Degassing pump?

[JoshDivino]

What is a good, affordable vacuum pump for degassing my wine? I don't have a whole ton of money nor do I make wine on a very big scale, but I'm sick of using a stirring rod with my drill!

 

[roadpupp]

I have seen some using brake bleeder kits. Search this site and you should find some threads on it.

 

[saramc]

I like the All In One Wine Pump....vacuum racking, degassing, bottling. Can be adapted to you can incorporate a filter. Affordable. Easy.

 

[JoshDivino]

I would love to buy one Sara, but affordable is a different student when your a college student living on a 75 dollar meal budget a month, just so you can stay out of debt for school, give me 5 years and I'll have one, I promise!

 

[BernardSmith]

Josh, Hi!. "Affordable" is a word that covers a great deal of territory but eBay frequently lists aspirator vacuum pumps for about $50.00. They can pull a vacuum that is similar to a brake bleeder pump (about 25 inches mercury) but they are electric and don't require you to pump by hand, but that said, many folk on this forum suggest that allowing wine to age appropriately will result in all the CO2 dissipating by itself, so "affordable" might mean at no $$ cost.

 

[JoshDivino]

hmm I'll definitely have to look for a small aspirator pump then, but for now the workout (seriously I scoop ice cream at baskin robbins and that thing tired the hell out of my wrist) machine will do!

 

[captainl]

The vacu-vin works better than stirring...$15. But you still have to pump it a lot. Good for you for staying out of debt. Dave Ramsey fan?

 

[JoshDivino]

Yes very big Dave Ramsey fan, watched his whole college thing back in high school, worked from the time I was a freshman to my senior year summer 40-80 hours a week just to pay for my school!

 

[keena]

Hey josh, I'm also a college student and I chose to get one of these
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005BT90DI/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Works like a charm but still requires alot of pumping sometimes. All depends on the wine.

 

[JoshDivino]

Thanks keena! That's actually the pump I bought yesterday and have been using it, it does work great, but makes your wrist real tired!

 

[keena]

Yea, I've had some wines Degas in literally like 5 sec, then some take as long as an hour!

 

[captainl]

Awesome . We have been DR fanatics for 5 years now and debt free for 3 (except the 15 yr mortgage) It's worth it even though all my friends think I'm weird. I actually started brewing beer and wine to make it affordable when the budget was tite. Now I spend more on this stuff than I ever did but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Ok...I'm still cheap.

 

[JoshDivino]

Yeah staying debt free has been a huge obstacle for me, and Ive seen so many friends take their student loans and be on their way. I prefer to pay it all myself with cash, definitely makes me work hard in class. It's really great because after this year everything I make will be mine, my hope is to move to a bit larger city (thinking Chicago) and work for the bureau as a forensic accountant, buy some land and build a house (mortgage-free) then 10-20 years down the road open up a winery. But we will see what life throws at me (thank god for the emergency fund right?)

I also started making mine to make it affordable. After the initial investment it's been pretty cheap, and I think within a few years I'll be able to make my own high quality wines for 3-4 dollars a bottle, rather paying 40-50 of my favorite Cabernet

 

[keena]

Yeah staying debt free has been a huge obstacle for me, and Ive seen so many friends take their student loans and be on their way. I prefer to pay it all myself with cash, definitely makes me work hard in class. It's really great because after this year everything I make will be mine, my hope is to move to a bit larger city (thinking Chicago) and work for the bureau as a forensic accountant, buy some land and build a house (mortgage-free) then 10-20 years down the road open up a winery. But we will see what life throws at me (thank god for the emergency fund right?)

I also started making mine to make it affordable. After the initial investment it's been pretty cheap, and I think within a few years I'll be able to make my own high quality wines for 3-4 dollars a bottle, rather paying 40-50 of my favorite Cabernet

Sounds like a good plan! I'm in milwaukee at the uw. I also pay my bills up front, makes me try harder when I work all summer for school. You near Rockford by chance? You could join our wine club in southern Wisconsin

 

[JoshDivino]

I live in washington not Wisconsin thank you for the offer though! If I was near there I would be more than happy to join!

 

[JoshDivino]

Unless Skype presence is acceptable?

 

[spaniel]

Yeah staying debt free has been a huge obstacle for me, and Ive seen so many friends take their student loans and be on their way. I prefer to pay it all myself with cash, definitely makes me work hard in class. It's really great because after this year everything I make will be mine, my hope is to move to a bit larger city (thinking Chicago) and work for the bureau as a forensic accountant, buy some land and build a house (mortgage-free) then 10-20 years down the road open up a winery. But we will see what life throws at me (thank god for the emergency fund right?)

I also started making mine to make it affordable. After the initial investment it's been pretty cheap, and I think within a few years I'll be able to make my own high quality wines for 3-4 dollars a bottle, rather paying 40-50 of my favorite Cabernet

When I was a poor student, I scoured the university labs and scored two old vacuum pumps that were being thrown out, along with some oil. Between them they lasted ~4 years; we were making about 180gal/yr each of those years! They got a lot of use, as we did all racking by vacuum transfer (talk about FAST).

Land in Chicago, huh? You better have A LOT of money or not mind LONG commutes....I had offers there but picked Indianapolis as I could get right into some land and get my vines in, with a very reasonable commute downtown.

 

[keena]

I live in washington not Wisconsin thank you for the offer though! If I was near there I would be more than happy to join!

Oh, just seen you mentioned Chicago so I was thinking you lived close to it, lol

Luckily I have 15 acres and a house being given to me, I know... I'm lucky

 

[JoshDivino]

Yeah my plan is to get some land a ways out from Chicago, and I'll be based in Chicago not be stuck, most forensic accountants do a lot of traveling and moving around.

Wow keena! That sounds nice, I don't think I could actually take a house and that much land though, I like doing things on my own

 

[keena]

Wow keena! That sounds nice, I don't think I could actually take a house and that much land though, I like doing things on my own

I'm generally that way to, I don't let my parents even pay my school bills when they offer. But the house was built by my great grandfather and handed down since. It's a smaller house that my dad currently uses as a getaway and I'm hoping to do the same once I find my career after college