Half inch Siphon won't fit my glass carboy!

[Husher]

I just bought a 1/2 inch siphon hoping to knock down my bottling and racking time. I tend to do things in threes, so racking three beers takes an hour with my old siphon. The new one can do a carboy in 5 minutes instead of 20.

Did the first one just fine, but the SECOND TWO didn't fit the siphon. All three brews were in 6.5 Gallon glass carboys. They all look identical except the diameter of the bung hole. All made in Italy. Seems that 6 and 5 gallon carboys are fine. Just the two biggies I have are too tight.

Needless to say there was a fair amount of swearing when I realized I'd need to sanitize the old siphon and kill 40 minutes.

Anyone had this problem? And if I go craigslist-ing for new 6.5 gallon carboys, what are the odds I'll have the same problem? Is there something specific I'm looking for? Like maybe carboys after 1980 are OK? Didn't check the dates last night when cleaning up....

 

[NTXBrauer]

I don't know about 6.5 gal carboys made 80s era or earlier, but for the new ones made in Italy, only the 3/8" siphon (or smaller) will fit into the opening.

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, I have six 6.5g Italian made carboys (the ones that have totally smooth top and side) bought over the last ten years, and they all have the same diameter necks and fit the 1/2" autosiphon just fine...

Cheers!

 

[Husher]

actually I lied. It was the 6 gallon ones made in Italy. The 6.5 ones don't say. They all have the same markings but the dates are 1969, 1970 and 1973. The 1973 one fits the siphon, the two older ones don't. Guess I'll know what to look for when craigslisting...