Racking cane introducing air when siphoning

[knownikko]

So I'm a few batches in and have noticed that when I'm racking my beer from one vessel to another I'm getting small bubbles in the hose that seem to be originating from where the hose joins the racking cane.

Knowing that "oxygen is a no-no", I've done what I can to shore up the joint between the two, even trying to wrap it in tape to keep air from getting in.

Thus far, nothing has really worked 100% though. Is this a common problem, or is it a problem at all?

Should I just look for another piece of tubing that fits tighter? Anybody have any novel solutions for this?

Thanks

 

[Saccharomyces]

So I'm a few batches in and have noticed that when I'm racking my beer from one vessel to another I'm getting small bubbles in the hose that seem to be originating from where the hose joins the racking cane.

Knowing that "oxygen is a no-no", I've done what I can to shore up the joint between the two, even trying to wrap it in tape to keep air from getting in.

Biggest problem is that the air bubbles can keep you from being able to maintain the syphon, and you have to restart when you are close to the cake resulting in trub in your bottling bucket. Blech.

Your tubing is probably not the right diameter. Take your racking cane down to the big box store and find a food grade hose that fits tightly. You should have to push from both ends and twist (like a Chinese finger puzzle) to get the hose off of the end of the cane. If it pulls off by yanking on the hose, it's not a good fit.

 

[HighPlainsDrifter]

Just a guess here but, do you have the larger size racking cane (1/2")? I had the same problem with mine but when I switched to the smaller one (3/8") the problem stopped. I only use the large one for the transfer of freshly cooled wort now.

 

[Grinder12000]

I have had that problem and my hose are a perfect fit I believe.

To stop this from happening is you just need a stronger draw when you draw your wort. How do you start your siphon?? I just had to do a couple extra hard pumps with the auto siphon.

 

[knownikko]

I start the siphon by filling the hose with diluted iodophor and then letting it run off into a small container until I've got beer coming out.

The siphon seems to go quickly, and the large-ish bubble in the line at the beginning eventually works its way out the tube so there's no airspace at the top. However, small amounts of air are seeping in from the joint and getting in the wort. clamping down with my hand makes them mostly go away, but not entirely. Tape sorta works too, but again, not really a long-term solution.

I think the tubing and cane are both 3/8", but don't have them in front of me to know for sure.

Sounds like the solution is get a piece of tubing that fits better, which is what I figured. Thanks for the responses.

 

[Grinder12000]

Sounds like the solution is get a piece of tubing that fits better

Yea - does sound that way. You should look into an auto siphon - they are really nice!

 

[HighPlainsDrifter]

Sounds like the solution is get a piece of tubing that fits better, which is what I figured. Thanks for the responses.

Or put on one of these:

 

[Moonpile]

Sometimes I think that's just CO2 coming out of suspension in the hose. I have no evidence to back it up though.

 

[Yooper]

That happens to me occasionally. I've found that pinching the hose at the "bubble" spot so that the flow stops, and then releasing so it restarts, solves the problem. It's hard to explain, but try it next time and you'll see what I mean. It's like it causes the flow to flow harder, if that makes sense.

(If it doesn't quite make sense, please keep in mind that I drink).

 

[Ecnerwal]

Put some water in a bottle/pot/carboy and rack it - do you get bubbles?

Do you get bubbles siphoning wort?

Rack out your idophor if you use that for your carboys - bubbles?

If so, you have a leak.

If not, you definitely do NOT have an oxidation issue. Quite the opposite.

If not, you have the thing that makes me hate siphoning beer, even though I love playing with siphons and water. As the beer goes through the siphon the pressure on it is reduced, and CO2 comes out of solution. With a small enough hose/tube it keeps flowing as bubbles, with a larger one, or a transition from a smaller racking cane to a larger hose, it slows down and accumulates, and can stop the siphon.

I bought another racking cane, cut off the curved part, and now just use a very short section of hose to join one to the other. Makes the siphon inconveniently stiff, but it gets the bubbles through the system without the siphon pooping out while there's still a gallon of beer in the carboy (at which point restarting is a pain). Massaging the tube can also break up the bubbles and get them to move, but it's tedious to keep up with.

If peristaltic pumps were not so absurdly overpriced, I'd already have one for moving beer, just for this reason. But if I had that kind of money to spend, a cylindro-conical fermenter would also avoid the need to siphon much.

 

[Loup]

I have a 3/8 OD racking cane and was having the same problem when using 3/8 ID tubing, I switched to 5/16 ID tubing and the problem more or less went away (sometimes I'll get a bubble there when it first starts the siphon, but if I pinch the tubing at the bubble it goes down the line and doesn't reappear at the junction between the tube and the racking cane.)

the 5/16 tubing is a PIA to get on and off, but soaking the tubing in a warm sanitizer solution seems to soften the tube up enough to go on without too much trouble.

 

[NewBlood]

I had the same problem and found that if I take one long draw on my racking cane instead of pumping it I prevent bubbles in my line.