrel, you may need to heat the nipple a couple times to get all the way through. It really did work like a charm though. Faucet is installed without a leak.
Cheers,
-Joe
