Syphoning

[Enjay]

Please tell me syphoning gets easier with practice? I must have gulped down half a pint of mead whilst racking it last night! Not that I'm complaining, it was lovely but a huge waste and it would have been so much better out of a glass!
Any handy tips?

 

[stevie1556]

Yes it does!

Do you have a soft or hard syphon tube? Only reason I ask is because I bought a starter kit and it had a soft red syphon tube with a hard plastic bit that went into the wine to be racked. It's absolitely useless, or I was doing something wrong. Got a hard plastic tube now, works first time every time.

 

[m0zzwigan]

Yes it does!

Do you have a soft or hard syphon tube? Only reason I ask is because I bought a starter kit and it had a soft red syphon tube with a hard plastic bit that went into the wine to be racked. It's absolitely useless, or I was doing something wrong. Got a hard plastic tube now, works first time every time.

lol i need to invest in one, i cut a length of hose from my hose pipe sterilized it and i use that haha! its fine but i could do with something much better

 

[Moley]

Please tell me syphoning gets easier with practice? ....(snip) ... Any handy tips?

It does :thumb:

But get yourself a longer piece of syphon tube, in my opinion if you buy one of those Young's sets they don't give you enough tubing, you need a piece which is long enough to drop into the receiving jar and reach to the bottom so you can start the flow, drop that into the bottle, forget about it and concentrate on the top end.

If racking from a DJ, insert the racking cane half way into the jar and clip it with a clothes peg while you get the flow started. If racking from a bucket then a bucket clip is very useful, and again you can set the initial depth with a clothes peg.

 

[Robbo]

I got my racking cane from Wilko's for around £3.00, I don't know if there is enough tube for your set up but it is just right for me.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I have the same and added an extra metre of tube to the tap/valve to extend it.

This is the standard one with the tap/valve on the end.

 

[Enjay]

I've got the one from Wilko's. The tap on the end is a godsend! I generally get someone else holding it still at the dj end but my main issue is that some comes through then I get a massive air bubble so I have to drink the first bit or spit it out in the case of sterilising fluid. I guess that will get better with practice.

 

[oldbloke]

If you get an air bubble you may have the outlet end too high when you're starting it.

I still use the one that came with my starter kit, a stick with anti-sediment cup on the inlet end, something like 2.5 metres of tube, and a tap. Just like the pic posted above but with (I think) a bit more tube.
The source goes up on the worktop and the receiver is on the floor, and that's where I suck. Soon as it comes through I direct it into a glass (quality control sample) while I turn the tap off. The flow never stops before the tap is turned so no bubbles get in from the bottom end.
On occasion I then fit a bit of extra tube to the tap and a bottling wand into that.

 

[country joe]

I purchased one of the plastic bottling wands cheap but brilliant, fills the bottle with no mess,
a really good bit of kit. :thumb:

 

[Chippy_Tea]

This is a bit off topic but its meant for the new home brewers reading the thread, all the old hands will of course know about this little helper.

I have just ordered a bucket clip as i find bottling from the bucket on my own a right pain.

 

[oldbloke]

Another great aid for siphoning from demijohns is a stand that lets you have the demi at an angle so you get right down to that last bit without having to use your hands to tilt the demi and possibly lifting the sediment.
Still haven't built one...
There's pics somewhere on this forum, of a homemade one. At one time I think you could buy them.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

A great tip if you rack into plastic pop/water bottles -

I have always found racking into plastic bottles on my own hard work as they are so easy to knock over when empty, i have an old pressure cooker pan that i use when i boil 5 litres of water for the 30 bottle kits i make, i have found i can stand four 1.5 litre bottles in it and there is no way they can move.

:thumb:

 

[Enjay]

Thanks oldbloke, I'll try getting on the floor when I start, I probably haven't been.
Lots of useful tips there for when I haven't got my extra pair of hands around (he's kill me for calling him that lol!).

 

[oldbloke]

Lots of useful tips there for when I haven't got my extra pair of hands around

Yeh, without a few extras it's a 2 person job!
The stand cuts out any need for hands at the top end (except maybe to push the stick further in if you didn't put it all the way down at the start). Sometimes TheBoss is home and will tilt the demi for me, sometimes The Lad will do it but often he won't even with bribery! The tap on my tube will jam gently into a demi neck so I can do racking single handed, bottling is more awkward. Must make myself one of those stands...