Autosiphon Doesn't

[BruDaddy]

I was going to say that my autosiphon sucks, but that could be taken two different ways. Anyway, I got the autosiphon as part of a starter kit for Christmas (thanks, Santa!), but I've never had great luck with it (the autosiphon, not the rest of the kit). Given all the cautions on being gentle when you bottle, I did not use the autosiphon when I racked my first batch to the bottling bucket (only single stage fermentation for now). Today I did my second batch and decided to try the autosipon, since it was a bit hard just using the hose with no racking tube. Well, it didn't work very good, lots of stops and starts as it would start flowing and then drizzle to a stop. Also, it was very gurgly (to use a technical term) which seems like that would risk adding too much air to the process.

Any ideas on how this should work? I recall a posting where someone suggested using a smaller hose (maybe 5/16 instead of 3/8) because of leaking where the cane and hose meet. I don't have leaking per se, but I'm thinking that something is keeping the siphon from staying intact.

 

[homebrewer_99]

OK, take it apart and sanitize. Then put the hose back on to the inner cane.

1. Put the outer cane into the brew. The tube will fill up and level off to the level of beer you have in the fermenter.

2. Take the inner cane (with the seal WET) and push it all the way into the outer cane.

This 1 easy push starts the syphon.

If you get gurgling slide the inner cane out about 6 inches and push it back in again. This should remove all air bubbles and gurling.

If not, then there's something wrong with the seal on the inner cane.

One thing to remember is that after you disassemble the parts before cleaning DO NOT store them assembled. When it's assembeled the seal is constricted and will shrink prematurely into it's dry state.

Oh, and Hoppy (belated) Beerthday!!

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

Yes. The directions that came with my autosiphon told me to use 5/16ths, or some 16ths, rather than 8ths for the hose ID. And sure enough, it did the trick! It was a little tricky to get it on. I had to hold the tube under hot faucet water, push it a fraction of an inch, hold it under hot water, push another fraction of an inch, etc. Eventually, I got it almost an inch onto the cane, and since then it has been flawless.

I'd bet dollars to donuts that your leak is coming from the tubing, not from the autosiphon itself. Of couse, another fix for this is to use small dryer-type hose clamps. Just don't crush the tube.

 

[BrooZer]

I was going to say that my autosiphon sucks, but that could be taken two different ways. Anyway, I got the autosiphon as part of a starter kit for Christmas (thanks, Santa!), but I've never had great luck with it (the autosiphon, not the rest of the kit). Given all the cautions on being gentle when you bottle, I did not use the autosiphon when I racked my first batch to the bottling bucket (only single stage fermentation for now). Today I did my second batch and decided to try the autosipon, since it was a bit hard just using the hose with no racking tube. Well, it didn't work very good, lots of stops and starts as it would start flowing and then drizzle to a stop. Also, it was very gurgly (to use a technical term) which seems like that would risk adding too much air to the process.

Any ideas on how this should work? I recall a posting where someone suggested using a smaller hose (maybe 5/16 instead of 3/8) because of leaking where the cane and hose meet. I don't have leaking per se, but I'm thinking that something is keeping the siphon from staying intact.

This may be a stupid question and Im not trying to insult. Did you make sure whatever you racked from was elevated. I know some people who have tried to use the autosiphon with level buckets.

 

[Bobby_M]

I'm sure the problem is an air leak at the tubing connection. Get 5/16"s vinyl from Lowes or Depot and be done with it. No clamps needed either.

 

[BruDaddy]

No insults taken, the great thing about this forum is everyone's just trying to help everyone enjoy good homebrew. I'm really glad I've found this site and have gotten a lot of great info. The level's are fine and should be able to sustain a siphon. I think I'll go with the 5/16 tubing and see how it performs. Is the stuff at Lowe's OK?

 

[homebrewer_99]

Technically, it's all OK as long as you sanitize it first.

Some may say it's not food grade, but I qualify that by meaning there's no real pressure on the hoses and you clean up right away.