How to siphon?

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BostonJ

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I got a siphon in my kit and need to transfer from the primary to the secondary. Need help in getting this contraption to work. I know I need to sanitize first but that's as far as I have got. Please help, I feel like a *******...Also, when do you know you are getting just beer and not setiment or "trub" I think that is what it is referred to as being. I'll get the lingo someday. Thanks for your help and it's ok to laugh at me.
 
I got a siphon in my kit and need to transfer from the primary to the secondary. Need help in getting this contraption to work. I know I need to sanitize first but that's as far as I have got. Please help, I feel like a *******...Also, when do you know you are getting just beer and not setiment or "trub" I think that is what it is referred to as being. I'll get the lingo someday. Thanks for your help and it's ok to laugh at me.

Fill it completely with water \ saniter, plug the tube end with your thumb, put the racking cane (hard plastic end) into your beer (not all the way down), remove thumb from other end (at a vertical height below your beer), watch science make magic.
 
Fill it completely with water \ saniter, plug the tube end with your thumb, put the racking cane (hard plastic end) into your beer (not all the way down), remove thumb from other end (at a vertical height below your beer), watch science make magic.

You probably want to have a waste container to let the sanitizer flow into first until the beer starts coming through. You could also buy an autosiphon, which makes the process even simpler. It's a racking cane inside a bigger plastic tube, and when you "pump" the thing, it pushes fluid up the racking cane and once the fluid level in the tubing gets below the level of the beer, the siphon has been started and will continue as long as the outflow side's liquid stays below the level of the fluid in the starting container.

Also you'll see the chunks and cloudiness in the tubing if you're picking up trub with the intake side.
 
Hold the tube up slightly off the bottom. Then get SWMBO to come help. Have her get on her knees and suck on your tube slowly. It always works to get my liquid flowing. And I get to watch and be sure she doesn’t get a mouthful of something she might not like.

Oh and to keep things clean, give her a couple of shots of vodka first before you even ask for help. It helps, trust me.
 
It helps if you can use a carboy cap or a clothespin or something else clever to hold the racking cane. I start the siphon with the cane well off the bottom. Once it is flowing, I slowly lower it until I can see it pick up yeast/trub and then back it off a tiny bit slow it flows clear.
 
I stick the end of my thief into the end of my siphon tube and suck on that to get the flow started, that way I'm not dirtying up my transfer hose. once it's all the way to the end of the tube it'll go on its own (as long as the bucket/carboy/keg is below the bottom of the fermenter)
 
Clarification......Did you get an "auto siphon", or just a sipon tube?? Since you refer to it as a "contraption" I'm guessing that you got an auto-siphon. Sanitize first, then put the smaller tube with the gasket into the bigger tube; put the big tube with the black tappered tip into your wort, lower the clear siphon tubing into your next vessel, pump the small end into the bigger tube and siphon will begin. Keep the black tip slightly above the sediment. Easy as pie. You can practice by moving water from your sink to a bucket; or better yet, "youtube" search it.
 
And, mentioned already, but the CRITICAL step is that the outflow tubing must be LOWER than the fluid level, and ideally, below the original container.
 
I stick the end of my thief into the end of my siphon tube and suck on that to get the flow started, that way I'm not dirtying up my transfer hose. once it's all the way to the end of the tube it'll go on its own (as long as the bucket/carboy/keg is below the bottom of the fermenter)

I do the same with a sanitized turkey baster... bulb removed.
I have an autosyphon, but I don't like the way it necessarily introduces some oxygen. Sucking on the baster initiates a strong, smooth flow (joke all you want, pervs). :ban:
 
Hold the tube up slightly off the bottom. Then get SWMBO to come help. Have her get on her knees and suck on your tube slowly. It always works to get my liquid flowing. And I get to watch and be sure she doesn’t get a mouthful of something she might not like.

Oh and to keep things clean, give her a couple of shots of vodka first before you even ask for help. It helps, trust me.

If your helper doesn't like the mouthful of fluid, I would suggest getting a different helper. Most won't mind the mouthful, but try not to get any in her hair.
 
:off: SORT OF.
I just did a basic fill up your tube with sanitizer and let it flow siphon because my auto siphon took a dump.

I will NEVER use an auto siphon again. This way worked great, flowed perfect the entire time and upset the trub way less then my auto siphon. No air bubbles at all traveling through the line!

Auto siphon = gimmick
 
:.

I will NEVER use an auto siphon again. This way worked great, flowed perfect the entire time and upset the trub way less then my auto siphon. No air bubbles at all traveling through the line!

Auto siphon = gimmick

I kind of disagree....I find the auto-siphon to be a gem of a tool. I never get bubble through mine. I guess that it depends on your comfort level. I had much more problems using the "tube with thumbs over the ends" method. I'm not saying that it's the 'end-all' for everyone, but I wouldn't toss it if I were you. Practice with it a bit, along with the other more traditional methods and see what works best for you.
 
I tried pushing with CO2 for the first time yesterday and it works like a charm. Saves me having to disturb my craboy at all.

As to picking up trub... there should be a little cap on the end of your cane (hard plastic tube that is bent on one end). I just drop mine right in and the cap sits on top of the trub just fine. It sinks in some but it pulls from the top of the cap so that is no big deal.
 
I love my auto siphon - it is simple to use, sanitary, cheap, and it works 100% of the time. For me. Perhaps that makes me exceptional. Or maybe it makes me a sissy? Who cares.

!
 
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