Hi,

Is there a proper way to siphon wine that is full of gas? I find that the
gas bubbles form air pockets in the tubing and halt the flow.

How do you remove airlocks without sucking the water in the airlock back
into the wine?


Thanks!

David

"David" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Is there a proper way to siphon wine that is full of gas? I find that the
gas bubbles form air pockets in the tubing and halt the flow.

How do you remove airlocks without sucking the water in the airlock back
into the wine?


Thanks!

David

David,
A sure fire method is to: (1) remove the top of the lock and then remove the
"bell." (2) Then remove the liquid from the lock with a syringe. (3) Then
remove the lock from the bulk storage container.
--
Lum
Del Mar, California, USA

David wrote:

Is there a proper way to siphon wine that is full of gas? I find
that the gas bubbles form air pockets in the tubing and halt the flow.

I use a pump siphon.

How do you remove airlocks without sucking the water in the airlock
back into the wine?

I have never had that problem.

Dick

David wrote:

Is there a proper way to siphon wine that is full of gas? I find
that the gas bubbles form air pockets in the tubing and halt the flow.

I use a pump siphon.

How do you remove airlocks without sucking the water in the airlock
back into the wine?

I have never had that problem.

Dick

Is there a proper way to siphon wine that is full of gas? I find that the
gas bubbles form air pockets in the tubing and halt the flow.

Two things you can do.

1. Use a siphoning tube with a larger diameter. This will increase the flow
and reduce the chance of CO2 "locks" forming.
2. Increase the "head". This is the difference in level between the surface
of the wine in the container which is being emptied and the end of the
siphon tube from which the wine is flowing ( or the surface of the lower
vessel if you tube end is below the level of the wine in that vessel ). The
greater the "head" then the greater the difference in atmospheric pressure
between the input and out put levels of the siphoning tube and the greater
the rate of flow. i.e. put your emptying bucket higher and your receiving
carboy lower
HTH

--
Trevor A Panther
In South Yorkshire, England
Remove "PSANTISPAM" from my address line to reply.
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"David" wrote in message
...

Is there a proper way to siphon wine that is full of gas? I find that the
gas bubbles form air pockets in the tubing and halt the flow.

Two things you can do.

1. Use a siphoning tube with a larger diameter. This will increase the flow
and reduce the chance of CO2 "locks" forming.
2. Increase the "head". This is the difference in level between the surface
of the wine in the container which is being emptied and the end of the
siphon tube from which the wine is flowing ( or the surface of the lower
vessel if you tube end is below the level of the wine in that vessel ). The
greater the "head" then the greater the difference in atmospheric pressure
between the input and out put levels of the siphoning tube and the greater
the rate of flow. i.e. put your emptying bucket higher and your receiving
carboy lower
HTH

--
Trevor A Panther
In South Yorkshire, England
Remove "PSANTISPAM" from my address line to reply.
All outgoing mail is scanned by Norton
Anti Virus for your protection too!
"David" wrote in message
...

"David" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Is there a proper way to siphon wine that is full of gas? I find that the
gas bubbles form air pockets in the tubing and halt the flow.

I can imagine this happening but I have never seen it happen. Curious. If
there is a good flow, even with a very strong ferment this should not be a
problem. This is a new one.

How do you remove airlocks without sucking the water in the airlock back
into the wine?

You are filling the air lock too full. It should not be so full that this
would happen. When you start pulling up on the airlock, you are correct,
this will cause a partial vacume in the carboy which will tend to pull the
fluid in the lock back toward the carboy. If the airlock is too full, some
of the fluid will spill into the carboy. If it is filled properly, before
this happens air will bubble into the carboy in the reverse process to what
happens when gas bubbles out through the airlock. After all the airlock is
a 2-way street. You should always fill the valve slightly LESS than half
full. This will allow gas to bubble either way without the fluid spilling
one way or the other.

After all the fluid in the airlock can become contaminated. It is in
contact with air and you do NOT want it to get into your wine. This could
happen as you describe when you remove it. It could also happen during a
wheather change. A change in temerature could cause a presure change in the
carboy that would draw the pressure down. If the airlock is too full this
can draw fluid in the airlock toward the carboy and it may spill in.

An airlock should be filled correctly. Not too full and not too low.

Ray

"David" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Is there a proper way to siphon wine that is full of gas? I find that the
gas bubbles form air pockets in the tubing and halt the flow.

I can imagine this happening but I have never seen it happen. Curious. If
there is a good flow, even with a very strong ferment this should not be a
problem. This is a new one.

How do you remove airlocks without sucking the water in the airlock back
into the wine?

You are filling the air lock too full. It should not be so full that this
would happen. When you start pulling up on the airlock, you are correct,
this will cause a partial vacume in the carboy which will tend to pull the
fluid in the lock back toward the carboy. If the airlock is too full, some
of the fluid will spill into the carboy. If it is filled properly, before
this happens air will bubble into the carboy in the reverse process to what
happens when gas bubbles out through the airlock. After all the airlock is
a 2-way street. You should always fill the valve slightly LESS than half
full. This will allow gas to bubble either way without the fluid spilling
one way or the other.

After all the fluid in the airlock can become contaminated. It is in
contact with air and you do NOT want it to get into your wine. This could
happen as you describe when you remove it. It could also happen during a
wheather change. A change in temerature could cause a presure change in the
carboy that would draw the pressure down. If the airlock is too full this
can draw fluid in the airlock toward the carboy and it may spill in.

An airlock should be filled correctly. Not too full and not too low.

Ray

Ray Calvert wrote:
"David" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Is there a proper way to siphon wine that is full of gas? I find
that the
gas bubbles form air pockets in the tubing and halt the flow.

I can imagine this happening but I have never seen it happen.
Curious. If
there is a good flow, even with a very strong ferment this should not
be a
problem. This is a new one.

I've had this happen too once or twice, when I used to make kits and
racked from the primary fermentor to a carboy. The flow seemed okay,
the fermentor was on a table and the carboy on the ground, about 3/4 m
difference. I had to either restart the flow or as Trevor suggested,
lift the fermentor higher up - that could get the flow going even if
the racking tube was completely empty.


How do you remove airlocks without sucking the water in the airlock
back
into the wine?

You are filling the air lock too full. It should not be so full that
this
would happen. When you start pulling up on the airlock, you are
correct,
this will cause a partial vacume in the carboy which will tend to
pull the
fluid in the lock back toward the carboy. If the airlock is too
full, some
of the fluid will spill into the carboy. If it is filled properly,
before
this happens air will bubble into the carboy in the reverse process
to what
happens when gas bubbles out through the airlock. After all the
airlock is
a 2-way street. You should always fill the valve slightly LESS than
half
full. This will allow gas to bubble either way without the fluid
spilling
one way or the other.

After all the fluid in the airlock can become contaminated. It is in

contact with air and you do NOT want it to get into your wine. This
could
happen as you describe when you remove it. It could also happen
during a
wheather change. A change in temerature could cause a presure change
in the
carboy that would draw the pressure down. If the airlock is too full
this
can draw fluid in the airlock toward the carboy and it may spill in.

An airlock should be filled correctly. Not too full and not too low.

Ray

I switched to the S-shaped airlocks for this reason - it's much easier
to see where the water level is and what it is doing in terms of
pressure.

Pp

One could also cool the wine as much as possible before siphoning,
which would minimize the formation of CO2 bubbles - the CO2 would stay
in solution.

I used to have a problem of a small air leak in the seal of my pump
siphon, which would result in air being entrained in the flow. This
was a lot of air, but it never stopped the flow - the air bubbles just
pulled all the way through to the new carboy. I'd agree that
increasing your flow (more head height or larger bore tubing) is a good
way to minimize the liklihood of shutting off the flow.

Rob

One could also cool the wine as much as possible before siphoning,
which would minimize the formation of CO2 bubbles - the CO2 would stay
in solution.

The only drawback with this idea is that this sort of problem is usually
encountered when racking into a secondary fermenter and the must/wine is
still actively undergoing fermentation ( hence the problem of too much gas
in the siphoning tube). It would not be a good idea to cool the must at this
stage and perhaps slow or even stop the fermentation.

I have certainly had this problem at the first racking stage but rarely, if
ever, after fermentation is completed.

--
Trevor A Panther
In South Yorkshire, England
Remove "PSANTISPAM" from my address line to reply.
All outgoing mail is scanned by Norton
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"Rob" wrote in message
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