Carboy Wine Level Indicator
 

Does anyone know of a product that can be applied to the outside of a
carboy (i.e. sticker, rub on, overlay, etc) to indicate the wine level
in gallon or finer divisions? I always end up guessing when blending
from multiple carboys into a single carboy. It would also be nice to
know exactly how much wine is in the carboy for more accurate chemical
additions. Any ideas???

Thanks,
Charles

Carboy Wine Level Indicator
 

I've never seen anything that applies to a carboy for measuring
volume. I don't think it would give consistent results from jug to
jug even if a product does exists.

None of my carboys have the same capacity. Just variation in
manfacturing, I guess.

What might work for you is using a know container, say a 2L pop
bottle. Use it to fill the carboy and marking with a Shapie it as you
fill. If you use the same container to fill your carboys then at
least each would have the same relative markings even if not
absolutely accurate.

Another possibility is to mark off some masking tape and making your
own 'measuring tapes'.

Take Care,
Steve noobie
Oregon

>Does anyone know of a product that can be applied to the outside of a
>carboy (i.e. sticker, rub on, overlay, etc) to indicate the wine level
>in gallon or finer divisions? I always end up guessing when blending
>from multiple carboys into a single carboy. It would also be nice to
>know exactly how much wine is in the carboy for more accurate chemical
>additions. Any ideas???
>
>Thanks,
>Charles

Carboy Wine Level Indicator
 

None of mine are the same, good point Steve. What I did was start
noting on mine how many 750 ml bottles I got from each when I bottle.
That way I can use that to advantage when racking. Most of my 5 gallon
(US) are about 25.3 bottles, I have a few 26 and more too.

You could reverse your idea and just apply tape to full carboys and as
bottled mark them off. I would use medical cloth tape, it will never
come off or dry out if you pick the right one.

Charles,
I can't think of any chemical addition that has to be that precise
anyway. When you add acid, it's always just close to right. The
additions are ballpark, the quantity required is not necessarily
standardized since your wine is a combination of several acids.

Fining trials are usually set up in half strength increments so there
is no need to get precise there either.

Just my two cents. If you have newer carboys my rule of thumb is the
quantity to the first blister ring is 1/2 gallon, each ring after that
1 is a gallon and the top ring to the neck holds about 1/2 gallon.

Joe


> None of my carboys have the same capacity. Just variation in
> manufacturing, I guess.

> Another possibility is to mark off some masking tape and making your
> own 'measuring tapes'.
>
> Take Care,
> Steve noobie
> Oregon

Carboy Wine Level Indicator
 

Sedgewick Halbritton wrote:
> Does anyone know of a product that can be applied to the outside of a
> carboy (i.e. sticker, rub on, overlay, etc) to indicate the wine level
> in gallon or finer divisions? I always end up guessing when blending
> from multiple carboys into a single carboy. It would also be nice to
> know exactly how much wine is in the carboy for more accurate chemical
> additions. Any ideas???
>
> Thanks,
> Charles

I seem to remember that there was something in the catalogs that could
do that for a bottle of liquified natural gas, and you had to wet it to
see the reading. Maybe thats what you're thinking of? I figure it
works by measuring the temperature difference aboive the surface caused
by evaporating gas, which doesn't really apply to wine. Maybe you can
rediscover the old coopers trick -- rapping on the carboy with your
knuckle and learning to hear the difference in sound between full and
empty.

Carboy Wine Level Indicator
 

That's what we did. We filled one gallon jugs with water, added them
one at a time, marking the carboy as we went with a black permanent
marker. Worked like a charm.

Carboy Wine Level Indicator
 

Charles, I have lots of 2.8, 3, 5 and 6.5 gallon carboys. Each size varies
in the volume of liquid they hold but it's not a big difference. Long ago I
calibrated each size by adding water in increments and measuring the height
of the water with a yard stick. These measurements have served me well and
allow for selection of a receiving carboy when racking or blending. Send me
an email address and I'll send you my chart.

Bill Frazier
Olathe, Kansas USA

Sedgewick Halbritton wrote " I always end up guessing when blending
> from multiple carboys into a single carboy. It would also be nice to
> know exactly how much wine is in the carboy for more accurate chemical
> additions. Any ideas???

Carboy Wine Level Indicator
 

Joe:

I know what tape your referring too. Use it to patch the kids scrapes
and booboo's. Waterproof and won't come off! Great tip!

Thanks
Steve noobie
Oregon


"Joe Sallustio" > wrote:
>You could reverse your idea and just apply tape to full carboys and as
>bottled mark them off. I would use medical cloth tape, it will never
>come off or dry out if you pick the right one.
>
>Joe

Carboy Wine Level Indicator
 

You can try weighing your empty carboy, mark its weight on it or a tag.
Figure that a gallon weighs roughly 8 lbs. If you wanna be more specific,
weigh out a volume of yer must/vino/whatever & do a little math... you can
get a reasonable conversion factor & a reasonable idea of wt/volume. a
little math along with a digital bathroom scale gives us a reasonable
working number. Hope this helps.


"William Frazier" > wrote in message
...
> Charles, I have lots of 2.8, 3, 5 and 6.5 gallon carboys. Each size
> varies in the volume of liquid they hold but it's not a big difference.
> Long ago I calibrated each size by adding water in increments and
> measuring the height of the water with a yard stick. These measurements
> have served me well and allow for selection of a receiving carboy when
> racking or blending. Send me an email address and I'll send you my chart.
>
> Bill Frazier
> Olathe, Kansas USA
>
> Sedgewick Halbritton wrote " I always end up guessing when blending
>> from multiple carboys into a single carboy. It would also be nice to
>> know exactly how much wine is in the carboy for more accurate chemical
>> additions. Any ideas???
>
>

Carboy Wine Level Indicator
 

That's how you calibrate volume containers, a gallon of water weights
8.33 pounds at roughly room temperature. You use distilled water and
are more precise if necessary, but it's the same principal.

Joe

Carboy Wine Level Indicator
 

I actually tried this season adding 1 gallon quantities of water and marking
the divisions with masking tape and then using the masking tape as a line
guide for tick marks. I tried marking the ticks with permanent markers and
special acrylic pens (designed for use on glass). Both washed off after a
few carboy cleanings. I believe they make special vitreous paints that can
be applied and then baked on in an over but I doubt my oven is big enough
for a 6 gallon carboy. That's a good idea on the medical tape. I think they
also make a special tape that is weather proof that uses 3M VHB (very high
bond) adhesive that can be purchased at auto body shops. I figured I'd ask
the question to see if there was an elegant off-the-shelf solution before I
try the semi-permanent tape.

Joe, you're right on the mark about precision. Unfortunately I'm a
mechanical engineer which makes me anal by nature ;-) I sleep easier at
night knowing my chemical additions (final SO2 adjustments in particular)
are is close as I can get. I know, it's a character flaw...

Thanks,
Charles

"Joe Sallustio" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> None of mine are the same, good point Steve. What I did was start
> noting on mine how many 750 ml bottles I got from each when I bottle.
> That way I can use that to advantage when racking. Most of my 5 gallon
> (US) are about 25.3 bottles, I have a few 26 and more too.
>
> You could reverse your idea and just apply tape to full carboys and as
> bottled mark them off. I would use medical cloth tape, it will never
> come off or dry out if you pick the right one.
>
> Charles,
> I can't think of any chemical addition that has to be that precise
> anyway. When you add acid, it's always just close to right. The
> additions are ballpark, the quantity required is not necessarily
> standardized since your wine is a combination of several acids.
>
> Fining trials are usually set up in half strength increments so there
> is no need to get precise there either.
>
> Just my two cents. If you have newer carboys my rule of thumb is the
> quantity to the first blister ring is 1/2 gallon, each ring after that
> 1 is a gallon and the top ring to the neck holds about 1/2 gallon.
>
> Joe
>
>
>> None of my carboys have the same capacity. Just variation in
>> manufacturing, I guess.
>
>> Another possibility is to mark off some masking tape and making your
>> own 'measuring tapes'.
>>
>> Take Care,
>> Steve noobie
>> Oregon
>

Carboy Wine Level Indicator
 

Thanks Bill. I would love to get a copy of your measurements. Please email
to the group or my personal email at . Just remove
the "nospam" text buried in the email address.


"William Frazier" > wrote in message
...
> Charles, I have lots of 2.8, 3, 5 and 6.5 gallon carboys. Each size
> varies in the volume of liquid they hold but it's not a big difference.
> Long ago I calibrated each size by adding water in increments and
> measuring the height of the water with a yard stick. These measurements
> have served me well and allow for selection of a receiving carboy when
> racking or blending. Send me an email address and I'll send you my chart.
>
> Bill Frazier
> Olathe, Kansas USA
>
> Sedgewick Halbritton wrote " I always end up guessing when blending
>> from multiple carboys into a single carboy. It would also be nice to
>> know exactly how much wine is in the carboy for more accurate chemical
>> additions. Any ideas???
>
>

Carboy Wine Level Indicator
 

"Sedgewick Halbritton" > wrote in message
...
> Does anyone know of a product that can be applied to the outside of a
> carboy (i.e. sticker, rub on, overlay, etc) to indicate the wine level
> in gallon or finer divisions? I always end up guessing when blending
> from multiple carboys into a single carboy. It would also be nice to
> know exactly how much wine is in the carboy for more accurate chemical
> additions. Any ideas???
>
> Thanks,
> Charles

When I worked with equipment that we had to know what a tanks volume was we
would do what was called finger print the tank. To do this place the tank
(carboy) on a level surface. Take a known amount of liquid and pour into the
tank mark the tank. take your next known amount of liquid and do the same,
repeat until the tank is full.

Depending on how big your tank is as to how much liquid you use at a time.
Two cups may be fine for a gallon but you may want to use a half gallon of
known liquid for a 5 gallon tank.

Carboy Wine Level Indicator
 

"Roy Boy" > wrote in message
. ..
>
> "Sedgewick Halbritton" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Does anyone know of a product that can be applied to the outside of a
>> carboy (i.e. sticker, rub on, overlay, etc) to indicate the wine level
>> in gallon or finer divisions? I always end up guessing when blending
>> from multiple carboys into a single carboy. It would also be nice to
>> know exactly how much wine is in the carboy for more accurate chemical
>> additions. Any ideas???
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Charles
>
> When I worked with equipment that we had to know what a tanks volume was
> we would do what was called finger print the tank. To do this place the
> tank (carboy) on a level surface. Take a known amount of liquid and pour
> into the tank mark the tank. take your next known amount of liquid and do
> the same, repeat until the tank is full.
>
> Depending on how big your tank is as to how much liquid you use at a time.
> Two cups may be fine for a gallon but you may want to use a half gallon of
> known liquid for a 5 gallon tank.

I have never tried this but it should work:

for any given carboy use a separate measuring stick or device and do the
following.

Fill the carboy with water in increments of your choice - say 1 qt.
After putting in this volume, put in the stick or any other measuring
device, remove the stick and mark it with a permanent marker.

Put in another volume of water and put in your measuring device and mark and
label this level on your measuring device.

Of course, you will need separate sticks or measuring devices for each
carboy if they are indeed slightly different.

I believe this is how they measure existing volumes in storage tanks at gas
stations when the refueling truck delivers more gas.

It is also how you check the oil in your car.

Carboy Wine Level Indicator
 

Ed - I tried to send the Excel files as directed but they were rejected.
Not sure why. I don't believe I can attach Excel files to a post on r.c.w.
If you know different let me know.

Bill Frazier
Olathe, Kansas USA

Ed wrote "I would love to get a copy of your measurements. Please email
> to the group or my personal email at . Just remove
> the "nospam" text buried in the email address."

Carboy Wine Level Indicator
 

And you don't even have to get hurt to us it. Amaaaazing lol

spud wrote:
> Joe:
>
> I know what tape your referring too. Use it to patch the kids scrapes
> and booboo's. Waterproof and won't come off! Great tip!
>
> Thanks
> Steve noobie
> Oregon
>
>
> "Joe Sallustio" > wrote:
>
>>You could reverse your idea and just apply tape to full carboys and as
>>bottled mark them off. I would use medical cloth tape, it will never
>>come off or dry out if you pick the right one.
>>
>>Joe

Carboy Wine Level Indicator
 

make your tick marks and then cover them with clear nail polish, super
glue, airplane glue or acrylic laquer of some sort.

Of you could cover them with packing tape. Eventually they will wear
off, but by then you can redraw them and treat the news ones in the
same way as the old ones.

Carboy Wine Level Indicator
 

Believe it or not, even the big boys often us a tape measure tool to
determine gallons of juice in a tank. Has a flat metal plate on the end
of the tape so you can tell when it's hit the surface of the juice.
They, too, use a table of height to volume to get gallons.

Gene

Ed wrote:

> Thanks Bill. I would love to get a copy of your measurements. Please email
> to the group or my personal email at . Just remove
> the "nospam" text buried in the email address.
>
>
> "William Frazier" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>Charles, I have lots of 2.8, 3, 5 and 6.5 gallon carboys. Each size
>>varies in the volume of liquid they hold but it's not a big difference.
>>Long ago I calibrated each size by adding water in increments and
>>measuring the height of the water with a yard stick. These measurements
>>have served me well and allow for selection of a receiving carboy when
>>racking or blending. Send me an email address and I'll send you my chart.
>>
>>Bill Frazier
>>Olathe, Kansas USA
>>
>>Sedgewick Halbritton wrote " I always end up guessing when blending
>>
>>>from multiple carboys into a single carboy. It would also be nice to
>>>know exactly how much wine is in the carboy for more accurate chemical
>>>additions. Any ideas???
>>
>>
>
>

Carboy Wine Level Indicator
 

I use an engraving tool. Scratches a line and doesn't come off. Works on
plastic and glass carboys. and primaries.
I would not recommend this for the kids scrapes and booboo's, though.

DAve

http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS...engraving_tool

gene wrote:
> And you don't even have to get hurt to us it. Amaaaazing lol
>
> spud wrote:
>
>> Joe:
>>
>> I know what tape your referring too. Use it to patch the kids scrapes
>> and booboo's. Waterproof and won't come off! Great tip!
>>
>> Thanks
>> Steve noobie
>> Oregon
>>
>>
>> "Joe Sallustio" > wrote:
>>
>>> You could reverse your idea and just apply tape to full carboys and as
>>> bottled mark them off. I would use medical cloth tape, it will never
>>> come off or dry out if you pick the right one.
>>>
>>> Joe

Carboy Wine Level Indicator
 

Charles,
I'm the same way so I know what you mean. I used to do a lot of
calibration work and it's surprising how many variables there are in a
simple volume measurement. Different types of glass grow at different
rates for example, not that it would matter to most people.

I have some athletic tape that is pretty close to permanent, it's been
on a few carboys for several years and must have been made by the same
people who worked on the Energizer bunny...


Joe

Carboy Wine Level Indicator
 

It's good to know I'm not the only one ;-) I like the engraving tool
idea. I may try that one...


On 29 Nov 2005 19:01:53 -0800, "Joe Sallustio" >
wrote:

>Charles,
>I'm the same way so I know what you mean. I used to do a lot of
>calibration work and it's surprising how many variables there are in a
>simple volume measurement. Different types of glass grow at different
>rates for example, not that it would matter to most people.
>
>I have some athletic tape that is pretty close to permanent, it's been
>on a few carboys for several years and must have been made by the same
>people who worked on the Energizer bunny...
>
>
>Joe

Carboy Wine Level Indicator
 

Sedgewick - I tried to send you my carboy measurement chart. The email
bounced with this message;
>
Permanent Failu _unknown
Delivery last attempted at Sun, 4 Dec 2005 16:46:01 -0000

Not sure why. If you can figure it out let me know and I'll resend.

Bill Frazier
Olathe, Kansas USA

"Sedgewick Halbritton" > wrote in message
...
> It's good to know I'm not the only one ;-) I like the engraving tool
> idea. I may try that one...