Better Bottle Blow-off Bullcrap!

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h4mmy86

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Hey guys,

I got most of my stuff from the Northern Brewer deluxe starter package with better bottles, and the blow off tube assembly is really starting to aggravate me.

(I don't know the size of the bung or the tube, but I can probably find out if needed.)

Right out of the box sliding the hose into the bung I think "Man, this bung doesn't seem to grab hold of this tube very well at all, no way that will make a good seal!"

So then you try to fit the bung into the opening in the better bottle and again I find myself saying "What a funny fit, the carboy keeps trying to push the bung back out! I bet some hardcore krausen would push that right out of there!"

...so you push it a little harder and SUCCESS! The bung is firmly in place, and it now has a good grip on the blow-off tube! Ready for the rowdiest of fermentation!

But the thing is, to get that good secure seal, the bung is almost completely crammed into the neck of the carboy and nearly impossible to remove!

I have been pulling the tube out, sanitizing the top of the bung, and then just pushing it down into my beer and removing it with the dish towel trick after racking.

...hassle

Am I doing something wrong here? There has to be a trick to make this easier.

I mean, I can't be the only one to notice this problem!

Did I just get a mismatched kit or something?
 
make sure it's not too wet and don't push it in so far. if it blows out it can blow out anything you have on the vessel, sealed bucket lids get blown off all the time. most fermentations will not blow that hard and you'll just be venting gas.
 
Wet stoppers don't like to stick. Same in glass carboys.

Might try one of the Buon-vino stoppers, the intermediate size fits better bottles.
 
h4mmy86 said:
Hey guys,

I got most of my stuff from the Northern Brewer deluxe starter package with better bottles, and the blow off tube assembly is really starting to aggravate me.

(I don't know the size of the bung or the tube, but I can probably find out if needed.)

Right out of the box sliding the hose into the bung I think "Man, this bung doesn't seem to grab hold of this tube very well at all, no way that will make a good seal!"

So then you try to fit the bung into the opening in the better bottle and again I find myself saying "What a funny fit, the carboy keeps trying to push the bung back out! I bet some hardcore krausen would push that right out of there!"

...so you push it a little harder and SUCCESS! The bung is firmly in place, and it now has a good grip on the blow-off tube! Ready for the rowdiest of fermentation!

But the thing is, to get that good secure seal, the bung is almost completely crammed into the neck of the carboy and nearly impossible to remove!

I have been pulling the tube out, sanitizing the top of the bung, and then just pushing it down into my beer and removing it with the dish towel trick after racking.

...hassle

Am I doing something wrong here? There has to be a trick to make this easier.

I mean, I can't be the only one to notice this problem!

Did I just get a mismatched kit or something?

Sounds just like my setup.
 
This is my Blowoff...

2011-01-30154348.jpg


I need 6 gallon BBs..
 
So you thinks my bung is too wet and slippery?

(Insert Beavis and Butt-head reference here)

Should I be drying my bung and in the neck of the carboy for better grip? Any advice on doing so in a sanitary manner?
 
I believe the ID of the opening is 1" so you can get a piece of 1" tubing from the Depot or Lowe's and just jam it in there, no bung necessary:)
 
I can measure the opening... I like that idea of one big hose and no bung.

I see that done a lot with glass carboys but just kind of assumed it wasn't done with better bottles for some reason unknown to myself.

....now I can't help but wonder why more bb owners don't do this
 
If it is an actual better bottle, I'm 95% sure that im 100% sure that it will use a #10 stopper which is 1 15/16" at the top of the stopper. So something like maybe a hose with a 2" diameter (outside) would probably fit in there nicely once you squeeze. I'm just think off the top of my head though
 
What size is the bung included in the NB kit?
...anyone know?

I couldn't find it in the product description on their site.

I would just measure mine but its undoubtedly settled nicely into a bed of yeast and trub after I had to push it in so I could do some dry hopping.
 
I had the same problem and replaced the soft stopper with the other option northern brewer has. Its a hard rubber stopper, instead of the soft rubber that comes with the blow-off assembly. They work great and hold no matter what.
But I have heard if you sanitize the soft rubber one, and let it dry out while sitting on top of the carboy it will hold better once its not wet and slippery.
 

That's what I use. For a blowoff, I use the vinyl tubing from an old bottling cane. I've only had a blowout once, and the whole bung came out when the hose got plugged. +1 on dry fitting the parts.


And when I used glass, I used the "big bore blowoff" with large diameter vinyl and pvc 90's. I haven't bothered piecing one together for the BB as it is nearly twice the diameter of a glass carboy.
 
I've been using the NB blowoff assembly for a year and a half. It works very well. Let the Starsan drip off. I doesn't need to be totally dry, just not dripping wet. Push the stopper in carefully until there is about 1/4 inch left sticking out. If it does not stay pull it out and shake off any Starsan still on the bung. It will stay eventually. Usually on the second try. When you remove the bung just rock it from side to side and it will come out.

I have had very active blow offs with no problem. I also got my fermentation chamber build going, ordered the 2 for 1 Better Bottles from NB and also ordered 2 more blow off assemblies so that I can have several batches going at one time.
 
I couldnt get a bung to stay in my better bottle either until I rinsed the star San off the bung. Now I sanitize the bung and my hands then rinse with clean water and rub until no longer slippery, shake the bung nearly dry and insert. That star San is some slick stuff.
 
We get some pretty active blow-off so when we switched to Better Bottles I bought a couple of the universal stoppers previously mentioned...

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/universal-bung-medium-fits-better-bottles.html

...and drilled them out to fit the large blow-off tubes that we were using on our glass carboys. The stoppers fit the Better Bottles very nicely (even when covered in Starsan) and have a lip on them so they can't be pushed all the way in.

Universal Stopper.jpg


Better Bottle Blowoff.jpg
 
This is all I've ever used. It's the blue cap off the top of the 18.9 liter water bottles that go on top of a water cooler..they are a tight fit on the better bottle. There's a center knockout that's used to let water out of the bottle when it's inverted on the cooler; just shove a piece of tubing in that and you're good to go.

IMAG0108.jpg
 
Why are people using bungs with blow-offs? Why not just stick the tubing in the carboy and skip the bung?
 
Use an orange carboy cap with a 3 piece airlock. Attach a 1/2" tube to the center opening of the airlock. Works perfect with no issues for me on many brews.
 
We get some pretty active blow-off so when we switched to Better Bottles I bought a couple of the universal stoppers previously mentioned...

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/universal-bung-medium-fits-better-bottles.html

...and drilled them out to fit the large blow-off tubes that we were using on our glass carboys. The stoppers fit the Better Bottles very nicely (even when covered in Starsan) and have a lip on them so they can't be pushed all the way in.


What type of drill bit do you use to get such a nice hole in the uni stopper? I've tried it with a spade bit, but it created a ragged hole that did not seal against the 1 inch hose worth a crap.
 
jturie said:
What type of drill bit do you use to get such a nice hole in the uni stopper? I've tried it with a spade bit, but it created a ragged hole that did not seal against the 1 inch hose worth a crap.

Hole saw ftw
 
I used a spade bit in a drill press. Set speed pretty fast and then proceeded VERY slow. I actually ruined one figuring it out....slow speed and pushing too hard/fast. Once I figured it out I was surprised at how well it worked. Seems like the trick was spinning the bit fast to get a clean cut but no letting it get too hot.
 
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