Plastic Primary leaking air, question

[hobbes]

So my plastic 5gal primary is leaking air around the seals. At this point, it's a minor amount. However, I have a mead batch in there, so I was wondering; I have two more nutrient additions that I'm going to do, which require opening it up and stirring. After the last addition, would it make sense to immediately siphon the must off into one of my 5gal glass carboys? As I understand the process, additional aeration at this stage isn't as serious a concern as it would be later, and as I plan on this cooking for a few weeks during primary fermentation, would it damage the must to transfer it so early in the process?

Or is a minor air leak a trivial issue and I should just sit back and let it do it's thing?

 

[menerdari]

Have you thought of getting a new lid to replace the leaking one when you make your additions?

 

[evolcoms]

I've heard of using petroleum jelly (vaseline) to help the seals on the bucket. Just something I thought id share.

 

[hobbes]

Have you thought of getting a new lid to replace the leaking one when you make your additions?

Unfortunately, my schedule is unable to accommodate a 30 minute trip to the local brew shop this week ( I am out of town before they open, and won't get back until well after they close ).

Putting aside the increased risk of contamination, think I'll have any problems if I move the batch from the plastic fermenter to a glass carboy?

 

[subwyking]

Sanitize the carboy, sanitize the siphoning equipment, and you'll be fine. The increases risk of infection is only an increase if you have poor practices.

 

[ACbrewer]

The lids are the same as the sort you'd get at a hardware store. The hole for a standard airlock is a 1/4 inch and you can move the grommet (although a hardwarew store might have them). Anyhow, drill off center about 1/2 way from edge to center. If you drill in the center, you might crack the new lid.

As for your current lid, there isn't any really problem with what you have. Your suggestion of moving to the carboy is good, and I'd probably do that but more for long term aging in glass rather than plastic. I typically move it at about 3 weeks to 1 month.