Dear Auto-Siphon, I hate you!

anyone else have continual issues with their auto-siphon not siphoning? I have the regular old auto-siphon from Midwest(http://www.midwestsupplies.com/5-16-auto-siphon.html) and I tell you almost every time I use it it stops siphoing. It starts off fine then about a gallon or so in it seems to just do nothing and I end pumping the damn thing to try and get it siphoning again. Sometimes it seems to pick back up but in other cases like last night when transferring to bottling bucket I ended up just pumping the damn thing for 3 gallons b/c it kept stopping! maybe its just me who knows, just needed to vent my frustration with this device!

jaydog2314 said:

anyone else have continual issues with their auto-siphon not siphoning? I have the regular old auto-siphon from Midwest(http://www.midwestsupplies.com/5-16-auto-siphon.html) and I tell you almost every time I use it it stops siphoing. It starts off fine then about a gallon or so in it seems to just do nothing and I end pumping the damn thing to try and get it siphoning again. Sometimes it seems to pick back up but in other cases like last night when transferring to bottling bucket I ended up just pumping the damn thing for 3 gallons b/c it kept stopping! maybe its just me who knows, just needed to vent my frustration with this device!

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Are you getting air in the tube (where it connects to the siphon)? I have that issue sometimes.

Maybe try a very light film on the plunger seal of the inner tube.

A siphon works more on natural laws of physics than any sort of engineering/design.

Are you making sure the vessel you are racking into is lower than the vessel you are racking from? Are you sure you have tight connections where the tubing meets the racking cane?

Seriously, if you have a airtight siphon going, it isn't going to stop. It's physics. There's something else going on.

Also, is the container you're siphoning to lower than where you're siphoning from. While this might seem obvious to most, it might not be obvious to all. And, let's be honest, sometimes we're not always "present" when we're doing these things.

+1 on all of the above. Try a light film as the geek guy mentioned. I use keg lube.. but something like K-Y Jelly works.. even EVOO. Heck, if olive oil can be used in place of adding oxygen to the wort.. I'd guess it can be used on the seal. I'd rather KY or keg lube tho.

Let me share the trick that fixed all of my auto siphon woes. This does assume that your receiving vessel is enough lower than the donating vessel. If not, nothing you can do will make it siphon... thanks, physics.

Pour a little pure water/sanitizer solution into the top of the auto siphon tube, on top of the plunger.

Often the seal isn't quite perfect, which can result in bubbles or lost siphon. If you do this, those problems go away. At the worst, you get an extra ounce or two of water in your five gallons of beer.

It sounds like your siphon is leaking air into the flow somewhere. You may need to get a new one.

I have no problems with mine, in fact it is one of my favorite brewing tools.

i do have the next vessel lower so gravity can take place, maybe i don't have it low enough. it's usually about 6-8 inches maybe next time i'll try lowering it more. and perhaps the seal isn't great between the cane and the tube b/c last night I did notice beer in the tube above the seal by the cane so maybe that's the issue is i'm not getting a good seal. thanks guys.

Dear siphon,I don't think I like you,anymore. You used to flow like four,but all ya do now is belch & pee on the floor. Dear siphon,...I don't think I like you,anymore. I used it once,then got spigots for my other fermenters/bottling buckets. Now it's just there in case of emergency. It just doesn't work well with out some cajoling.

6-8 inches won't do it. The highest level of your receiving vessel needs to be lower than the lowest part of your donating vessel. Otherwise, you get equillibrium and no siphon. This would happen if you did a plain siphon/mouth siphon, etc.

You'll get great results with, say, a carboy on the countertop and the bottling bucket on the floor.

I have used and do not like auto-siphons. I own both the small and what is left of the standard size (broken). They are expensive and poorly designed.

I can use a racking cane + push with CO2 and get better results and stability than with any auto-siphon. With a racking cane I never touch the trub on the bottom of the fermenter so I have cleaner transfers.

I wish I could get my money back I paid for them.

If you are having problems with an autosiphon and the autosiphon isn't broken, you are doing something wrong.

Thanks for all the tips!

Are you racking a lot of dry hopped beers? I've noticed on mine, when siphoning dry-hopped beers, the hops will clog around the inlet tip, even with a paint strainer bag wrapped around it. When this happens, the outosiphon will start sucking air between the rubber seal on the cane and the outer tube.

a little keg lube (or any foodsafe silicone lube) on the racking cane seal works wonders.
even though bubble collect at the hose connection, all the leaks I've seen with then were actually at the racking cane seal.

When you clean the autosiphon, take it apart to let it dry. I noticed when I started doing this I got a much better seal the next time I would use it.

I love my autosiphon. Once I learned not to try and siphon boiling hot wort through my chiller with it... :/

Where do you get keg lube? I tried KY but it gives it a strawberry flavor. Would astro glide work?

Frige said:

Where do you get keg lube? I tried KY but it gives it a strawberry flavor. Would astro glide work?

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While beer is often the cause of sex, the creation of beer should be kept separate.

Idk...that lube stuff is pretty darn slippery. Should be great for the cane seal...

That may be, but I personally don't care for the flavor of KY or Astroglide.

Starsan usually does a pretty good job of lubing the wand.

Homercidal said:

Starsan usually does a pretty good job of lubing the wand.

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I'm not even sure what you are talking about anymore. I don't know that I want to know.

I mean, isn't starsan a mild acid? Water isn't slippery, so you'd have to use starsan in a hgher concentration, and that could be painful, right?


Wait...

Couldn't live without mine. I only wish they made an all stainless model, mine are always breaking because my soak water is usually really hot and ends up weakening the plastic. Have never had one problem with it other than breaking.

Zamial said:

I have used and do not like auto-siphons. I own both the small and what is left of the standard size (broken). They are expensive and poorly designed.

I can use a racking cane + push with CO2 and get better results and stability than with any auto-siphon. With a racking cane I never touch the trub on the bottom of the fermenter so I have cleaner transfers.

I wish I could get my money back I paid for them.

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+1 that's what I do.

I've been using mine for 1-1/2 years without issue. I love my auto-siphon!

anyone have details on racking with CO2, I did a quick search on the threads but I mostly see racking to a keg with CO2. Do you guys rack to a secondary with CO2?

jaydog2314 said:

anyone have details on racking with CO2, I did a quick search on the threads but I mostly see racking to a keg with CO2. Do you guys rack to a secondary with CO2?

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yes.

I use a carboy cap or a modded bucket lid with extra hole and grommet depending on what the liquid is in. Transfer at 3 psi.

Zamial said:

yes.

I use a carboy cap or a modded bucket lid with extra hole and grommet depending on what the liquid is in. Transfer at 3 psi.

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Me too. One the flow starts (i.e. a siphon is established) I disconnect the CO2 and let gravity work.

Much much better this week. Took the advice here. Raised to carboy to be completely above the bottling bucket and added a drop or two of star San in the racking cane to seal it. So far no pumping like before. Thanks again!

I broke (acutally seperated it)the flipper valve inside of a mini autosiphon and recently a regular sized one also trying to clean stuck leaf hops out of them. I acually fitted it back into the mini amazingly/luckily.But not the longer one yet.Ive become friends with the ol racking cane and tube,all you do is fill it up hold your(sanitized)thumb on the end of it(I use gloves) put it in the fermenter and I just fill/dicard the first of it into a cup and continue on . It has really become just as easy/maybe even easier-now to me, as the autosiphon.Oh and plus I broke the mini plunger cane curved racking part on the mini-auto siphon also when I was trying to pull off the tube from it- to hell with it.