Blowoff tube size?

Subject says it all... I had my first blowout this morning, and at lunch time (soon!) I need to go get some tubing for a blowoff tube.

What size do I need for a standard 6.5gal carboy? (I forgot to measure this morning before I left for work)

one regular carboy stopper drilled out
two 1/2"ID hard els
one 5" length and one 21" length of 1/2"ID PVC



http://upstatebrewtopians.com/temp/my_stuff/blowofftube 010.jpg

I use 1.25" outer diameter tubing for my carboys, but they're six gallon. I don't know if the mouth on the 6.5 gallon is bigger or smaller or the same. The 1.25" is a perfect snug fit for me though.

I'm going to go on the assumption that the 6gal & 6.5gal are the same size.

Thanks everyone!

Brewhead, I like that design, but it's a bit more complicated than I'd like to go for.

Same design, albeit smaller, than they use at ballast point brewery. If it works for them I'm gonna build me one. PVC is cheap and really amenable to customization.
Thanks for the idea.

I used a 1" OD pipe on mine, fits inside my 5 gal just fine. If you wanted it to go around the outside I would use something bigger.

Now I use 5/16' and insert it into the carboy airlock cap instead of the airlock for a few days...

butler1850 said:

I'm going to go on the assumption that the 6gal & 6.5gal are the same size.

Thanks everyone!

Brewhead, I like that design, but it's a bit more complicated than I'd like to go for.

Click to expand...

1.5" OD tubing works perfectly on my 6.5 L carboy.

I recall reading about this awhile ago i cant seem to find the link but if you use a tube that is too small there might be a chance it will get clogged and possibly cause the carboy to be damaged.

I have no experience with this just thought it was worthy of posting.

This is just the thread I needed. I blew the lid off my plastic bucket last night sometime between 3am and 6am

What should those of us using a plastic bucket for the primary use?

To make due, this morning I shoved my bottling tube down the inside of my airlock and clipped the other end into a stock pot filled with sanitizer.

Its been pushing krausen into the tube all day and I'm concerned that it will plug up the same way that the air holes on the airlock lid did. There has got to be a better way.

feedthebear said:

This is just the thread I needed. I blew the lid off my plastic bucket last night sometime between 3am and 6am

What should those of us using a plastic bucket for the primary use?

To make due, this morning I shoved my bottling tube down the inside of my airlock and clipped the other end into a stock pot filled with sanitizer.

Its been pushing krausen into the tube all day and I'm concerned that it will plug up the same way that the air holes on the airlock lid did. There has got to be a better way.

Click to expand...

Same principle. Get a stopper that matches the hole in the lid of the bucket, or better yet, get one larger and drill out the lid to accomodate, then take the stopper, drill it out to the largest diameter tube you can get at Lowes, Home Depot, Menards, what have you, that will fit in the newly drilled stopper, sanitize it and run it into the bucket filled with sanitized water.


Ize

I've got to talk this out to see if I can make it work.

The only hole it has drilled is just big enough for the airlock to fit into. Then it has a rubber o-ring to help make the seal.

So, I would want to drill a 1.25" hole in place of it. Then fit a rubber o-ring inside it. Then shove a 1.25" o.d. tube in it for the blow-off when I need it. When I don't need it, I could shove a regular glass carboy drilled bung into it with an airlock.

Or instead I could drill a 1/2" hole into a drilled glass carboy bung and shove a 1/2" o.d. tube in it. Then when I don't need it, I can put a regular drilled bung into it with an airlock.

I'm thinking the second way would work better.

Thanks.

FYI, for a glass 6.5Gal carboy, the 1.25 OD tubing fits like a glove.

While I have a mess on my basement floor, it certainly has served it's purpose. The "real" airlock will go back on this evening. It looks like the overflow of krausen has finally stopped.

This is an Anchor steam clone, and the initial fermentation was at 70F (first 8 hours or so), pitched with a 3qt starter.

My first blowoff! I must be a homebrewer now!

Brewhead, I like that design, but it's a bit more complicated than I'd like to go for.

Click to expand...

prob cost you less than that big hose

i constructed these initially becasue the closet i would but the carboys in wasn't big enough for all that hose.

butler1850 said:

FYI, for a glass 6.5Gal carboy, the 1.25 OD tubing fits like a glove.

While I have a mess on my basement floor, it certainly has served it's purpose. The "real" airlock will go back on this evening. It looks like the overflow of krausen has finally stopped.

This is an Anchor steam clone, and the initial fermentation was at 70F (first 8 hours or so), pitched with a 3qt starter.

My first blowoff! I must be a homebrewer now!

Click to expand...

Glad to hear the blow-off tube worked!

I've had three blow-offs, but I was only unprepared for the first one. And yes, I felt like a real homebrewer after the second one with the tube in place. :rockin: