is my auto-siphon broken?

I accidently poked it down into garbage disposal to stand it upright as I was doing something. I guess when I yanked it out this piece came off. It went for a ride when I went to turn on the disposal a few days later, but it doesn't look too bad for it. My concern is that even though I can slide the pice back on, it slides off really easy, i.e. could fall off in my beer. I tried siphoning out of a glass of water and it seemed to work ok. What is this piece for?

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/JxCGeH3nOKaZtWtErn6R-g?feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/4KY-ltVQ9QVDKDxGBHWb8g?feat=directlink




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no pics available. im assuming its the little black "cup" on the bottom???

Are you sure it wont go back on, i pulled mine off once and just had to use a bit of force to get it back on.

the piece keeps the garbage from the bottom going into your syphon. it also prevents a seal by keeping the suction off the very bottom.

yea its the little black 'cup'. it does go back on, but doesn't stay on very well. I'll try to get the pics worked out.

That's the racking cane tip, used to elevate the siphon intake to minimize yeast and trub pickup. If you have an auto-siphon clip or simply hold it by hand while racking and keeping an eye on the tubing so make sure you aren't picking up too much crud, you don't need the tip. I'm a little concerned about sanitation if the thing got beat up in the garbage disposal, but if there aren't any cuts, you should be in good shape using it.

Yea there are some cuts/gouges. Maybe just fuhgetabowt the tip then? I do like to hold onto the thing while I'm racking, though sometimes I screw up and accidentally dip the siphon into the yeast cake