Vented silicone plug

Never again will I use these pieces of garbage. I got talked into the silicone stoppers by two different home brew places saying they lasted longer and formed a better seal blah blah blah. Picked up some of the vented one (no need for an airlock) to use on my secondaries and to say that I am frustrated is beyond belief. The first attempt using one I got it jammed into the carboy and it dropped through and now with e other ones I can never seem to get them to stay in place. If you sanitize them with stars san they become like a wet noodle on the glass and are impossible to stay in place.

Well I got them in last night on two of my carboys for a split ten gallon batch experiment I'm doing. Woke up this morning to check on them and both bungs are on the floor and the carboys wide open. I'm really hoping my stuff doesn't get infected or I'm going to be extremely upset.

Needless to say they are never being used again...

/rant

For reference:

Good to know. I was contemplating getting one...

Star san was not your friend this time. If they were dry they would likely fit snug.

brewingmeister said:

Star san was not your friend this time. If they were dry they would likely fit snug.

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The second attempt was dry. I star san'd and let air dry and tried again. Stayed on for 5 minutes

An all around fail then. Are they just too thin and flimsy to stay put? You did mentioned something about a wet noodle.

brewingmeister said:

An all around fail then. Are they just too thin and flimsy to stay put? You did mentioned something about a wet noodle.

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They are fairly dense but they just don't want to stay put. If you could get it in wet and have it dry in place it may stick (giggity) but I'm not standing there holding it in place for hours

If you are having trouble with strar san residue, try wiping it off with a rubbing alcahol dampened paper towel before you stick it in the carboy. I use rubber, but if they are wet with star san they pop right back out.

I'll give this a try but I was leaving for vacation so I put on blow off tubes and left, not worrying about it

Had some similar frustrations with regular silicone stoppers (not the vented type) initially... A long Star San soak will get you every time. Now I just do a pretty quick soak/dip. Still gets a little slippery but it hasn't been an issue at all. It might not stay seated half way in, but it doesn't really need to.

If it gets too slippery from a too-long soak, rinse and rub it down with water, dry it off with a towel, and resanitize.

Also, wouldn't worry top much about your temporarily unstoppered brews as the co2 pressure/blanket probably protected you fairly well.

Dry off the carboy neck, put a piece of tape over the stopper. By the time it dries it will be locked in place. I do this with the rubber ones too. The tape doesn't need to stick to the stopper, just provide enough tension to hold it in place.
Long wire ties and a binder clip also work.

ArtimusBeerimus said:

Also, wouldn't worry top much about your temporarily unstoppered brews as the co2 pressure/blanket probably protected you fairly well.

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i know there was a little CO2 build up from adding the fruit puree's but in a secondary there wont be a lot of CO2 produced. had it been a primary i wouldnt care about it, but the secondary makes me a little more nervous

Well, that's true... Missed that...

ArtimusBeerimus said:

Well, that's true... Missed that...

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i just got down to Hilton Head, South Carolina for vacation for a week before heading to New Orleans for a few days... nothing but boozing and golf and a wedding and a bachelor party tossed in there at some point. I'm trying not to go to crazy worrying about it, it'll be fine. I'm uber crazy about my sanitation methods and have yet to have an infected batch. I don't plan on having one yet either... hopefully we're still good