cowstick

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So I was making some coffee this morning, checking out the churning like I do everyday(Ill never get tired of that) when I noticed that the vents on the bottom of the inside part of the air lock were above the water line. Effectively making the air lock not an air lock. But it was still being held up by the pressure from the inside. I let it sit for an hour after adding more water. Pressure has built back up and all seems to be working fine. Now I am worried that that air that its supposed to keep out didnt stay out. Anyone have this happen to them.

I think that since it was still being held up by the internal pressure that nothing got in. Ill have to hope so.

LayMeister

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Relax, it will be fine. I have stopped using any liquid in secondary air locks because I kept forgetting to fill them up. I only use it in primaries so I can count bubbles. Google "pasteur swan neck" and you'll understand why it is OK.

Paul

StunnedMonkey

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Ha ha. I did the exact same thing a couple of weeks ago, and posted the exact same question. Mine was like that for a couple of days though.

No problem. Plenty of co2 in the fermenter, so nothing bad was crawling in. FWIW, I kegged my batch yesterday, and the sample I tasted while transferring showed nothing amiss. Now I keep a better eye on the liquid level in the lock though.

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Laughing_Gnome_Invisible

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That sounds even more risky than leaving liquid out of the primary airlock! At least in the primary there is always positive pressure in the fermenter due to fermentation.

As to the OP. It will be fine, don't worry.

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broadbill

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...and there is 5-9% alcohol in the beer sitting in the secondary fermenter, plus a layer of CO2. Sure, it can still become infected but it would take a significant dose of bugs to get past the alcohol and CO2 barrier.

I wouldn't worry either, but it doesn't hurt to keep those airlocks filled....

GilaMinumBeer

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I didn;t even bother to put liquid in the air locks this weekend.

I don't care for Vodka. Although it makes a safe airlock liquid, I just think it's a waste to use it for that. However, I didn;t want to use sanitizer or plain water as I didn;t want to risk suck back.

I know the only time this will be a problem is during the respiration/reproduction phase of yeast growth. And I know that open fermentations happen all the time withut issue. But, I was still a bit un-nerved by it and felt compelled to add something.

In the end I RDWHAHB'ed and went to sleep.

I'll check on the triplets thisevening when I get home from work.

My point is, that I understand your position. I know that all will be fine, it's just that I have varied my standard procedure and that has me a bit unweary.

Sea

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So do you have an airlock shaped like Pasteur's flask? I certainly wouldn't assume that the much shorter pathway, and larger orifice of the airlock will keep all the nasties out.

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Corrupt Brewers

kinghellsfire_NZ

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i secondary ferment my 23l batches in a 30l fermenter without a co2 layer and have never had any sort of infection

cowstick

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I thought the Positive pressure would keep it out, I just wanted to make sure. Thanx everyone.

LayMeister

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No risk at all. You don't need "positive pressure" - read about Pasteur's experiments for confirmation. In addition it eliminates the risk of "suck back" and mold growing in the air-lock liquid.

Paul