Airlock question.

Hey guys, I just got one of the new airlocks pictured below. It saves me some space rather than using just a big tube for a blowoff (I live in an apt.) However, I haven't seen any bubbles coming up into the sanitizer it's dipped into. I talked to the owner of my LHBS, and she said that it could be that the CO2 is just dissolving into the sanitizer rather than bubbling in. That made my BS detectors go off though.

It's obviously fermenting because I replaced the pictured airlock with a standard airlock and bubbles appeared instantly. I couldn't find any leaks in the system either, but if the CO2 isn't going through the tube and bubbling into the sanitizer solution, and isn't leaking, the airlock should pop off the fermentor.... Any ideas out there on what's happening.

As always, I appreciate the help.

Is the picture posted? I do not see it.

ArchM77 said:

It's obviously fermenting because I replaced the pictured airlock with a standard airlock and bubbles appeared instantly.

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I'd say it's obviously fermenting bacause you have a 4 inch thick krausen on top of the beer

It's leaking somewhere, which is totally fine. Some people ferment in buckets with no airlocks, just a loose lid -- they live for the leak. Your setup looks just fine.

It can take a while for the co2 to fill up the blowoff tube. Or it is leaking out around the cap. In any case, krausen shows clear fermentation.

That's called a carboy cap. They're leaky. Beer looks fine. Forget about the bubbles.

I put a zip tie around the oranges caps to make sure they seal, they are loose. I did have a no bubble blow tube on a buck with my last batch. Gas is going to leak out at the weakest point, seal on the bucket lid, stopper, etc. I did find that bringing the end of the hose closer to the surface helped with the bubbling. There's a column of water in the tube and it needs to moved F=P/A. I could into that now, but it's time to hit the town with lady in arm.

Dissolving into the water is a interesting idea also.

TyTanium said:

That's called a carboy cap. They're leaky. Beer looks fine. Forget about the bubbles.

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Pretty much that. Obviously you know what's going on, I'd say just not to worry about it, but I suppose you could secure it in some other fashion. I, like you, am a professional bubble-nut. MUST HEAR THE BUBBLES IN MY SLEEP.