Siphoning

So I just ran into a problem racking my basic sweet cider to a secondary. The primary was so carbonated the siphon tube constantly filled with bubbles and stopped the flow of liquid. I resorted to sucking on the siphon to pull down the cider but that was difficult as well.

One single time I got a good flow of cider with apparently too little friction to create bubbles and siphoned about 1/2 of the gallon.

The cider was in the primary for 28 days.

Does anyone have any recommendations as to how I could fix this in the future?

Thanks! :fro:

Why is there carbonation in your primary? Didn't you use an airlock or a towel? I don't understand how you could even have so many bubbles that it hinders racking...

I would bet you don't have a good seal between your dip stick and your hose. Only time I see this is when it's loose and air gets in. I use a Stainless steal clamp that tightens it up and never have a problem.

I don't even use the racking cane, as it doesn't create a seal...I've taken to just using the hose by itself...I've had no trouble since.

ive had same problem with a racking tube, no problems with auto siphon, but have takin to just using straight tubing. the tube you are using could be too large for the racking cane, using a hose clamp sounds like a good idea

yeah, that is a goodie, i think mine is just poorly manufactured...probably chinese. like i said, though, just the tubing is fine. i don't really see the point in the racking cane as long as you pay attention to what you're doing. i think its mostly just to make you feel special.

I'm a big fan of the auto siphon, but you could probably make do with just tubing, or a hose clamp, or a dollop of aquarium sealant. Regards, GF.

Great ideas. The problems I encountered all stemmed from the racking cane flowing into the tubing. I think I will just use tubing from now on and forget the cane.

Thanks!