Big mouth bubbler lids SUCK!

[Troutchaser]

I recently decided to buy two plastic big mouth bubblers because 1 I was tired of cleaning glass Carboy and 2 the BMB is a little taller and more narrow than other fermenters which allows me to fit two in my fermentation chamber! I got two BMB and one came with the regular screw on top the other came with the universal top. I can not get either one of them to seal right! I have very active fermentation in both of them and absolutely nothing in the airlock it's so annoying. I know lots of others have had the same issues has anyone figured out any tricks to seal these thing?

 

[davidgaines]

I had an issue with these at one point, and from a suggestion on here I used teflon tape to help seal it up. Never done me wrong since I started doing that. Worth a try.

 

[mongoose33]

I have two BMB. Both use the universal lids without problem. I push them down far enough to seal and no further. I never push them all the way down. They work great.

 

[wrongcrowdbrewing]

did you remember to put the gasket in the screw on one? i have one and for the life of me couldnt figure out why my airlock wasnt bubbling, then "slaps forehead" forgot to put gasket in

 

[mongoose33]

did you remember to put the gasket in the screw on one? i have one and for the life of me couldnt figure out why my airlock wasnt bubbling, then "slaps forehead" forgot to put gasket in

What gasket? Mine has the solid plastic insert held down by the screw-on ring.

This lid won't work w/ the screw-on ring; it's the one I'm referring to above in my other post.

This lid, at least in my system, didn't have a gasket.

 

[meatcleaver]

What gasket? Mine has the solid plastic insert held down by the screw-on ring.

This lid won't work w/ the screw-on ring; it's the one I'm referring to above in my other post.

This lid, at least in my system, didn't have a gasket.

I have the 1st gen bmb w/ that lid & yes it does suck.
I think this is supposed to be the solution
http://www.northernbrewer.com/big-mouth-bubbler-universal-lid-single-port

edit: after rereading your post I see you already have one of those lids & it doesn't seal either.
I really should finish my coffee before posting here...

 

[addled_mind]

I find that for the first couple hours until the StarSan dries the universal lid wants to pop off but after that its fine. I simply tape it in place wit two strips of duck tape until it dries and its good to go.

 

[meatcleaver]

maybe this...
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=555388

 

[Troutchaser]

I find that for the first couple hours until the StarSan dries the universal lid wants to pop off but after that its fine. I simply tape it in place wit two strips of duck tape until it dries and its good to go.

I actually tried to duct tape it down but it wants to pop up so bad it pulled the tape off! My twist on lid deffenetly did not come with a gasket. I know it's not a huge concern during active fermentation but it is annoying!

 

[passedpawn]

maybe this...
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=555388

Yes, that. I have 6 of these that I modified and they work great (4 full ones right now in the fermentor).

 

[passedpawn]

What gasket? Mine has the solid plastic insert held down by the screw-on ring.

This lid won't work w/ the screw-on ring; it's the one I'm referring to above in my other post.

This lid, at least in my system, didn't have a gasket.

You can use the gasket from your #1 with the lid in your #2. See the "easy solution" here:

Big Mouth Bubbler- Solution to the bad lid seal problem

 

[mongoose33]

Oh, I remember that solution all right--but here's the thing: I just don't jam my lids all the way down. They go maybe halfway, maybe a bit more, but hold just fine. Once they're in place and sealing, they're just fine.

I think the problem is everybody's trying to jam them all the way down, which IME you do not have to do to get them to work.

I have a pic of mine which I'll upload later. It's on a fermenter in a fridge doing a cold crash. It's close to being all the way in but not quite--but I don't care so long as it seals. Sometimes it's just halfway or a bit more, and it stays there just fine, and this when fermentation is going like crazy, and my airlock is bubbling like mad.

 

[passedpawn]

Oh, I remember that solution all right--but here's the thing: I just don't jam my lids all the way down. They go maybe halfway, maybe a bit more, but hold just fine. Once they're in place and sealing, they're just fine.

I think the problem is everybody's trying to jam them all the way down, which IME you do not have to do to get them to work.

I have a pic of mine which I'll upload later. It's on a fermenter in a fridge doing a cold crash. It's close to being all the way in but not quite--but I don't care so long as it seals. Sometimes it's just halfway or a bit more, and it stays there just fine, and this when fermentation is going like crazy, and my airlock is bubbling like mad.

Right. I think the universal work OK with no modifications, but under certain conditions. When I got mine, I sprayed them with starsan, pushed them in, and I can assure you they immediately came almost all the way back out. I think if they're dry, they don't do that. But I went into "fix it" mode immediately. I used to have the exact same problem with stoppers in glass carboys - they popped right back out when wet. I solved that by switching to universal stoppers. I could have just waited for the stopper to dry, but that's just not how I like to do things.

 

[mongoose33]

Right. I think the universal work OK with no modifications, but under certain conditions. When I got mine, I sprayed them with starsan, pushed them in, and I can assure you they immediately came almost all the way back out. I think if they're dry, they don't do that. But I went into "fix it" mode immediately. I used to have the exact same problem with stoppers in glass carboys - they popped right back out when wet. I solved that by switching to universal stoppers. I could have just waited for the stopper to dry, but that's just not how I like to do things.

I have my universal lids soaking in Star-San before they go on. Maybe soaking them helps the silicone seal hold better, whereas if they're just wet but not having been soaking, it doesn't work as well.

 

[mongoose33]

Here's a pic of my bmb lid:

 

[Troutchaser]

You can use the gasket from your #1 with the lid in your #2. See the "easy solution" here:

Big Mouth Bubbler- Solution to the bad lid seal problem

Passedpawn your a genius!! I had the same problem. Every time I pushed the lid down it justs pops up and sucks all the starsan out of my airlock (is that bad for the beer?) into the beer. The problem is I don't think they sell the twist lids seperatly anymore. I was thinking about just putting a heavy weight on top of the lid.