Airlock management

[mikewatkins727]

I believe he is referring to placing it on top of the air lock.

Nice ideal but in my manual it comes under the heading "Impractical"

 

[TurkeyHollow]

@TurkeyHollow : I don't see where a ½ glass ball would fit into an airlock. Could you post a picture as to how this works?

This one is stainless steel (easier to see).

 

[TurkeyHollow]

Nice ideal but in my manual it comes under the heading "Impractical"

I don't see it as "Impractical". You simply take the cover off drop in the sanitized ball then snap the cover back on. To me, that's a little more practical that dealing with evaporation and fruit flies. I guess it's not for everyone.

 

[She’sgonnakillme]

That is a tiny marble, doesn’t loook standard sized

 

[TurkeyHollow]

That is a tiny marble, doesn’t loook standard sized

You can fit a larger ball in there. The ID is about .650 so a 5/8" easily fits. 1/2" glass balls are easily available for cheap (New Clear Glass Marbles w/ Tiny Bubbles (1/2") Package of 85 | eBay or Daisy 8383 Slingshot Ammunition, Glass). Not trying to convince anyone but offer a cheap fix for a problem. Seems like some are already predisposed to finding fault with using them. I say "Don't use them"

 

[mainshipfred]

You can fit a larger ball in there. The ID is about .650 so a 5/8" easily fits. 1/2" glass balls are easily available for cheap (New Clear Glass Marbles w/ Tiny Bubbles (1/2") Package of 85 | eBay or Daisy 8383 Slingshot Ammunition, Glass). Not trying to convince anyone but offer a cheap fix for a problem. Seems like some are already predisposed to finding fault with using them. I say "Don't use them"

I think that's pretty neat idea, especially for the fruit flies.

 

[She’sgonnakillme]

I’ll give it a try….

 

[chonn]

Why don't we just use actual check valves ?

They are not that expensive (stainless 1/4" are perhaps $40) and you can buy them with different cracking pressures to meet your needs (0.5 or 1 or 2 psi or whatever ...)

I switched to everclear long ago but you still have evaporation issues and the ability to suck ambient air inwards to the wine, etc. - just so many ways to mix things up with these plastic s-locks ...

 

[Ohio Bob]

Probably a lot of people would need way more than 1 or 2. It would get expensive really fast.

 

[JohnW]

I'm a cheap vodka guy when all my vented silicone bungs are in use. My carboys are all plastic so when I need to move one I always remove the airlock first. Otherwise the liquid tends to get sucked into the wine.

 

[winemaker81]

Why don't we just use actual check valves ?

It's said a picture is worth 1,000 words.



Your question is a good one -- it's something a lot of beginners don't know enough (yet) to think about. The wine is topup for my barrels. Once I exhaust the smaller bottles, I'll move the 3 gallon carboys into gallon jugs, with the remainder into smaller bottles, initially a pair (each) of 1.5 liter bottles, and narrowing down from there. I have roughly 20 airlocks and have had all in use at once.

I check airlocks at least once per week, and have started swapping them out monthly, so the medium in the lock is of no importance.

 

[sour_grapes]

0.5 psi is a fairly serious pressure. The bung would have to withstand being pushed out with a force of about a pound. I think most bungs would pop out before then.

 

[Rice_Guy]

I do like check valves especially for year old wine where I have racked creating head space. HOWEVER I combine check valves with a vacuum using non-degassed wines to create a CO2 headspace for storage.

Why don't we just use actual check valves ? . . . . They are not that expensive (stainless 1/4" are perhaps $40) and you can buy them with different cracking pressures

if you check Granger you can find polysulphone and nylon plastic valves for about $3