Air bubbles in siphon tube

[najel]

Hello!
SO I have a question about siphoning. I usually start my siphon by filling the tubing with sanitizing solution (but not the racking cane) and then dropping the first bit into a cup, then on to the vessel I am transferring to.
Problem is that I have noticed there are always tiny air bubbles in the flow, and it also flows really slow, sometimes even stops. This happens when I use the previous method as well as a carboy cover which I blow into to force the beer out of the carboy.
Is this normal? I looked at some videos on youtube and it seems there should be a better flow (like here ). DO you guys have any idea what could cause this?
Thanks for any help!

 

[bdh]

How much drop is there between your source and destination? If you can make the drop bigger you should get a higher flow rate. Also, are there bubbles in the racking cane too, or do the bubbles start where the tubing attaches to the racking cane? If you're getting bubbles where the tubing connects, then try some smaller diameter tubing.

 

[najel]

I keep the source bucket on a table and the other one on the floor, so the drop should be around 30" or so. I think the bubbles seem to appear where the tubing connects to the racking cane, but I will make sure to observe that more closely next time I siphon. The tubing is a pretty tight fit already, but I will check if I can find something smaller that still fits.
Thanks!

 

[hogwash]

Try a hose clamp for a better seal where the tube connects to the cane. You might also try squeezing the tube at the joint to try to get it rounded out so the whole thing fills with beer so there's no air...I hope that makes sense...

 

[hopkid]

I couldn't find a hose clamp the other day when I transferred so I just used a zip tie and my bubbles were gone.

 

[AnchorBock]

I switched from 3/8" tubing to 5/16" tubing on my 3/8" auto siphon and the bubbles went away.

 

[kh54s10]

If the bubbles are not starting from the connection of the cane to the tubing it is probably co2 coming out of solution and nothing to worry about.

As to the flow, how big is your tubing? Any restrictions in the equipment.

I use an autosiphon. It seems so much easier than what I saw in that video.

 

[najel]

My tubing is not labeled, but I tried to measure it as good as I could and I believe the ID to be 5/16". I will try using a hose clamp next time, and maybe that will help.
I also saw a different method of starting the siphon in a youtube video where instead of just filling the tubing, they filled the tubing and racking cane with tap water, than siphoned sanitizing solution with that, and then siphoned the beer with that. That seems risky as to if your thumb slips off the end, you would get quite a bit of sanitizer in your beer.
So maybe it is time to get an autosiphon, seems like everybody who has one is pretty happy with it. I will report back, thanks for all the advise so far!

 

[TBaGZ]

Took me using a racking cane for one batch to buy an autosiphon.

 

[jperry]

I notice with the autosiphon that i need to pump it hard 1-3 times, in order, to get a really strong flow that knocks all those bubbles away. I had the same problem... thankfully, i figured that out with starsan, before i aerated the crap out of my brew.

 

[pdxal]

Gotta give props to Jeremy from FH Steinbart in the video.
Probably picking up air bubbles from poor connection between tubing and racking cane or siphon.
+1 on autosiphon.

 

[etrain666]

Same use to happen to me until I hose clamped the tube to the cane.

 

[normzone]

I've always just pinched the tube momentarily right below where the cane ends and the unsupported tube begins.

In some manner this allows the liquid to pick up the accumulated air and flush it out.

Funny, it's like scuba diving. Small bubbles collect in your bloodstream and can cluster in your joints. If you come up too fast you get decompression sickness, also known as the bends. That's why you need to ascend slowly.

Okay, maybe it's nothing like scuba diving, but that's what it reminded me of.

 

[Zeppman]

I rack (no autospiphon) and I use the same method as normzone above. Just pinch the tubing a bit right after where it is connected to the cane the the bubbles will flush out.

 

[Jeepinctbrewer]

light film of keg lube around the seal on the end of the racking cane

 

[najel]

Those are good ideas. Will try that also. I feel like when I use a hose clamp I run the risk of cracking the racking cane if tightened too much.

 

[najel]

Alright, so I bottled last night and here is what I did: First, I filled the tubing with water as I always do, but also tried to get some into the cane. Then pushed the tubing on the cane and gave it a good effort to make sure it's on there as far as i could get it. When I started the siphon, it went pretty well, had some air bubbles but the flow seemed a little better already. I then followed the trick to squeeze the tube and that worked really well. No more bubbles after that and the siphon went through without issues.
Thanks for all the help!

 

[dhathazy]

Been reading these posts because I always get the air bubbles too. It usually doesn't happen right away but they start at some point maybe around 1/3 or 1/2 way through siphoning. Going to start by trying a clamp. My question is, does anyone know if the bubbles cause any harm to the beer?

 

[najel]

Well, they may cause some oxidation. In my case, the big issue was that the bubbles eventuelly pretty much just stopped the siphon completely. And the siphon was also extremely slow.
For me, I resolved it with the pinching the tubing trick and pushing the tubing onto the racking cane as far as I possibly could. Now I don't even need a clamp.

 

[Grannyknot]

I use an auto siphon & connect the tubing to it with a hose clamp.
No bubbles.

 

[dhathazy]

I siphoned to bottling bucket on Saturday and used a clamp on the connection of the tubing and racking cane. No bubbles!

 

[normzone]

I have some new hose and tube, and last brew day I noted that the tube was a little undersize (or the hose a little oversize) and I could not achieve a leak free fit. I think rather than add hose clamps to the mix, therefore adding a potentially sharp surface to my equipment handling routine, I will put a couple of wraps of scotch tape on the tube before I slide the hose over it.

 

[dhathazy]

Bottled a batch yesterday, using a clamp on the tube where it connects to the can, could not do anything to stop a steady stream of tiny air bubbles ugh! I hope I did not f&#@ up my beer because my sample tasted dead on what I was looking for. I guess I will know in a few weeks.

In the meantime, going to practice with a bucket of water and see if I can figure out the dam auto siphon once and for all.