Hi,
I ferment in an SS Brewtech Brew Bucket, which has a 90-degree fitting on the lid for a blow-off tube. I've used it for years and have always hand tightened the blow-off fitting with no issues.
Recently I added a CO2 collector to try and reduce oxygen exposure. That worked well; almost too well. The space in the fridge that I ferment in doesn't have a ton of headspace, and as the CO2 bag filled, it started pushing things around. It shoved the plastic bottle of Star San that the tube sits in clear to the front, and managed to loosen the blow-off tube fitting. If I try to tighten it now, it just spins. The only way to truly tighten it back down would be to open the lid so I can grab the nut, which seems like the last thing I want to do.
Going forward, I plan to use a wrench to really tighten the blow-off fitting, and maybe replace some of the CO2 collector tubing with silicone so that it's more flexible and forgiving. In the meantime, I'm getting ready to cold crash, and I'm assuming the fermenter will pull at least a little outside air in during the process. I also do a closed transfer when I keg, but I'm a little less concerned on that as the pressure from the filling keg should force the CO2 from the keg into the fermenter.
The best I've come up with is either slapping some keg lube around the base of the blow-off connector, trying to seal the area with some sanitized saran wrap or press-and-seal, or a combination of both. Does anyone else have any other ideas?
Thanks for your help!
I ferment in an SS Brewtech Brew Bucket, which has a 90-degree fitting on the lid for a blow-off tube. I've used it for years and have always hand tightened the blow-off fitting with no issues.
Recently I added a CO2 collector to try and reduce oxygen exposure. That worked well; almost too well. The space in the fridge that I ferment in doesn't have a ton of headspace, and as the CO2 bag filled, it started pushing things around. It shoved the plastic bottle of Star San that the tube sits in clear to the front, and managed to loosen the blow-off tube fitting. If I try to tighten it now, it just spins. The only way to truly tighten it back down would be to open the lid so I can grab the nut, which seems like the last thing I want to do.
Going forward, I plan to use a wrench to really tighten the blow-off fitting, and maybe replace some of the CO2 collector tubing with silicone so that it's more flexible and forgiving. In the meantime, I'm getting ready to cold crash, and I'm assuming the fermenter will pull at least a little outside air in during the process. I also do a closed transfer when I keg, but I'm a little less concerned on that as the pressure from the filling keg should force the CO2 from the keg into the fermenter.
The best I've come up with is either slapping some keg lube around the base of the blow-off connector, trying to seal the area with some sanitized saran wrap or press-and-seal, or a combination of both. Does anyone else have any other ideas?
Thanks for your help!