Auto Siphon Drama - FV to Keg

[_jon_]

So, I'm in the middle of chucking my Punk IPA into a keg to condition it and dump the dry hop.

This bloody Auto Siphon is a pain! Never had one which works well.

I keep getting air bubbles in the beer coming through the siphon and after about 5 seconds flow stops and I have to pump it again. Firstly I'm pretty sure all that air bubbling into the keg isn't the best thing for it.. (hopefully shouldn't ruin it as I'll be force carbing it). But secondly, I've got half a keg and I just can't seem to get the rest out. I tried cutting the siphon hose shorter, so that it wasn't in the beer.. but now there's no vacuum, so thats a bad idea.

Am I doing something wrong or is the siphon just pants?

I wish I could find a way to prime my pump to siphon out the top of a carboy... A pump would be SO much easier.

 

[Clint]

Carefully disassemble syphon. At thd end of the inner tube there is a soft plastic flange...this is where the air is seeping through...very carefully flare this out with your ..reassemble syphon.

 

[_jon_]

I've got one of those crappy cheap siphons where you can't take the end of. So it's for the bin then.

Is my beer ruined if it bubbled with air in the keg? Or will the C02 sort it out?

 

[Clint]

Until I sussed out how to stop the bubbles completely I had a bit of air....my beers have all been fine..

 

[_jon_]

I've purged the hell out of the keg, chucked 35psi into it and shook the hell out of it. Purged it again, then set it to 20psi and left it in the fridge over night.

Tomorrow I'll do the taste test.

I don't tend to taste my beers until they're serving temperature... because they always taste different cold I find.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

 

[bigbud78]

Tip some starsan in the top of the outer tube, it will then draw in starsan instead of beer when it leaks Honestly thou having a tap on your FV is a much better way of doing it :)

 

[Clint]

I used to fill above the seal with beer from the fv before starting...

 

[photek1000]

I used to get bubble in mine around where the tubing connected to the rigid pipe, it bugged me to start with but never seemed to really cause any issues.

I get a good clear flow these days with no bubbles, and think that is partially from the seals all bedding nicely and a bit of technique in how it's used.

I was going to ditch it back when I first got it in favour of a tap on the FV but I have persevered and now find it a great device to use, and i could do with the smaller one as well for using in DJs.

 

[stevey]

So it's not just me then. I thought I needed one to save me sucking the pipe, so I bought one and it sucked in air all the time. The rubber washer bit is not big enough to create a decent seal. I solved this by pulling the wide bit off and chucking it away and sucking to start the syphon. They are a waste of money, I never had an infection before, and I think I'm more likely to get one with it constantly drawing in air while I try to empty my fermenter.
My advice to anyone thinking of throwing some money away on one of these is: don't bother.

 

[sdt7618]

Mine didn't suck air the first time, then started to....but a little bit of stars an in the tube above the seal solved this. Really like mine, better the having to duck and hope it works.

 

[Clint]

....just flare that flange out with your thumb it'll fix it!