Airlock Solution

[Brenda D]

Newbie here with more questions.

No instructions came with my kit for the airlock. I will need it tomorrow. I have Campden tablets. What is the water to tablet ratio to use for the airlock.

Thanks in advance!

 

[rrussell]

you can use just water in a pinch or some people on here use vodka. I have never used tablets as I use a K-meta solution of 2 ounces per 1 gallon of water and use the same solution for sanitizing and in my airlock. Hope this helps until you can get some other opinions from people who use campden tablets. Ron

 

[Waldo]

Brenda
Did you makle up a sanitizing solution that you sanitized everything with prior to starting your kit? If so, juist use some of this in your airlock. If not, Just break one tab in half and dissolve in a half cup of water and use that.

 

[Brewgrrrl]

A note for why I use vodka and not K-meta in airlocks. Vodka is not only sterile, it is also odorless and tasteless. If any drips or gets pulled down into the must when the pressure changes, it won't adversely affect the wine.

 

[Brenda D]

Thanks everyone. I cannot believe the kit I ordered did not have any step by step instructions for the beginner. If it weren't for my questions answered here on the forums I would be in a terrible mess here on day five!

I had read about the Vodka but also read that it may attract the dreaded little fungus gnats, fruit flies, vinegar flies or whatever everyone calls them. We have a terrible problem here with them. They appear out of thin air if I have any fruit or bread on my counters for the least amount of time. I hate them and dread them even worse now that I have started a wine making venture!

 

[Brewgrrrl]

Wine must definitely attracts gnats and fruit flies so you really have to be careful - one little bug can ruin a whole 6 gallon batch. However, vodka is odorless/tasteless - it does NOT attract these things. Whatever you put in the airlock though, it will be a barrier between bugs/air and the wine must. The only tricky thing will be making sure that the early fermentation gets enough air circulation to be healthy withOUT letting in any bugs. Sometimes if I have seen fruit flies in our house I put a lid/airlock firmly on a large fermentation bucket to make sure that they stay out (even though most advise setting the lid on "loosely" to make sure the fermentation gets enough air) - having a large primary has so far given all of my wines enough head space to have a healthy early fermentation.

Good luck!

 

[Brewgrrrl]

BTW - flies will be most attracted to the early fermentation because that's when it's really rigorous and there is a lot of air/yummy odor being expelled outward from the must. This will happen regardless of what liquid you put into the airlock.

 

[Brenda D]

One more question (I hope) about the airlock. I have one of the plastic airlocks. I pushed this down into the rubber cap as far as I could. Should the smaller tube part of the airlock be extended below the rubber stopper? If it is supposed to be how in the world do you get it to go any further. I put the airlock on about an hour ago and still don't see anything moving or any bubbles. Is this normal? I have about 5 inches of head space in the secondary. (it's a plastic bucket with a screw on top)

Thanks again for everyone's help.

 

[dzachareas]

The air lock only needs to be airtight. The smaller tube does not need to be all the way through the rubber grommit on the lid. Sometimes the lid is not aways air tight either, and will letCO2 out whre the lid meets the bucket and you won't notice any activityin the airlock. But the most likely case is that your yeast is in the respiration phase, gathering oxygen from the must and getting ready to do its work. It sometimes takes a day or two to get a really active fermentation. You will know when it is working. If you get really worried, you can always crack the lid and visually inspectfor fermentation.

 

[Brenda D]

Thank you DZ..... I have two airlocks that look the same but on closer inspection one has an open tube in the bottom and the other has a solid bottom with holes around the edge. Would one be any better than the other to use?

 

[fivebk]

Either would be fine. If your wine has been fermenting for a few days it might be just about done. This could be the reason you have no airlock activity.

BOB

 

[Brenda D]

Hi Waldo... I forgot to answer you directly. I used Cleanpro SDH that came with my original kit to sanitize everything.List Active ingredient as Sodium Hydrochloride.

I used 1/2 tablet and water as you suggested. Should I get K-Meta for future use. I can always raid the liquor cabinet and get out the Vodka as Brewgrrrl suggested!

 

[fivebk]

Don't mean to but in

I use vodka in mine

BOB

 

[gaudet]

Been using vodka for about 8 months now and no fruit flies gnats, just make sure you check it periodically for evaporation. Keep the levels high enough to keep the "water seal" (vodka)

 

[intoxicating]

You can make a fabulous gnat trap with stuff on hand. Take a bowl and put fruit juice or juice and water, anything watery that will attract the gnats. Then stir in two or three drops of dish washing liquid and let it sit. You may need to change this every two or three days for a while. When it gets 40 or 50 gnats drowned on the bottom, the live ones seem to start avoiding it.

They will still continue to come in from outdoors, but this is a non-toxic way to get rid of the ones inside. That low level of dish soap won't do more than possibly give you a tummy ache if you accidentally drank it. But you won't be tempted, it will be filled with dead bodies.

 

[Brenda D]

So far I have only seen one or two and they met their timely death, squashed with a paper towel. We had a terrible problem with them in our greenhouse. The adults won't hurt the plants but they lay their eggs in the soil and the hatching larva will eat newly planted seeds. We used juice or vinegar in the 16 oz cola bottles set around the greenhouse. It sure did help.