Small bung

[Intelekt]

No I'm not going to give you a bribe :shock:

I have some small bottles and a westons scrumpy half DJ that I want to do tiny test Fermentations in :party:
Only I can't seem to find a place that sells smaller diameter rubber bungs with bored holes big enough for an airlock to fit in :nah:

Any ideas? I've tried eBay.

 

[andyakameatloaf]

Never had any experience with this, but have you thought of looking at places like plumbing centres, screwfix, etc?

 

[Intelekt]

I've just tried screwfix but no luck, all they seem to sell is o rings.

Ive seen ones for test tubes, but these only have a 4mm hole bore in the centre, not big enough for an airlock :nah:

 

[andyakameatloaf]

Ive seen ones for test tubes, but these only have a 4mm hole bore in the centre, not big enough for an airlock :nah:

provided the width of the bung itself would allow it, would it not be possible to widen the hole slightly?
surely a drill bit of the right mm would widen the hole enough for the airlock?

 

[Gayle]

Couldn't you use a sanitised balloon instead of a proper airlock? It won't have that satisfying blooping noise but it'd do the job.

 

[Intelekt]

I thought of the drill bit myself, but I think it might get stuck in the bung :shock:
And if I were to clamp the bung it would probably go out of shape and the hole would be oval :hmm:

 

[Intelekt]

Couldn't you use a sanitised balloon instead of a proper airlock? It won't have that satisfying blooping noise but it'd do the job.

I suppose I could, but for me the blooping airlocks are most of the fun of brewing :party:

 

[texteditor]

Put the bung in the freezer for 24 hours and then drill it before it thaws out.
texteditor.

 

[LeithR]

Here's a place on ebay for bungs of all sizes.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4mm-Solid...946&pid=100011&prg=1005&rk=2&sd=281051409931&

I believe they will drill them for you if asked.

 

[Tim_Crowhurst]

You could try looking for a plastic screwcap that fits your half-size DJ. Then simply drill a hole through the cap and fit a grommet.

 

[Megaross]

You could just use a length of 4mm tubing into a jar?
I've tried drilling bungs, never works properly, you need a punch to get a clean hole.

 

[Intelekt]

Thanks very much everyone :thumb:

Some really interesting ideas so far..

There are so many fancy bottles out there that could easily do the job of a demijohn if they didn't have such small necks, having said that if the necks were smaller still then I could fit a grommet and airlock into them :party:

I'll ask the eBay bloke if he can do the sizes I need :

 

[Megaross]

Just had a thought if you can't find a bung, would it be overly impractical to just drill the lid and fit a rubber grommet?

 

[screamlead]

try these - cork ones - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/THE-HARDWARE-E ... c=1&_sop=1

Easily drilled for airlocks by clamping between two bits of wood then drill through both with a 10mm wood bit, i seal mine with a bit of silicone bottom and top - bought loads for the big 19ltr water bottles and not had a problem. :

 

just a thought ...

try putting the bung in the dj and driling it then ...
it will stay still and you can keep the drill up right so getting a nice clean hole ...

or fit the bung and heat up a drill bit still in the drill so its glowing red hot and burn the hole through ...

just dont burn your self :nono:

regards mick ... :hat: .

 

[Dibison]

Little bit of a pain... Do you have one of those small plastic taps?

Fire one (tapered end) into the bung, cut a small bit of syphone tube, put that on the other end and the airlock into that? (Never attempted it but might work! :P )

 

[Jonny69]

I've done a couple of mini brews in the 2-litre Westons bottles. I drilled a hole in a champagne cork, but you need one that's reasonably well compressed because the taper will make it difficult to get it in the neck of the bottle.

No reason why you can't drill a rubber bung. You need to use a sharp drill and bigger than you think you need to use, with the bung in the bottle. I like the idea of freezing the bung though.

 

[Intelekt]

Just had a thought if you can't find a bung, would it be overly impractical to just drill the lid and fit a rubber grommet?

The lid is a tin like metal and would probably slice the grommet when compressed :shock:

I'm amazed at the ingenuity in this thread :party: :hat:

Some great ideas here.. Keep em coming :party:

 

[Dibison]

I'm amazed at the ingenuity in this thread :party: :hat:

Well desperate times, that's when the magic happens! :thumb: :P

 

[Megaross]

You could reverse the roles I guess, get a rubber cap which stretches over the neck of the bottle?