Cheap and effective oxygenation wand

To enhance my fermentations, I purchased a barbed 0.5 micron oxygenation stone off Amazon, and connected this up to a small oxygen regulator from an unused Oxy-MAPP torch I had laying around. I used 1/4" PVC tubing with an air filter between the regulator and stone. While I could get oxygen into my wort, the stone would often just float to the top of the carboy, resulting in poor diffusion. So, I ended up building an oxygenation wand using a 3/8" chromed copper faucet riser:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/BrassCraft-3-8-in-O-D-Tube-x-20-in-Faucet-Riser-1-20A-CF/100621865

The barbed end of the oxygenation stone fits tightly onto the flared end of the riser (which has a vinyl washer inside that ensures a tight fit over the stone's 1/4" barb). The riser is made from soft copper that is chromed on the outside, so it's quite flexible and will bend. But, this works fine and has the advantage that the stone can be easily removed and boiled if needed. The only tricky part was getting the 1/4" PVC to go over the 3/8" riser. I simply placed the end of the PVC tubing into boiling water, used needlenose pliers to stretch/flare it, and pushed it over the end of the riser. A little liquid soap rubbed around the end of the riser helped with this.

After assembling, I let it soak in some Starsan, hooked it up to a small bottle of oxygen, and it worked great adding oxygen to the bottom of two carboys. I did not detect any leakage from the connection between the stone and the riser.

The following shows the barbed O2 stone pulled off from the riser. The 1/4" barb fits quite nicely into the flared end of the riser and hopefully, this will remain leak free.

That's very ingenious AND thrifty! Good post and thanks for sharing.

The picture of them connected really make them look soldered together but once you posted the pic of them separate I can see better how they connect.

Although I already have a setup like this, I might have considered using a keg liquid diptube and soldering the diffusion stone to the diptube. The benefit is all stainless and guaranteed no leaks or stone falling off, but you lose the ability to boil the stone separately. Just an idea I suppose - it might be easier said than done (but now you got me thinking ).

stpug said:

That's very ingenious AND thrifty! Good post and thanks for sharing.

The picture of them connected really make them look soldered together but once you posted the pic of them separate I can see better how they connect.

Although I already have a setup like this, I might have considered using a keg liquid diptube and soldering the diffusion stone to the diptube. The benefit is all stainless and guaranteed no leaks or stone falling off, but you lose the ability to boil the stone separately. Just an idea I suppose - it might be easier said than done (but now you got me thinking ).

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Thanks! I really couldn't justify the $30+ cost of a preassembled wand, so this is what I came up with. Plus, I already had the stone. I think my total cost for this was about $10. Overall, it works quite well but you need to not bend it!

craigmw said:

Thanks! I really couldn't justify the $30+ cost of a preassembled wand, so this is what I came up with. Plus, I already had the stone. I think my total cost for this was about $10. Overall, it works quite well but you need to not bend it!

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Why should the tube not be bent? I don't understand how that would affect the functionality (unless it's the connecting end that gets bent of course).

stpug said:

Why should the tube not be bent? I don't understand how that would affect the functionality (unless it's the connecting end that gets bent of course).

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Actually, bending it really would't affect the functionality unless you really bent it so much as to kink the tube. It might look a little funky with some modest bends in it, but who cares. The yeast certainly won't!

craigmw said:

Actually, bending it really would't affect the functionality unless you really bent it so much as to kink the tube. It might look a little funky with some modest bends in it, but who cares. The yeast certainly won't!

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Oh, okay. I thought maybe you had experienced something not so good from bending it.

How soft is the tube? Does it bend super easy? For instance, could I swirl it (in a stirring motion) pretty fast in a full bucket of wort without it bending or do you think that would cause it to bend?

i just so happen to have an extra faucet riser (am i a packrat?). i'm def. going to try this!

stpug said:

Oh, okay. I thought maybe you had experienced something not so good from bending it.

How soft is the tube? Does it bend super easy? For instance, could I swirl it (in a stirring motion) pretty fast in a full bucket of wort without it bending or do you think that would cause it to bend?

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I do this and I didn't note any dramatic bending. The metal is pretty soft, but not terribly so. If it gets bent, it's pretty easy to bend it back so that it's straight.

Subscribed! This is a great idea!

craigmw said:

I do this and I didn't note any dramatic bending. The metal is pretty soft, but not terribly so. If it gets bent, it's pretty easy to bend it back so that it's straight.

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Very good! I think I will pick up a tube and stone, and give it a whirl (literally ). I've got a 2 micron setup and for the cost it's worth having a 0.5 micron setup also.

Again, thanks for sharing the idea!

stpug said:

Very good! I think I will pick up a tube and stone, and give it a whirl (literally ). I've got a 2 micron setup and for the cost it's worth having a 0.5 micron setup also.

Again, thanks for sharing the idea!

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Glad I can help!

I went to HD to get the faucet riser the OP linked to. The one they had was made by Homewerks instead of BrassCraft but it looked very similar and had the same store SKU #. Unfortunately, when I try to attach it to my oxygen stone, it's a very loose fit and slides right off. This is the stone I got: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0064OKB00/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20. I would think though that it's a pretty universal barb on the stone and that my problem lies w/ the riser. Back to square one for me...

Lurch69 said:

I went to HD to get the faucet riser the OP linked to. The one they had was made by Homewerks instead of BrassCraft but it looked very similar and had the same store SKU #. Unfortunately, when I try to attach it to my oxygen stone, it's a very loose fit and slides right off. This is the stone I got: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0064OKB00/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20. I would think though that it's a pretty universal barb on the stone and that my problem lies w/ the riser. Back to square one for me...

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Sorry to hear of your experience. I had originally intended to connect the oxygenation stone to the riser using some sort of epoxy (like JB Weld), but the Brass Craft riser fit my stone tightly. I would suggest using JB Weld, or perhaps wrapping some Teflon tape around the barbed end and see if that will help to tighten the connection.

Here's my spin on this simple DIY.

I saw some 1/4" ID PEX in 5' lengths for a couple bucks. Used my heat gun to warm it to get the stone and tubing on.

Hope the pics aren't sideways :/




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