# Strange thread tipe caps



## Suzuki4evr (Jun 17, 2018)

Hi guys. 

Here in SA, especially in the region where I live, we are experiencing the worst drought in decades. So we catch up as much rainwater as possible. 
I got myself 2 Flo bins, don't know if you have these wherever you live, and want to connect them up together  with one inlet and one joined outlet. These tanks has a closing valve and a cap. So in order to join the two I have to make holes in the caps to let the water flo between the bins. But I did not want to make holes in the caps,because my head tells me,what if you need these caps again someday for some reason, and the thing is you cant buy the caps because of the thread tipe. So I  made 2 caps. Yes the 2 original caps will most probably lie in storage for years to come,but at least I know they are there i needed. And I just wanted to see if I can make it myself. 
The thread is sort of weard, I narrowed it down to about 59×5 metric RH thread but with a twist. If someone knows what you call this tipe of thread,please feel free to inform me. 
I shaped a piece of tool steel to ABOUT the shape I thought  would work and was going to thread from the insde out away from the inside sholder and lucky me I got it right the first time.


 I made the caps out of GSM,a tipe of teflon,it was what I had on hand.
I did not take pics of the total proses but here I made grip grooves on the caps.


The final products and here is where it had to fit.


















Job completed with a great outcome. Well now I know it can be done and was good fun making it.
Thank for viewing and remember if someone knows what the thread is called,let me know for interest sake.

Michael


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## Silverbullet (Jun 17, 2018)

Looks a bit like the type used on drilling rigs for oil . I've seen it somewhere I know but not sure where. May be on my plastic small engine gas cap some of those are weird threaded. Might just be plastic special to help seal.


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## brino (Jun 17, 2018)

Those tanks look a lot like the ones at my local farm supply store, they sell bulk chlorine for swimming pools from them.
-brino


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## BtoVin83 (Jun 17, 2018)

Plastic tanks use buttress threads


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## BtoVin83 (Jun 17, 2018)

Or modified buttress threads,


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## Norseman C.B. (Jun 17, 2018)

Looks like a buttress thread to me, they are designed to hold up to a lot of pressure in one direction 
such as the weight off the liquid in the tote as those are called here in my neck of the woods......


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## 4ssss (Jun 17, 2018)

Nice work.


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## Suzuki4evr (Jun 17, 2018)

BtoVin83 said:


> Plastic tanks use buttress threads


Sounds familiar now and the design makes sense too .


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## hman (Jun 17, 2018)

Just for grins & giggles I did a web search on "1000 liter totes" and, amongst lots of hits, found this one.  If you scroll down, you can see that they sell parts:
http://joslebel.com/en/catalog/ibcs...sity-polyethylene-new-1000-litre-275-gallons/
On another website, I found that they specify the standard valve thread for such totes (officially IBC, Intermediate Bulk Container) as being "DN50,"  with DN80 as an option:  
http://www.vanhaelewijn.com/en/containers.html
I looked that up.  DN stands for "Diametre Nominal."  DN50 is supposedly the equivalent of 2", DN80 the equivalent of 3".
https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/nps-nominal-pipe-sizes-d_45.html
You found a thread diameter of 59mm.  I couldn't find that on the DN chart.  The closest is DN65 (2 ½" equivalent).

In any case, congratulations on having solved the problem!

PS - When I worked on inkjet print head production at HP, we used to buy ink in such totes.  1000 liters = 10^3 liters.  The print heads would deliver picoliter (10^-9 liter) size drops of ink, and EVERY printhead was tested for functionality on the line.  So in just a few feet of space, we were dealing with volumes that differed by _twelve_ orders of magnitude!


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## Charles Spencer (Jun 17, 2018)

Around here farmers use those tanks to hold water for their livestock.


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## savarin (Jun 17, 2018)

I use those tanks for my aquaponics, I've had no trouble purchasing the end caps and spouts.
Nice to know exactly what the thread is though.


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## Suzuki4evr (Jun 18, 2018)

hman said:


> Just for grins & giggles I did a web search on "1000 liter totes" and, amongst lots of hits, found this one.  If you scroll down, you can see that they sell parts:
> http://joslebel.com/en/catalog/ibcs...sity-polyethylene-new-1000-litre-275-gallons/
> On another website, I found that they specify the standard valve thread for such totes (officially IBC, Intermediate Bulk Container) as being "DN50,"  with DN80 as an option:
> http://www.vanhaelewijn.com/en/containers.html
> ...


Well then you are lucky were you are. I went on what 2 people here in my neck of the woods said that they can't find the caps anywhere, but I think if I really want to I will find someone who does sell them,but why bother, just made 2. But thank you for the info it is much appreciated.


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## jrkorman (Jun 25, 2018)

Suzuki4evr said:


> Hi guys.
> 
> Here in SA, especially in the region where I live, we are experiencing the worst drought in decades. So we catch up as much rainwater as possible.
> I got myself 2 Flo bins, don't know if you have these wherever you live, and want to connect them up together  with one inlet and one joined outlet. These tanks has a closing valve and a cap. So in order to join the two I have to make holes in the caps to let the water flo between the bins. But I did not want to make holes in the caps,because my head tells me,what if you need these caps again someday for some reason, and the thing is you cant buy the caps because of the thread tipe. So I  made 2 caps. Yes the 2 original caps will most probably lie in storage for years to come,but at least I know they are there i needed. And I just wanted to see if I can make it myself.
> ...



Well thank you - I live in North Central Texas and have 5 of those in the back yard that I'm getting ready for the
same purpose. Was wondering about the threads and such.


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## f350ca (Jun 25, 2018)

There seams to be some variation in design. Mine has a 2 inch pipe thread on it.

Greg


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## Boswell (Jun 25, 2018)

I have lived 100% off of rainwater for the last 5 years. I have 16,000 gal of storage in 4 black Polyethylene tanks for storage. They all have 2" NPT bulkhead fittings for an outlet.  I recommend that you use opaque storage tanks wherever possible. Algee will eventually grow wherever light can get at the rainwater. While not a horrible problem it will reduce the life span of your filters. I have always had the opaque tanks but for a while I used translucent PEX pipe for an above-ground run and algee would grow it in. the 20 micron and 5 micron filters would last about 2-3 months before they were too clogged to use. When I replaced the white translucent Pex with Black, they now last 8-10 months.


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## Suzuki4evr (Jun 25, 2018)

I am going to cover the tanks with black netting to try and  prevent the algee from building up.


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## savarin (Jun 27, 2018)

I painted mine very dark green and its working still after 3 to 4 years


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## Suzuki4evr (Jun 27, 2018)

That sounds like a good idea,but with expansion and retraction coming in to play,does the paint crack much? Or is there


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## Suzuki4evr (Jun 27, 2018)

Is there a brand of paint you can recommend?


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## Suzuki4evr (Jun 27, 2018)

Is there no algee buildup?


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## savarin (Jun 28, 2018)

standard exterior water based plastic emulsion (I believe its called different in many countries)
If there is any algae build up the fish eat it, but seriously as long as the light is stopped the algae wont grow.
I used the paint to help shield it from UV radiation as I had heard they will break down after a couple of years and get brittle.
In the full sun (very hot here) the paint has sort of slipped as if it melted which it hadnt but thats only in a few places


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## Tozguy (Jun 29, 2018)

Suzuki4evr said:


> I am going to cover the tanks with black netting to try and  prevent the algee from building up.


This product is designed to reflect heat, UV  and sunlight and I would expect it to be better than paint or netting for that purpose.
https://www.reflectixinc.com
In my experience it takes very little light for algae to grow and eventually clog up the system so I would go to great lengths to black out the system completely.


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## Suzuki4evr (Jun 29, 2018)

Tozguy said:


> This product is designed to reflect heat, UV  and sunlight and I would expect it to be better than paint or netting for that purpose.
> https://www.reflectixinc.com
> In my experience it takes very little light for algae to grow and eventually clog up the system so I would go to great lengths to black out the system completely.


I will have a look and see if it is available around here. Thank you.


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## markba633csi (Jun 29, 2018)

Latex paint is a good choice it's readily available, put several thick coats


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## Suzuki4evr (Oct 6, 2018)

Hi guys. 

At the end of the day this was my solution for the problem.



It is nice and dark inside now.I covered it with isopine sealing insolation offcuts witch I got from a client. I am also going to cover it with netting to keep everything together. And if all this fails......well then I will have 2 very cool and big ice dispensing boxes and am going to have a huge barbecue 
Thanks for viewing 

Michael


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## eugene13 (Oct 7, 2018)

I have one of these plastic tanks that I use for a dog swimming pool, algae does NOT grow in it, it grows in the valve and on the concrete benieth the tank, but not in it.


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