3 piece airlock

[Wild Duk]

Doe snayone on here have any trouble loosing liquid in their airlocks. I have my wine in storage now, it topped off to within 2 inched of the stopper, and I think that the liquid inside of it is getting thru the airlock into the carboy. I use a star san mix in the airlock, so I don't think it evaporating.


Do the other types of airlocks work better??
And at this point, do I even need an airlock or can I just cap it off...

 

[K&GB]

Wild duk,


I have the same issue. As the temp in my storage room (garage) falls, liquid from the airlock is pulled inside the carboy (especially in the flexible Better Bottles). Some of it also evaporates, but I've seen it drop overnight, so I'm thinking it's the temp. I use water and K-meta solution in my airlocks. I've asked before about just using a solid stopper and I think the consensus was that a certain amount of gas exchange occurs even in stabilized wine while bulk aging. Everyone recommended I keep using airlocks instead of solid stoppers.

 

[grapeman]

Be sure the liquid in the airlock is at the right level- where the line is. If you put too much in, it can get sucked into the carboy and can prevent the center piece from rising high enough. Mainly for this reason, I prefer the S bend type airlocks.


Yes do keep the airlock on it.

 

[Rocky_Top]

This is why I use the 3 piece airlock during fermentaion and s airlocks for bulkageing. The s airlock is two way it can let air out and pull air in without pulling the liquid into the carboy. If you use k-meta in the airlockany air that is pulled in is sterile. because you are moving this much air you should NOT use a soild bung. It would just pop out. Most wine will tend to pull air back into the carboyshortly after stabilizing.

 

[Jeff H]

I had the same exact problem with my 3 piece airlocks on my bulk aging carboys . I finally went with Ferm-Rite Breathable Silicon bungs. Problem solved.