Racking crane?

[Allekornbrauer]

Hello I am wanting to know how does one start a siphon using a traditional ranking crane an tubing?

 

[VVbrewery]

A sanitized turn baster works.

 

[AkTom]

Don’t tell anyone... I use my mouth. Shhh.

 

[AkTom]

I also have a self priming cane. But I use my vacuum pump.

 

[beermanpete]

Get an Autosiphon and life will be easy.

If you must use a standard racking cane a turkey baster will work as @VVbrewery said. This can be frustrating because it can take several tries to get the flow started. Another option is to fill the hose with water (sanitized) before attaching it to the cane. While holding both ends at the same level, attach one end to the cane then lower the other end below the fermenter or kettle to start the flow. This is also frustrating and a bit tricky.

 

[AnthonyTD]

If you are using a CRANE to rack from your primary you are probably brewing at a scale that no home brewer can help you with

[emoji846][emoji846][emoji846][emoji846][emoji846]

 

[beermanpete]

Or the feathers are interfering with the flow.

 

[S-Met]

Way better than siphoning gas.

Assuming that you already use good sanitation and know to have the primary raised above the secondary. I usually also do a quik mouth rinse with cheap airlock vodka. Next get close to your transfer vessel and suck hard and fast like a thick milkshake watching the hose fill. Then quickly put the tube in the receiving vessel.

And I usually have a glass handy an use the 1st 1/2 pint to sample.

 

[Qhrumphf]

If you can fit a ball valve of some form inline (when racking flat beer into sanke kegs I have a ball valve connector attached to the liquid end of the coupler but a barbed valve could get cut into the middle of the hose), you can fill both the cane and hose completely with sanitizer, and close the valve. It'll hold enough vacuum to pin the sanitizer in there briefly but will dribble out the ends so work quickly. Place cane into wort/beer (elevated obviously). Aim other end towards drain/dump bucket/whatever (below level of wort/beer obviously again). Open valve and let sani pull out your wort/beer, then when hose is full and sani all out, close valve again trapping it in the hose. Now place in vessel (or in my case attach to depressurized keg), open valve, and you're good to go.

Now, I do this with an auto-siphon, but I find when moving beer I get less O2 pickup (at least when a closed CO2 transfer isn't an option) this way compared to pumping the siphon so a regular racking cane will work fine. I mainly only pump the auto-siphon to force cleaner/sanitizer through the cane/tubing.

 

[50calshooter]

Suck it a good one.