Bubbles in autosiphon

[Northwoods Wine]

I have made wine from kits as well as homemade for the last 3 years and have had consistently had issues with tiny air bubbles in the autosiphon. Its one thing if I'm just racking between primary and secondary fermentation, but when it happens when I bottle it sucks because I have to let the bottles "rest" for a day or two before corking because the bubbles left on the top of the wine in the bottle have to escape. I've replaced the siphon and bottle filler more than once, and have watched videos to make sure I'm doing it right (there's really not much too it) and I'm not sure why this keeps happening. I also wait weeks longer to bottle than what the kit instructions say. Why is this happening?

 

[Ohio Bob]

You say you let the bottles rest, in quotes. Are they uncorked for a day? I get bubbles for maybe a minute or two. I fill 4 bottles then cork all 4. By the time I get back to corking the first bottle, the bubbles have nearly disappeared. I also try to let the wine run down the inside of the bottle, not free fall to the bottom.

Have you heard of the vacuvin resealable stopper? It’s a one way valve, comes with a hand pump. You literally pull a vacuum in your opened wine bottle, allowing it to stay fresher until you can finish it. Some leftover sulfite wine will foam slightly if you pull a vacuum.

Maybe a bunch of things need to go wrong, check you’re not over sulfiting, sanitizer solution is being made right, limit oxygen/sloshing/foaming during bottle filling, etc.

Lastly a picture of the bubbles might help.

 

[BigDaveK]

I had the same issue with bubbles. For me, I discovered the little gasket wasn't sealing well - yes, it would syphon but it was also sucking air from the outer tube. I poured a little wine into the tube and that fixed the problem - temporarily. I bought another and haven't had a problem.

 

[ChuckD]

I have made wine from kits as well as homemade for the last 3 years and have had consistently had issues with tiny air bubbles in the autosiphon. Its one thing if I'm just racking between primary and secondary fermentation, but when it happens when I bottle it sucks because I have to let the bottles "rest" for a day or two before corking because the bubbles left on the top of the wine in the bottle have to escape. I've replaced the siphon and bottle filler more than once, and have watched videos to make sure I'm doing it right (there's really not much too it) and I'm not sure why this keeps happening. I also wait weeks longer to bottle than what the kit instructions say. Why is this happening?

I have three auto siphons and they all do this. I keep a small glass of wine next to me and pour some in the outer tube when needed. Or go to a manually primed siphon.. the more you have to siphon the better

 

[Jim Welch]

I try to never siphon, ever! I use either vacuum, pressure, or gravity to transfer depending on which vessels are involved. The first thing I thought as I read your description was that the siphon is sucking air somewhere as BigDaveK mentioned. If it is in fact sucking air this is not doing any good for your beverage in the long term since it introduces some slight amount of oxygen directly into solution.
A new autosiphon may be in order if you can't eliminate the bubbles.

 

[sour_grapes]

I have had the experience of bubbles forming in my siphon, even to the point of breaking the siphon. This was not from a leak; rather, it was from CO2 coming out of solution during the racking (due to the reduced pressure at the top of the column). This only happens, of course, during a racking when the wine is chock-full of CO2.

 

[Jim Welch]

I've seen that happen too but since the OP states it happens "consistently" and when bottling I'm presuming it is well past that CO2 saturation point.
Now that I reread the OP I see the autosiphon has been replaced.
@Northwoods Wine have you cleaned and lubricated the gaskets/o-rings? If not, try that. It could also leak at the tubing connection too. Have you tested it by siphoning tap water and see if bubbles appear? If it is sucking air you may be able to find where they are infiltrating by tracing along the set up.

 

[Ohio Bob]

Note the OP also says the bubbles are in the bottles, so it’s not just the auto siphon. Up to 2 days to let the bubbles subside?? Never heard this one before. Interested to know more...

 

[Northwoods Wine]

I've seen that happen too but since the OP states it happens "consistently" and when bottling I'm presuming it is well past that CO2 saturation point.
Now that I reread the OP I see the autosiphon has been replaced.
@Northwoods Wine have you cleaned and lubricated the gaskets/o-rings? If not, try that. It could also leak at the tubing connection too. Have you tested it by siphoning tap water and see if bubbles appear? If it is sucking air you may be able to find where they are infiltrating by tracing along the set up.

What would I be lubricating with? I will try siphoning water like you suggested. Thanks!

 

[ChuckD]

What would I be lubricating with? I will try siphoning water like you suggested. Thanks!

Food grade mineral oil maybe.

 

[Northwoods Wine]

Getting bubbles with water too. I think I'm just going to get the antigravity transfer pump.

 

[Rice_Guy]

* I have bubbles when connecting canes/ tubes and the connection is weak. I have had the best luck getting rid of vinyl tubing and connecting everything with silicone tubing. Note 2” long silicone connects the vacuum/ liquid trap too.

* my experience is in line with @sour_grapes dissolved CO2 is the main issue responsible for foam. My definition of degassed is that the carboy can hold a vacuum above 5 inches Hg for thirty minutes. (low tech ~ Steve’s wine saver has a bulb that pulls in at 5” Hg)
* from a food point of view, wines normally don’t have molecules that stabilize foam for two days. If I was building a stable foam like a whipped topping I need a bipolar molecule like polysorbate 80. Normal foam will break down by the time the next bottle is filled.
* note the vacuum line, filling 750 ml bottles using vacuum I will get more foam the harder I pull. Normal as one or two inches mercury is minimal. Pulling over five inches Hg can create half a bottle of foam, which might take five to seven minutes to condense. Well degassed wine (holds 10” Hg for thirty minutes) doesn’t have a foam issue filling bottles.
* I vacuum cork at -20” Hg, I can generate foam in the capping head if the wine was poorly degassed.

The guess on my part is if you got a cheap vacuum pump (pump in photo is a 12V DC “toy”) ,, and degassed the day before your foam issue would stop.

 

[winemaker81]

@Northwoods Wine, if the issue is not dissolved CO2 (which it doesn't appear to be), just cork the wines. There's no need to wait.

Corking compresses air in the bottle anyway, which is why we stand bottles up for at least a day to let the air equalize. A few bubbles are not going to make any real difference, as long as it's not dissolved CO2.

 

[ratflinger]

@Rice_Guy - Is PEX rated for alcohol transport?

 

[Rice_Guy]

@Rice_Guy - Is PEX rated for alcohol transport?

that is a magical question (retirement project) I never asked.

In the pilot plant the shop would give me any stainless steel I needed. ,,,, I should look at solvent compatibility, ,,, I have used enough PEX that I have seen it isn’t an oxygen barrier.