Easy Way To Clear Air Locks

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Schlenkerla

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Yesterday I noticed one of my "S" bubbler had black mold growing in top of the 2nd bubble. Therefore it was pretty much unaccessible for cleaning since its right in the middle.

I grabbed some dishwasher liq (the kind put into a machine and has bleach) mixed up about a quart w/ a squirt of soap & water. Then filled it up and soaked the whole thing over night.

This morning the thing is spotless.
 
I use a flexible aquarium tube cleaner it works great. I get mold in most of my airlocks and this has worked great for me. $3 fix.
 
you could use the ones that you can take apart and dry. then its not a problem ever. IMO.

In my opinion the S style are the best to use for slow ferments or 2ndaries.

Its harder to get a visual on the cup & thimble type.

The S style has a pressure bubble that slowly passes thru necked down bottom passage. Not to mention you can watch the degradation of CO2 pressure in the two bulges.

I have both kinds, I use the thimble on primaries because you can attach a blow off on the center stem (inside the cup) and its slightly larger diameter bottom stem better fits my pail lids.

The S type also better fit my carboy caps.
 
I'm not a wasteful person by any means, but sometimes you have to ask yourself, "is it worth salvaging?" I mean these things are barely a dollar brand new. Why bother soaking them in cleaner or spending any significant time or effort on them if they get gunked up?

I keep a bunch of spares on hand. If an airlock gets trub in it from a blowoff or something, I just swap in a new one. :mug:
 
I'm not a wasteful person by any means, but sometimes you have to ask yourself, "is it worth salvaging?" I mean these things are barely a dollar brand new. Why bother soaking them in cleaner or spending any significant time or effort on them if they get gunked up?

I keep a bunch of spares on hand. If an airlock gets trub in it from a blowoff or something, I just swap in a new one. :mug:

True.... I have about 6 of them. If I have one gunked up all you gotta do is soak it in bleach water. Yes, you could toss it out get another, but for a nickel of soap and you can clean the SOB out.

Its all marginal value, if your time of soaking is worth more than 5 cents worth of soap and about 60 seconds to fill it up, then buy a new one for a $1.50!!! :D
 
I find that oxiclean is the way to go for just about anything. to really clean my kegs after a few uses I use oxiclean. Over night anything that was in any crevice is gone. I reuse it and drop little items in a pot and stuff like my airlocks look brand new after they have been rinsed.

I get the whole, "it's a cheap item so why bother" thing. After awhile though, at least with my frequency of brewing, You've spent $30 bucks easily in a years time. Even with the cost of oxiclean, that is easily at least one batch of brew for me. I'd rather take the time to drop it in the solution that I am using anyways for less easily replaced items.

:tank:
 
Like this?

bubbler.gif


In my opinion the S style are the best to use for slow ferments or 2ndaries.

Its harder to get a visual on the cup & thimble type.

The S style has a pressure bubble that slowly passes thru necked down bottom passage. Not to mention you can watch the degradation of CO2 pressure in the two bulges.

I have both kinds, I use the thimble on primaries because you can attach a blow off on the center stem (inside the cup) and its slightly larger diameter bottom stem better fits my pail lids.

The S type also better fit my carboy caps.
 
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