Plastic Big Mouth Bubbler

[j1n]

Did you try a washcloth? i had one issue and it was a tiny spot but I just had to have it come out. A hot water soak in PBW overnight, then I dumped nearly all the water out and stuck a wet washcloth in...swirled it around and then rested it on the side with the washcloth sitting on the spot. Propped it in such a way that it didn't roll. It worked for me. It was a spot smaller than a dime but I knew I had to get it off the carboy.

No, i didn't try that. I just ended up getting new fermentors. Got a couple of the plastic big mouth bubblers and a 30L speidel fermentor.

I downgraded that plastic carboy for holding RO water for brew day only.

 

[30Bones]

I think this may just work. Applied not even a pound of CO2 and it seemed to hold. Will be racking to a keg soon to prove this plan is to use a liquid out in this same manor to make as little O2 contact as possible.

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[Frostbrewer]

I like your idea 30 bones. Thanks

Also, I bought the "glass" bubbler gaskets, used the white inner lid as a template and cut them to size for my plastic bubbler.

Filled it with a couple gallons of water and plugged the holes with unported stoppers.

Flipped her upside down and waited for a leak. None to be found. Haven't used them to ferment yet, y'all think thats a sufficient leak test

 

[30Bones]

I'll be testing this theory as soon as this evening or weekend. Sure hope it works. I hate hate hate my auto siphon, have since I started brewing.

 

[Homercidal]

I'll be testing this theory as soon as this evening or weekend. Sure hope it works. I hate hate hate my auto siphon, have since I started brewing.

Really? I love my autosiphon.

Then again, I am going to see about using CO2 to push transfers more often too. It definitely has some advantages if you have a portable or convenient CO2 system to use.

 

[Stealthcruiser]

I like your idea 30 bones. Thanks

Also, I bought the "glass" bubbler gaskets, used the white inner lid as a template and cut them to size for my plastic bubbler.

Filled it with a couple gallons of water and plugged the holes with unported stoppers.

Flipped her upside down and waited for a leak. None to be found. Haven't used them to ferment yet, y'all think thats a sufficient leak test

Is it resting on the lid, with a couple gallons water weight on it?..........

 

[Frostbrewer]

Is it resting on the lid, with a couple gallons water weight on it?..........

Well, it was held upside down but not resting on the lid. I did it without the gasket and it leaked like crazy.

Are you implying that the extra pressure from the water weight made a more complete seal?

Explain it to me like I'm 4

 

[30Bones]

I think this may just work. Applied not even a pound of CO2 and it seemed to hold. Will be racking to a keg soon to prove this plan is to use a liquid out in this same manor to make as little O2 contact as possible.

View attachment 226024View attachment 226025


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Well it didn't work. Leaked enough to only get me halfway through. I have other ideas for next time. I ran out of co2, so it will have to wait.


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[Stealthcruiser]

Well, it was held upside down but not resting on the lid. I did it without the gasket and it leaked like crazy.

Are you implying that the extra pressure from the water weight made a more complete seal?

Explain it to me like I'm 4

YesSir, that's what I was alluding to..........

 

[The_Bishop]

Using mine for the first time today with an ESB that I plan to dryhop when the main ferment is over. Seemed to seal just fine to me.

 

[ndinh]

I have a 6.5g plastic BMB from Northern. I'll sell it for $20 for those in the Los Angeles area. Used it once, not happy with it. It'll also come with the dual port lid in addition to the single port one.

 

[mrgrimm101]

Not at all. If you scratch a Better Bottle or the newer varieties you are doing something wrong in the cleaning process. I am close to 3 years and have no intention of retiring any of mine.

Carboy brushes are a no-no. A soak in Oxyclean then rinse, insert a washcloth and swirl, rinse more and done. It takes longest to fill with water/Oxyclean. Rinsing takes about 10 minutes.

I will never own glass because, IMO, it is far to risky.

I scratched the bottom of my 6.5 gallon plastic Big Mouth bubbler easily. I was soaking it in Oxyclean free when I put in my racking cane and autosiphon to give them a soak as well, and while they were in there, they must have rubbed against the bottom because now there are several scratches and I'm pretty worried about using it in the future. I didn't do anything that I wouldn't have done in my buckets..

 

[Homercidal]

I scratched the bottom of my 6.5 gallon plastic Big Mouth bubbler easily. I was soaking it in Oxyclean free when I put in my racking cane and autosiphon to give them a soak as well, and while they were in there, they must have rubbed against the bottom because now there are several scratches and I'm pretty worried about using it in the future. I didn't do anything that I wouldn't have done in my buckets..

I wouldn't worry about it. Light surface scratches are not likely to harbor anything. You probably HAVE done the same thing in your buckets, but just can't see them as easily due to the white color.

 

[mrgrimm101]

I wouldn't worry about it. Light surface scratches are not likely to harbor anything. You probably HAVE done the same thing in your buckets, but just can't see them as easily due to the white color.

I hope so. I'm going to use it next time and keep my fingers crossed.

 

[jwalker1140]

I hope so. I'm going to use it next time and keep my fingers crossed.

I think there's a lot of needless hand-wringing out there over scratches like this. If bacteria can get into that scratch, so too can StarSan to kill it. Just clean well and sanitize and you'll be fine.

 

[mrgrimm101]

I think there's a lot of needless hand-wringing out there over scratches like this. If bacteria can get into that scratch, so too can StarSan to kill it. Just clean well and sanitize and you'll be fine.

Ok thanks for helping ease my mind. I'm just going to make sure to let it soak in PBW and then StarSan before I use it next. Fingers crossed

 

[Gonzo_Don]

I wouldn't use mine for anything but a bucket to wash the car. Worst piece of equipment I've ever bought. I tried it 4 times and each time it would lose the seal after only 4 or 5 days. Nothing worse than having to take apart an active fermentation to re-fit the lid twice a week. Even teflon tape didn't help. They just will not hold a seal. It's hard plastic against hard plastic. Fine for primary, but unfit for anything else.

 

[mrgrimm101]

I primary in it no problems so far. I go back every couple days to make sure the lid is screwed on tight and the bung is securely in the lid..but I dont consider that to be a hinderance. I check on it every couple days anyway

 

[Gonzo_Don]

Been a while since I was on here, sorry. I knew I was getting no seal because my fermentation lock quit bubbling on a 2-day old ferment. I would take it apart, reseal, and it would start bubbling immediately and bubble like mad for 2-days. Then it'd quit again. I'd do this every 2 days for 2 solid weeks. These things are junk.

 

[Homercidal]

I think the most important thing to realize here is that the plastic BMB is not designed to be a secondary. They are supposed to be a primary, where a perfect seal is not important.

It would be great if they worked well as secondary, since it would make using dry hops and other large things easy to add and clean, but unless someone sells a good gasket to go with it, I don't' see this thing as sealing air tight.

Actually, I think that if you were to purge the air out when adding dry hops, using some CO2 from a kegging tank, you could easily get away with using it as a secondary for the length of time a beer needed to be dry hopping. I wouldn't use it to age a barleywine though.

 

[mrgrimm101]

Several batches later and still no problems. My previous batch I almost had a blowout so I had to rig a blowoff quick..I ended up having some beer come through the threads and down the side. It was still tight, but it leaked all the same. No problems though..I just wiped it up and it finished up no problem.

My current batch I rigged the blowoff from the get-go, and of course it didn't need it. I will be putting the airlock on in a day or 2, just to be certain.