bucket leak?

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bjswift

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Okay I think my bucket has a bad seal, or a leak, here is my reasoning, tell me if I am correct...

The airlock is not floating.
When I press on the lid, the airlock floats, but then will sink back down, I can not keep it floating, where another small bucket I own I can float the airlock and make it pop without it sinking.
My beer started at 1.04 and after 4 days is 1.02.

So, I'm pretty sure the bucket has a leak, but what should I do? Should I let it finish out ferentation, or move it into a carboy ASAP?

Thanks for the advice.
 
I'm not exactly sure what you're referring to when you say that it is not floating. Are you talking about the little plastic cup inside the airlock? If so, that will only be "floating" when CO2 is pushing out of the airlock. Once fermentation has slowed down, that cup will just be sitting on top of the airlock tube. I don't think you have anything to worry about. Just let it keep doing its thing until it reaches the desired FG.
 
Fermentation produces enough CO2 to keep oxygen out. The other thing you need to be concerned with is contamination. Bacteria/yeast cannot run/jump/climb/rapel/fly/walk/hurdle/parachute. They only travel attached to dust particles and other solid particles in air. As long as you are protecting your fermenter from those things falling directly in, you're fine.

In short, pails don't usually have a fantastic seal, and that's actually in your favor.

RDWHAHB
 
Just leave it alone... You are going to do more harm than good if you keep dinking with it.
If you have a dead cat floating around in there, that usually indicates a lid with an excessive leak. Otherwise, don't sweat it....
Oh, and in the hypothetical case, it IS advisable to rack off the dead cat. Most of us don't dry-cat our beer......
 
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