One thing that strikes me after reading these responses is that my batch sizes have become a little smaller (4.5 gallons sometimes). So limiting the head space could be part of it, because I had a feeling that a lot suckback cant be good. Infection Could be the other part of it. For my next brew day, which wil be in a couple of weeks I'm going to to the following....
-clean vessels with oxyclean (we sell it at work).
-use sanitizing solution in airlock.
-get a two chamber air lock for secondary(so no sanitizer gets sucked back into vessel, just incase) or solid bung.
-replace all plastic parts.
-make an immersion chiller to cool wort faster(we sell soft copper at work).
-make my batch bigger to limit head space.
-and purge vessel with co2 before transfer.
This sounds like a lot, but it really isnt. I wish I could have a separate fridge for cold storage and more kegs, but space is an issue. I'm really excited to try these suggestions. If any one has any others I'm open to here them, otherwise, thank you everbody. This was a great first experience on a forum for brewing.
Just make sure you leave enough headspace during primary fermentation - otherwise you'll end up with a giant mess. It's just the secondary where you need to match the size of your vessel with the volume of beer. I brew 4 gallon batches and, if I use a secondary, I rack to a 3 gallon glass carboy. Headspace is practically non-existent and suck back is not possible.