Check the hose clamp on your new siphon!

[Epos7]

I bought a new sterile siphon starter with the idea of reducing oxidation and getting less sediment in my beer. Getting the autosiphon started to rack to the bottling bucket involves a lot of moving parts - holding the tubing in the bucket as the siphon is raised, keeping the siphon from stirring up sediment, etc. The sterile siphon starter seemed a lot better as everything can stay in place while you start the siphon.

I cleaned the new siphon off, but I didn't check the hose clamp

When I started siphoning my pilsner into the bottling bucket, a stream of bubbles came down with it. As I frantically tried to stop the leak, I stirred up a lot of sediment and that ended up in the bottling bucket too. So this batch is full of crud and likely oxidized.

Thankfully the second carboy transfer went smoothly after I tightened down the hose clamp. On the plus side I have a little exbeeriment - beer full of sediment transferred with lots of oxygen exposure vs clear beer with minimal oxygen exposure. Both from the same batch.

Moral of the story - check your new siphon for leaks before using it to transfer beer!

 

[flars]

I'm using the auto siphon. The tubing is 1/16" less in inside diameter than the recommended ID. No clamp needed. I also use the siphon clip to hold the siphon to the lip of the carboy above the trub layer when I start it.

I'll siphon about 1/3 of the beer volume before adding the priming solution. The siphon clip is also designed to work with buckets.

So far no problems in the 7 years the auto siphon has been in use.

Check out the smaller diameter tubing to see if it will work with your siphon.

 

[kh54s10]

I use an autosiphon also. I just make sure the tubing that I use is long enough. Also, that it is the right size. I have never needed a hose clamp. I have never had a problem with a transfer. I don't use the clip any more. It seems easier to just hold it and lower it as the wort level drops. When near the end I watch for trub entering the tubing and immediately pull the Autosiphon up. I get very little debris transferred.

I have to look up sterile siphon starter as I have no idea what it is.

Seems to me that the size of the stainless tubing available and the size of vinyl tubing available don't match. Otherwise there would be no need for a clamp.

 

[triethylborane]

Sterile? How is that accomplished?

 

[kh54s10]

Sterile? How is that accomplished?

That is what they call it: https://www.morebeer.com/products/sterile-siphon-starter-3-5-6-65-gallon-carboy-smooth-necks.html

It is not an accurate name as it would take some special handling to make it sterile.

 

[SanPancho]

refers to the air filter. blocks airborne contaminants from your breath. no, technically not sterile in a laboratory sense but for our purposes, yes.

 

[Epos7]

Looking at my autosiphon, it doesn't have a hose clamp either. I think this stems from the plastic cane, which seems to create a better seal with the tubing than the slightly irregular surface of the stainless steel cane the sterile siphon starter uses.

The autosiphon works well, I just found it awkward to use when trying to keep the tubing sanitized and in the bottling bucket while raising the cane. The clip didn't work too well for me either - too loose of a fit on the siphon to hold it in place. I'm sure more coordinated people than me can make it work well, but I find the sterile siphon starter much easier to use now that I have a good seal on the cane. I can get everything in place, and don't have to move anything to get the siphon started.