autosiphon bubbles

I've never liked my autosiphon......... I've used one for 3 brews now, and it's a total pain in the butt. I'm used to using a spigot.......... I'm growing to hate the darn thing!!

I siphoned a brew into my cold crash vessel today, and it gave me nothing but trouble. I ended up with carbonation bubbles in the siphon tube, and they would stream toward the high spot and consolidate, reducing the efficiency of the siphon, and finally stopping it altogether.......... Both ends submerged, it just didn't want to work and I had to pump periodically to keep things going....... It was a battle all the way. Part of the problem was that I didn't have enough fall, and towards the end of the process the liquid levels were too close. I intend to put a longer hose on it and start dropping further.

This fermenter is a stainless steel stock pot I was forced to resort to when one of my fermenters was broken and I was unable to replace it with what I want...... it will cease be used when I find what I'm looking for. In the meantime I'm thinking about putting a spigot in it and parking the siphon.


H.W.

This is how I do it. Never fails and i can use a 1/2" tube for faster transfer. I also hated the auto-siphon. Works way better manually.
http://mikesbrewreview.com/how-to-siphon-beer/

I have a pretty big drop with mine... counter top to floor when racking from fermenter to bottling bucket. And I've never lost siphon once I got it going.

I do get a bubble forming right where the tubing slips over the racking cane part of the autosiphon, though. Once flow is going, I pinch the tubing near the bubble to restrict flow. The bubble fills up with beer, then all is good.

I have also read of problems and had some of my own issues until I started pumping it differently.

I'll wash my hand, spray with StarSan and put my thumb over the end of the tube. This creates a vacuum that fills the tube completely with beer on the first up stroke.

One stroke down and it siphons flawlessly with no bubbles.

jtratcliff said:

I have a pretty big drop with mine... counter top to floor when racking from fermenter to bottling bucket. And I've never lost siphon once I got it going.

I do get a bubble forming right where the tubing slips over the racking cane part of the autosiphon, though. Once flow is going, I pinch the tubing near the bubble to restrict flow. The bubble fills up with beer, then all is good.

Click to expand...

Pump it one or two more times and the bubble where the tubing meets the cane should vanish.

@OP: Is the vessel you're transferring from lower than the one you're transferring to? This could be the issue.

Since it's only your third time, practice with water as well to get a real good hang of it, as these problems shouldn't be happening.

MarshmallowBlue said:

Pump it one or two more times and the bubble where the tubing meets the cane should vanish.

@OP: Is the vessel you're transferring from lower than the one you're transferring to? This could be the issue.

Since it's only your third time, practice with water as well to get a real good hang of it, as these problems shouldn't be happening.

Click to expand...

This.

I had a problem with bubbles at the connection of the racking cane and the tubing. The tubing was old and had become slightly oval at the connection point. I cut an inch off the end of the tubing to end the problem.

I use the three-eighths inch siphon.

MarshmallowBlue said:

Pump it one or two more times and the bubble where the tubing meets the cane should vanish.

@OP: Is the vessel you're transferring from lower than the one you're transferring to? This could be the issue.

Since it's only your third time, practice with water as well to get a real good hang of it, as these problems shouldn't be happening.

Click to expand...

The one is of course lower......... or it wouldn't work........... but I think I'll get a longer hose and put it lower yet. I don't have enough of a flow to clear the bubbles completely..... Bubbles from the low end climb fast enough to join the bubble at the high point.......... this suggests not enough flow rate.

I also intend to devise a much more positive clamping system to hold the unit in position, it ends up moving around and wanting to tip. The less it moves, the less trub it's going to stir up.

H.W.

Owly055 said:

The one is of course lower......... or it wouldn't work........... but I think I'll get a longer hose and put it lower yet. I don't have enough of a flow to clear the bubbles completely..... Bubbles from the low end climb fast enough to join the bubble at the high point.......... this suggests not enough flow rate.

I also intend to devise a much more positive clamping system to hold the unit in position, it ends up moving around and wanting to tip. The less it moves, the less trub it's going to stir up.

H.W.

Click to expand...

I use the auto siphon clamp to hold the siphon in the carboy until about three-quarters of the beer has been transferred. I hold the siphon for the remainder so I can watch the tip, lowering it down to the level of the yeast. I have the carboy tilted to hold the siphon against the side of the carboy so it is easy to see.

How far are you drawing up the racking cane before pushing it back down?

When I had a similar problem it was a bad autosiphon. The cane in the center wasn't making a good seal and was allowing air in. My siphon was several years old and had been working fine until one day I just started getting the bubbles. I bought a new one and the problem went away.

mcartt11 said:

When I had a similar problem it was a bad autosiphon. The cane in the center wasn't making a good seal and was allowing air in. My siphon was several years old and had been working fine until one day I just started getting the bubbles. I bought a new one and the problem went away.

Click to expand...

Now that makes sense to me........... But it's a new item.

My hose really isn't long enough, so I'm making a lot of short strokes instead of one long one to get it primed...... A guy just never has enough hose to satisfy him ;-)

The little black plastic clip is completely inadequate as far as I'm concerned..... I want something more substantial.

I probably won't be using this stock pot very long as a fermenter.......... When I can find another of my favorite Walmart 3 gallon beverage dispensers, I'll abandon it.... and the auto siphon will hang unused on the wall.

H.W.

I have a pipe clamp tightened around where the hose connects to the auto siphon to keep air out. I wonder sometimes if the bubbles that show up there is residual co2 coming out of solution and not o2.

I've done one or two big strokes and I've done 3-4 smaller strokes and they both work the same for me. I've never lost a siphon unless liquid levels were equal. I put my beers on top of the toiled and the keg is next to it. I probably have 5' of hose.

I was just gifted a 1/2" so I need to find some tubing for it. Gifted my 3/8" to my step father who hated using his stainless steel racking cane after he bought it for sanitary reasons.

Always use a tubing 1/16" smaller than the cane size so you need 7/16" ID tubing.