Auto Siphon Nightmare

[the-adjunct-hippie]

Tell me if I'm simply retarded for not getting one of these things to work. It's my first time "racking to a bottling bucket" so I can not pick up as much yeast sediment. I normally bottle straight from the fermenter but I've not liked the yeast cake in my beers. So I was suggested this. I sanitized the hose and the auto siphon but it didn't matter.

The siphon and hose was like a wrestling match trying to get it all squared away - the hose would come out of my bottling bucket, my siphon would tip out of my fermenter...and I finally got it to flow automatically. It did so for about 3 seconds and it felt like I was balancing a quarter on my nose. It stopped though and I pumped again and again and it would come out in little spurts. I had 2.5 gallons to **** with and small trickles was not going to do it.

These things are supposed to flow automatically? After half an hour and a now messy kitchen, two washcloths later, and a beer soaked pair of socks, I threw it in the sink and in frustration dumped the contents of my fermenter into my bottling bucket so I'm quite sure I'll be drinking liquid cardboard shortly.

Why the hell didn't this Auto Siphon work for me????

 

[S-Met]

A pic of your setup may help. I'm anti auto-siphon but not for any good reason other than being a cheap-ass!

I assume you are starting with the carboy elevated so the bottom is higher than the bottling bucket. I usually have mine at counter height and the bottle bucket/keg/secondary on the ground.

I also let it sit there for at least an hour to let sediment settle from its move. Many times I'll set it up at night then plan to transfer 1st thing in the morning.

Do a few practice rounds with h2o. I've started siphons by back-filling the line with h2o up to the start of the cane then hold my thumb over the open end. Next, quickly dropping the tube lower and release your thumb. The pressure from the releasing fluid can start your siphon (poor-mans auto-siphon). Can work with beer too, just dump the h2o until beer pours through then drop in the bucket.

 

[Transamguy77]

Did you have your bottling bucket lower than your fermenter? Those auto siphons work pretty well.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

the bottom vessel has to be completely below the top before it will work and no bubbles in the line

 

[the-adjunct-hippie]

A pic of your setup may help. I'm anti auto-siphon but not for any good reason other than being a cheap-ass!

I assume you are starting with the carboy elevated so the bottom is higher than the bottling bucket. I usually have mine at counter height and the bottle bucket/keg/secondary on the ground.

I also let it sit there for at least an hour to let sediment settle from its move. Many times I'll set it up at night then plan to transfer 1st thing in the morning.

Do a few practice rounds with h2o. I've started siphons by back-filling the line with h2o up to the start of the cane then hold my thumb over the open end. Next, quickly dropping the tube lower and release your thumb. The pressure from the releasing fluid can start your siphon (poor-mans auto-siphon). Can work with beer too, just dump the h2o until beer pours through then drop in the bucket.

My set up, 3/8"
https://image.ibb.co/niXfG8/MVIMG_20180726_235520.jpg

When I pump. Hose too short? It lifts out of the bucket. Should I have so much hose that it curls around like a snake in the bottom?

Stupid curly hose makes it so I can't siphon softly against the wall of the bottling bucket :

 

[the-adjunct-hippie]

So I got it to work with regular soap and water, go figure.

I had to extend first, then submurge, then pump once. I was doing it in the wrong order

Please tell me I'm not the only home brewer that is completely absent-minded sometimes!!

 

[RPh_Guy]

So... I see you have stuff already but I'm sure you don't want to go through that again.

Here's what you want:
Mini auto siphon. The correct size means less pumping and less wrestling.
https://www.morebeer.com/products/auto-siphon-starter-mini-516.html

Hose clip to secure the other end of the hose to your bottling bucket
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D3FUPU8/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

All you need to do is submerge the auto-siphon into the beer and pump it a couple times until it fills the tubing enough to flow by itself.

Keep the large auto-siphon in case you move to large batches in a new fermenter.

 

[Kharnynb]

yea, get a clip to hold it to the fermenter at least, and the hose should definately be on the bottom of the bottling bucket, don't splash like that, it means massive oxidation.

 

[the-adjunct-hippie]

I'm a very creative person and I'm like 90% right brained. That doesn't work out for me when it comes to technical aspects, even the simplest things. I'm scared to death of graduating to huge tanks (maybe). I can do it though. I take awhile to catch on but once I do then I work like hell to perfect it.

Sorry for seeming so retarded on how to not operate an auto siphon. All I had to do was read the instructions (not a right-brained thing to do). Cheers everyone.

 

[the-adjunct-hippie]

yea, get a clip to hold it to the fermenter at least, and the hose should definately be on the bottom of the bottling bucket, don't splash like that, it means massive oxidation.

Yeah I'm totally freaked my PB&J beer is going to taste like a ream of Hammer Mill. It's not that I can't make it again, it's just the TIME...EFFORT...etc. Ugh. And the fact that I quite possibly ****ed up my OWN beer.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

Your beer will be fine. It is my experience that you get a color change fairly quickly when the beer is oxidized, but the flavor change happens over time. Just drink your beer in a couple if weeks after it finishes priming in the bottle and it will be great.

 

[Kharnynb]

I'm a very creative person and I'm like 90% right brained. That doesn't work out for me when it comes to technical aspects, even the simplest things. I'm scared to death of graduating to huge tanks (maybe). I can do it though. I take awhile to catch on but once I do then I work like hell to perfect it.

Sorry for seeming so retarded on how to not operate an auto siphon. All I had to do was read the instructions (not a right-brained thing to do). Cheers everyone.

don't worry too much, as for the "huge tanks" in my opinion, a good basic plastic 5 gallon fermenter bucket is easier than those weird shaped "barrel ones"