Need a long auto-sihpon

[stephelton]

I use 15 gallon plastic drums to ferment in. They are about 28.5" tall, if I remember correctly. All 1/2" auto-siphons that I've seen have been 26" long. Is anyone aware of a longer siphon that I can buy? I would think 30" would be sufficient.

 

[samc]

How about extending the length of one with some tubing?

 

[stephelton]

The cane comes out at a sharp angle, so I can't really extend that. I also would lose control of the outer piece, which is very important for avoiding sediment.

 

[geniz]

My solution was to make a racking cane out of copper. I used 1/2" OD refrig line, a bit of an overkill, but it'll siphon fast.

I figure the short amt o time the beer touches the copper won't kill anyone

 

[geniz]

Duh. Brain fart

Was playing around with my system last night and an obvious solution came up. Start your autosiphon partially immersed in the fermenter. When the siphon has started, pull the racking cane out a bit so that the outer tube rests at the bottom of the fermenter and there is enough length for the racking cane to clear the height of the bung. There's no reason that you have to siphon with the racking cane pushed all the way down into the outer tube.

 

[stephelton]

These drums have a 2" hole at the top. If I let go of the outer tube, it will fall into the fermenter and I won't have any control of it. I need something long enough that I can have a good grasp of it outside of the fermenter.

 

[broombrew]

Don't have a specific link for you, but I have a friend who has an old sailboat and has a siphon to suck out the water that gets inside. I remember thinking how it was pretty much just a bigger version of the one I have for brewing. I remember when he bought it there were several different options. Some probably wouldn't work too well, but maybe worth a look at least.

 

[stephelton]

Good thought, broombrew. I wonder if these would be food-safe. I'll do some searching later...