I have one and is now drawing air so fill a hose with sanitiser flow into a glass then carry on regardless...
Auto Syphon woes
- Thread starter Brewdoug
- Start date
Help Support The Homebrew Forum:
thejackat
New Member
Appreciate this is a old thread but I've been having problems with an auto-syphon. I've experimented with water, pouring some into the upper chamber and see that without pressure its already leaking through the seal into the lower chamber. Photo below. I assume that isn't good and if so, is it repairable? I've tried putting vaseline on the inner but it didn't help at all.
Attachments
That middle, black part in the photo just needs to be sealed enough to get a flow going. Then the liquid gets "pulled" up and then down the clear rubber hose to a bucket on the floor (lower than your siphon. You basically leave the moving part right down at the bottom while siphoning. That response is if I get your situation correctly.
thejackat
New Member
thanks, yes you've understood and I can just about get it to start a flow with but then air bubbles quickly appear in the flow which i assume is also down to this leaking seal.
That could be but you could try four or five (seven?) quick, short strokes, then the siphoning should be without bubbles. That's my best guess. If that doesn't work, it may well be too much space (bad seal) where it won't ever push enough at one time. One that is properly working can still be bubbly/contain air pockets if you don't get a lot of liquid charging up and then down the rubber tubing.
Let me know, if you don't mind, how it turns out?
Cheers!
Sorry to hijack the thread. I've got the same auto syphon that @DavidDetroit listed and (touch wood) it's worked perfectly so far, but I was looking at fermenters with taps at the bottom and thinking with the addition of a bottling stick this would be even more convenient. Question is: with a bottom fitted tap does it not get bunged up (and therefore unable to flow) with the trub in the bottom of the fermenter?
thejackat
New Member
Yeah, I’d been testing technique just with water. Lots of small strokes gets it syphoning with what initially appears to be full flow but air bubbles appear a few seconds later. Given the seal is proven to be leaking – even a small amount of water in that upper chamber will quickly starting leaking into lower chamber under gravity – I've assumed the seal has to be the source of air getting into the flow.
Based on @kelper suggestion I've found these spare seals:
Home Brew Online Spare Washer Seal For Easy Flows Auto Syphons - Home Brew Online from Home Brew Online UK
A cheap solution, if they work. I’ll let you know how I get on
Yes, it can, especially with dry hopping. With other averagely hopped beers it's fine-ish.
There are a few different viewpoints on whether to transfer to a bottling bucket or bottle straight from the primary fermenter (FV). All my beers are moderately hopped (4oz total at the most) and the pellets expand like nobody's business even with that small amount. Personally, I wouldn't consider bottling from the primary fermenter but, to reiterate, some prefer it.
Ideally, a bottling bucket with the tap at the bottom plus an ability to screen out hops from the inside (some hop matter can still get into the bottling bucket). The bottling stick (wand) tip can get mucked up as well. If you have an on/off knob, it's easy to replace the tip.
I really do like the idea of the bottling from the bottom method (skipping the siphon) but what I do works without issue.
I've used the same siphon for five years. It still looked a little flimsy so I have a back up still in the package. You never know.
Similar threads
