air locks drying up

[JohnnyB78]

I have now a small handfull of carboys in my basement, with a variety of wines aging now. Well my airlocks keep drying up, and I have to keep checking them and adding water. I am using the 2 piece ones, you know the ones that are like a tiny cup with the little cap. Well every once in a while like I said I have to add a tiny bit of water to keep them filled. My question is occasionally a few drops of the water drips into the carboy. I am worried about contamination, should I be worried or will this tiny amount be ok. If this is bad what can I do to fix it. And any tricks to prevent this issue again. any thoughts would be great.

 

[Rocky]

Johnny, I find that the three piece (I think that is what you mean: a body with an upright tube, a tube cover and a cap) evaporate water at a faster rate than the two piece, S-shaped airlocks. I would imagine it is because of the greater surface area exposed to atmosphere. I have to fill my three piece ones periodically and I use my sanitizing solution to fill them (mix of 3 tbsp of k-meta in 1 gallon of water). There should be a fill line molded into the body of the airlock. If a few drops falls into the wine, there should be no problem.

Check the RH in your wine making area. If is too dry it could cause faster evaporation. I keep my cellar at or near 75% RH. I like the S-shaped airlocks because I get a better visual of what is going on in the iwne. They are harder to clean, but soaking them in k-meta sanitizing solution seems to be all that is needed.

 

[olusteebus]

Use glycerine. It will not evaporate.

 

[JohnnyB78]

the drops here and there shouldnt be an issue than? I will switch to the sanitizing solution I think, I kinda planned on it, but I wanted to hear it from someone else I gues.

 

[Dokki]

I use cheap vodka in my airlocks. It's sterile, keeps the airlocks from having "things" grow in them as stagnant water can do, and when I cold stabilize outside during the winter I don't have to worry about my airlocks shattering from the water freezing.

 

[jswordy]

the drops here and there shouldnt be an issue than? I will switch to the sanitizing solution I think, I kinda planned on it, but I wanted to hear it from someone else I gues.

If your wine has an alcohol level above 10%, there should be no contamination problem. Nasties all die at 5% or lower. Still, if you can avoid the ingress, you probably should, just to be cautious.

I like the 3-piece airlocks better, personally. I've not had trouble with them drying out fast, though, and I use plain water. Perhaps your wine is in a higher-temp room than mine.

 

[robie]

I prefer the S shaped air locks. They don't dry up as easily and when the outside pressure is greater than that inside the carboy, they don't allow the air lock solution to be sucked into the carboy as easily.

 

[Minnesotamaker]

I use the S-shaped 2 piece airlock for long term aging. As an extra measure to slow evaporation, I drop a marble in the top of the airlock. It sits over the opening and blocks it. If the wine needs to "pass a bubble" the marble lifts and lets the air pass by before falling back down over the hole. I still use the little red cap to keep from losing my marbles.

 

[joeswine]

Basics

all the above helpful comments are correct ,each to there own method,but being mindful of what is going on in your wine cellar is a constant reminder that we need to control the environment,daily.even at a glance.