De-Gassing Pump??

[fish1onthefly]

I have spent the past hour or so reading about de-gassing. I have a couple of questions..
How effective is the stir the crap out of it method? When is the best time to do this?
Is the vacuum pump worth it?
I also ran across this on utube and it seemed to work pretty good.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjL80hXkHdI&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjL80hXkHdI&feature=related[/ame]
How long should you leave the vacuum on?
I have my first batch going and I want to try and get it
"right the first time"!

 

[Wade E]

The stir the crap out of it method by hand is only effective if you bulk age it for a few months afterwards if you ask me as that will let time get the rest out but only if you keep it at a warm enough temp for it to get out. The drill stirrer method is much more effective and you can get all the gas out with some work, accompany this drill stirrer with a mityvac brake bleeder and you can degas your wine in as little as a few hours and see the results with a gauge. Theres nothing worse then opening up a bottle of wine that you have aged only to find that you bottled it with gas, OK, well theres worse problems but we wont go there. I love my brake bleeder and wouldnt go without it.

 

[rem1]

I followed Wade's advice & got a brake bleeder from Harbor Freight Tools a little over a month ago. I use the drill then break bleeder. Very much worth the 15 dollars it cost. Makes de-gassing very easy. Have used it two times & for a newbe like me it takes the guess work out of de-gassing. When you can hold a vacuumof 15 to 20 in/HG (look at gauge) its de-gassed. Amazing to watch the bubbles it pulls out.

 

[uavwmn]

Wade, I went to the Harbor Freight Tools website. What does the mightyvac tool fall under? I couldn't find it.
Does George carry a vacu-vin?

 

[grapeman]

Here is a link to the brake bleeder at Harbor Freight
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=92474


Also the Vacu-vin


http://www.finevinewines.com/ProdDetA.asp?PartNumber=4317

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</TD>
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Vacuum Wine Saver - by Vacu-Vin Comes with 1 stopper


</TD>
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<DIV align=right>$11.99</TD>
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<DIV align=right>$11.99 </TD>
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Add to Shopping Cart


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Edited by: appleman

 

[uavwmn]

Appleman, thank you for the info. The Brake Bleeder looks difficult to use. It it? I don't want my carboy imploding!!! I am not much of an "equipment operator". lol Is this thing easy to use?

 

[PeterZ]

The brake bleeder is easy to use once you get fittings put together to marry with a stopper for the carboy. I only pump it up to 20" of vacuum and that won't implode a carboy, but it will degas very well. I tend to use the brake bleeder as a polishing degasser, after stirring the snot out of it with a fizzex on a drill.
I actually have two brake bleeders. I use the other one to bleed brakes.

 

[uavwmn]

Peter, they actually use them for brakes?

Do I need to buy a type stopper for the carboy? Does George carry them?


And get I get this brake bleeder at a "Pep Boys" store?


One last question on the 2 part sugar, 1 part water for back sweetening a wine.


2 cups sugar, 1 cup water? What is the measurement?

 

[grapeman]

A really easy setup for the brake bleeder is to use the orange carboy cap, keeping the large white cap on. The bleeder fits right into the other orange nipple and you just pump the handle. Couldn't be easier



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<TD>Product Details</TD></TR></T></TABLE>
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<TD =#ffff00>Item Number</TD>
<TD>14604</TD></TR>
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<TD =#ffff00>Description</TD>
<TD>


Carboy Cap Universal, one size fits all


Fits 3, 5 &amp; 6 gallon glass carboys!





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<TD>$2.69</TD></TR>
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</TD></TR></T></TABLE>Edited by: appleman

 

[Wade E]

UAV, the bleeder comes with all the fittings you need and there are a few options with those fittings. There is a hard plastic fitting that you attach to the included hose and stick that right into the rubber bung hole where the airlock goes or you can use the pliable suction cup fitting that comes with it(this is what I use) and use it with the multifit silicone bung and insert the fitting into the silicone bung filling the whole inside of the bung hole. All you do to use this pump is squeeze the trigger and look at the gauge, there really is no experience needed to use it and is as simple as it gets , trust me, this is the way to go.
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<td width="5%"><div align="center">

</td>
<td width="20%">

Small Multi-fit Carboy Stopper, Drilled


For carboys with inside neck diameter of 1-1/4" to 1-1/2" (3, 5 and 6 Gallon Glass Carboys)</td>
<td width="2%"><div align="right">$1.09</td></tr></t></table>

 

[montyfox]

I am getting ready to use my brake bleeder today but have a question that hasn't really been addressed. Do you use the brake bleeder after you have added the sulfites and clearing agents or before? I'm guess that you use it before and once everything is degassed mix in the sulfites and clearing agents, then top off and cap.


Just wanting to make sure I understand the process correctly.


Monty

 

[Wade E]

Do not use it while clearing as it will make the sediment float at the top instead of the bottom, I made this mistake when i first bought mine. You want to degas your wine before adding fining agents so that the fining agent will work properly. I do it right after adding sorbate and meta. You can also do it again before bottling just to be sure.

 

[fish1onthefly]

Thanks for all the comments...I have a new brake bleeder and enough advice so I think I can get my first batch right. This seems to be a step that is not addressed in the kit directions very well. I racked to the secondary this weekend so now my primary is ready for batch #2! I am going to try a couple of Grand Cru kits.

 

[tcb54]

UAV, the bleeder comes with all the fittings you need and there are a few options with those fittings. There is a hard plastic fitting that you attach to the included hose and stick that right into the rubber bung hole where the airlock goes or you can use the pliable suction cup fitting that comes with it(this is what I use) and use it with the multifit silicone bung and insert the fitting into the silicone bung filling the whole inside of the bung hole. All you do to use this pump is squeeze the trigger and look at the gauge, there really is no experience needed to use it and is as simple as it gets , trust me, this is the way to go.

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<T>
<TR>
<TD align=default width="2%" ="table">
<DIV align=center>5151 </TD>
<TD width="5%">
<DIV align=center>

</TD>
<TD width="20%">


Small Multi-fit Carboy Stopper, Drilled


For carboys with inside neck diameter of 1-1/4" to 1-1/2" (3, 5 and 6 Gallon Glass Carboys)</TD>
<TD width="2%">
<DIV align=right>$1.09</TD></TR></T></T></TABLE>

Wade,


I just ordered one of these this morning from Harbor Freight. Would you please be so kind as to post a picture of the way to use this with the bung you show (using whatever attachments you show)? I have tried using a Vacuvin with the orange top and it doesn't seal well with a carboy handle mounted to the carboy. I would really like to use the bleeder with one of the drilled bungs I already have.


BTW, I found one of these at my local parts store and they wanted $49.95 for it!


Thanks...

 

[swillologist]

This is how I set mine up 54.

This is what the wholesetuplooks like.

I don't know the name of the tip I use. It comes with the pump. I put the tip in the hose and insert it into a drilled #7 bung. It works good for me.

 

[grapeman]

Good job. That's probably the ideal way to do it. I take a shortcut and just use the orange cap and pump, but if I got too much foam, it would get sucked up and then I would need to clean the pump. Actually I dont use it now that I use the aspirator pump setup.
http://www.finevinewines.com//Wiz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5119&amp;PN=2

Edited by: appleman

 

[Wade E]

TCB, Swill has gracefully stepped up and shown you 1 way with a different bung but it is the same fitting that would will work in our silicone bung. There is another one that looks like a suction cup and once you have yours you will know what I mean. I use that 1 and just insert it into the silicone bung taking up the whole inside of the bung so that you would not see ant part of the bung except the outer part.

 

[swillologist]

Wade, I can't seem to get a good seal with the orange cap on my carboy with the handle on it. I must be doing something wrong with thesuction cup also. Do you use the same tip to put it on the hose? I tried it just on the hose and I couldn't get a good seal. I need a picture so I can see how you do it.

 

[tcb54]

Do you use the plastic "jar" that appears to be a holding tank or recovery jar in-line or do you use the bleeder without this? In one of the photos, it looks like the bleeder is hooked up directly to the orange cap with no tubing or anything...

 

[grapeman]

tcb, I posted the picture of the orange cap directly to the pump(brass). That is how I used to do it before going to the motorized pump. It works fine, but you need to be careful when you first start that it doesn't foam too much or you could suck it up into the pump. The little plastic jar comes with it and can be used inline to act as a catchall if you suck up some foam. Just find what works for you and do it.