Wine thief not working. Am I trippin'?

[fatfett]

So the last time I used my Fermtech wine thief was in December. As I remember, it worked great. Tried to use it a few days ago and it wouldn't pick up a drop of liquid. I noticed there is some sort of black plug at the top of the wine thief that I assume should not be there but can't get it off. Thinking about it logically, if the only opening is the needle, air cannot escape and thus liquid cannot fill the wine thief.

Am I missing something? Did gremlins sabotage my wine thief?

 

[jdauria]

Is the "needle" seated right? Not sure what the black plug would be, but that is probably the cause of the issue. With the Fermtech the top should be open and when you place in the liquid, it fills from the bottom while displacing the air that is in it out the top...if the top is plugged no way for air to escape thus no way to suck up liquid.

 

[fatfett]

Thanks for the response. Somehow the end of my auto siphon ended up in my wine thief. Turns out it fits just perfectly, almost as if it is meant to. Sorted it out and got it working.

I blame gremlins.