I think I had the same problem. The back pressure from the poppet will not open the disconnect. I tried stretching the spring, which didn’t work and eventually bought new posts.
Why such complex airlocks?
The main issues are twofold, having enough space for a vigorous fermentation and ingress of contamination.
I don’t use airlocks. I do my primary fermentation in a 40L loose fitting screwcap lid (originally Calcium Hypochlorite for pool HDPE container), once this has...