Homemade auto siphon?

[Bocker Wright]

Hi. I watched a video where somebody drilled 2 holes in a bung and used it with a straw and a siphon tube in a demijonn to start a siphon by blowing down the straw. I understand the mechanics of what's going on but I just wondered if this could be done with a 23l fermenter if the lid fitted tight and there were two grommetted holes in it? Would the volume of 23l of beer make it difficult or even impossible to start a siphon this way? Cheers

 

[RichardM]

Blowing down the straw doesn't sound like a good idea.

 

[Bocker Wright]

I thought that so thought of using something as a bellow. Just wondering if it would work.

 

[Jim Brewster]

IMO not so much the volume of liquid but the volume of headspace, as that's what you're pressuring in order to push the liquid out.

The other factor but a minor one is the height youre lifting the liquid above its surface to reach the bend over the top of the container, higher needs more pressure of course but probably not a problem unless the bellows are weak or the lid is not sealed well.

Similar principle to an autosiphon except that uses the actual liquid whereas this would be using air so there's a bit of a downside but probably not much, although if you could somehow use CO2 instead that would be preferable.

If using a plastic bucket the seal on the lid might be the limiting factor, should work fine in a DJ

 

[Bocker Wright]

IMO not so much the volume of liquid but the volume of headspace, as that's what you're pressuring in order to push the liquid out.

The other factor but a minor one is the height youre lifting the liquid above its surface to reach the bend over the top of the container, higher needs more pressure of course but probably not a problem unless the bellows are weak or the lid is not sealed well.

Similar principle to an autosiphon except that uses the actual liquid whereas this would be using air so there's a bit of a downside but probably not much, although if you could somehow use CO2 instead that would be preferable.

If using a plastic bucket the seal on the lid might be the limiting factor, should work fine in a DJ

Ah the head space in a DJ is very little compared to a fermenting bin eh. Yeah I thought that might be a thing. The lid fits nice and snug though. You know I might just try it with some plain water, if don't work I'll just have two blow off tubes jointed into one with a Y piece or something... would've had to do that anyway for fermentation

 

[foxy]

This link has been posted several times.
FlyGuy's T-siphon: a $3 replacement for an autosiphon

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I use a normal syphon tap on the end of the tube from the bucket i put a short piece of sanitized tube on the end shown in the picture i then start the syphon with my mouth and as soon as the wine gets close to the tap i close it then take the short syphon tube off and replace it with my little bottler tube.

 

[Bocker Wright]

This link has been posted several times.
FlyGuy's T-siphon: a $3 replacement for an autosiphon

Thanks for that, this is what I'll be doing. Problem solved I think!

 

[Bocker Wright]

I use a normal syphon tap on the end of the tube from the bucket i put a short piece of sanitized tube on the end shown in the picture i then start the syphon with my mouth and as soon as the wine gets close to the tap i close it then take the short syphon tube off and replace it with my little bottler tube.

Actually I think that's it. I have one of those taps still in the packet from wilko, comes with tubing and a rigid tube with a siphon guard on the bottom

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Get a bucket clip they make the job a lot easier as you can use a clothes peg to set the depth of the end of the tube a big plus even if you have a sediment trap.

 

[chrisbjones202]

I keep my starsan in a 5l ashbeck bottle and simply twist the hose into it with dip tube at the end (it's a silicone one so quite flexible), cap and give it a swill to coat.

When ready I pull out with my finger on the dip tube and it's ready filled with enough starsan to start the siphon.