Airlock question

I have both the airlocks shown at this link.

Home Brewing Airlocks clip art - vector clip art online, royalty free & public domain

1) Any opinions on whether the one on the right or left is better?
2) Both have caps which I assume are not to be left on when you are actually using it. To tight a fit in my opinion to let the air out readily. I only ask because maybe it is meant to rest lightly on top to keep "bad stuff" from falling in there.

Neither is "better." Leaving the caps on is fine, the air will have no problem getting out.

I use the one on the right. And yes, the cap is supposed to be on. There are small holes in it to release the CO2.

For primary I like to use the three piece airlock cause they are easy to clean, whereas the other one can be bit difficult to clean if gunked up with trub.

For secondary I like to use the 'dual-chamber' airlock because you can easily gauge CO2 release by sight.

S style airlock is best when cold crashing.. If you cold crash with a 3 piece you will suck back all the liquid in the airlock into your beer... I use both all the time but the first week I mainly use a blow off, the 3 piece is shorter and fits better on my shelves..

An airlock is an airlock, they both do their job, which is to let EXCESS co2 out while keeping nasties from getting in. It doesn't matter which you use, or even if you use one at all. You're beer will ferment equally well with them, whether they even blip or not.

It really comes down to what you prefer.

edmanster said:

s style airlock is best when cold crashing.. If you cold crash with a 3 piece you will suck back all the liquid in the airlock into your beer... I use both all the time but the first week i mainly use a blow off, the 3 piece is shorter and fits better on my shelves..

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+1

edmanster said:

S style airlock is best when cold crashing.. If you cold crash with a 3 piece you will suck back all the liquid in the airlock into your beer... I use both all the time but the first week I mainly use a blow off

Click to expand...

this

For the 3-piece, leave the lid on! It's called 3-piece for reason. The lid keeps the upside-down cup part from blowing off during active fermentation (in which case you'd have a useless one-piece airlock).