Drilled #7 Stopper - Pops Out! (WHY?)

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

maztec

Supporting Member
HBT Supporter
Joined
Apr 6, 2009
Messages
418
Reaction score
5
I have two #7 stoppers for my carboys - a 6.5 gallon and a 5 gallon. I have brewed at least 5 batches with each stopper, no problem. Until today.

Thinking nothing of it, I pull one of the stoppers out of my carboy, to do some testing with the wine thief. I then push the stopper back in, turn around, walk away. *clatter*. I turn back, confusion on my face, what was that sound?!? The stopper and airlock are lying on the ground. Weird, oh well. I go, I clean, I put it in again, it sticks. I walk away, a few minutes later *clatter*. What? Now, rinse, wash, repeat six more times. I am now frustrated.

I go and get my second stopper and airlock. I sanitize it. I put it in. It immediately pops out. Now, this is an entirely separate stopper and airlock. I repeat several times, every time it pops out. I go so far as drying the stopper and inside lip of the carboy ... and, it pops out.

Okay, maybe something is up with the carboy. I grab my other carboy, I think before I leap and I push a stopper into it - since it is empty. I wait, looking good, and then .. pop! Out comes the airlock and stopper. I remove the airlock, I put in JUST the stopper. I think okay, maybe the airlocks are doing something weird to it. I wait, and POP! Out shoots the stopper.

After nearly an hour of fiddling with this new phenomena I gave up. It is Sunday, my local brew shop is closed, I don't have a third stopper, so I just threw saran wrap over the top.

However, any idea what is going on here? These stoppers have worked perfectly fine for months and many batches and now ... things have gone weird. The only thing I can figure out is it might be a bit hotter out today than normal. Except, it isn't. It has been hot lately, but not that bad today.

Any idea on how to fix this one?

Thanks.
 
Mine pop out when they are wet. I just place the stopper on top without pushing it down intill it dries and then give it a little push. I've also found the universal stoppers don't pop out when they are wet.





Edit.... come to think of it I don't think I had this problem when I was using iodophor, perhaps the starsan is a little slicker and thats why its happening




John
 
Do you use Star San? That makes them pretty slippery and not want to stay put. I usually have to dry off the stopper and the inside lip of the carboy with a clean paper towel so it won't pop out. Or if its still giving me problems I'll wrap some electrical tape over the stopper and around the carboy neck so that sucker won't go anywhere!
 
I had this same problem on my first batch, I finally got frustrated and just left it on top without pushing it down, once it was dry it stuck just fine. I do use starsan
 
Ahhhh. I just started using Starsan and this problem just showed up. Culprit found and problem solved!

Thanks guys :)
 
I have two #7 stoppers for my carboys - a 6.5 gallon and a 5 gallon. I have brewed at least 5 batches with each stopper, no problem. Until today.

Thinking nothing of it, I pull one of the stoppers out of my carboy, to do some testing with the wine thief. I then push the stopper back in, turn around, walk away. *clatter*. I turn back, confusion on my face, what was that sound?!? s.........
After nearly an hour of fiddling with this new phenomena I gave up. It is Sunday, my local brew shop is closed, I don't have a third stopper, so I just threw saran wrap over the top.



Thanks.

Sounds like a great skit for Youtube :D

maybe your stoppers have become less flexible and more prone the the "pop"
 
Here's a suggestion... get some isopropyl alcohol from a drug store; get the highest possible percentage (maybe 90%?). Use this to sanitize the stopper, since it will kill all nasties and dry quickly.
 
Back
Top