Degassing pump?

[JoshDivino]

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

Ah very nice, what are you studying in school?

 

[keena]

Supply chain and operations management. I changed major from computer programming to psychology to supply chain and ops management. lol

 

[JoshDivino]

Supply chain and operations management. I changed major from computer programming to psychology to supply chain and ops management. lol

What is supply chain and ops management exactly?

 

[keena]

Managing businesses in the supply chains. Like I currently work at Fritolay and our managers have that major.

 

[JoshDivino]

Oh gotcha! Are you planning to stay at Fritolay when you do graduate?

 

[keena]

If I'm able to land a job here I would love to. It's close to home, I'm familiar with the work and enjoy it, and they pay well. I started here as college summer help making $21/hour. That's what is getting me through school!

 

[JoshDivino]

Nice! I make about the same at the pool I manage, its pretty great work too. I get to lifeguard, coach a swim team, teach tennis lessons, and take care of the pool pumps, water etc.

 

[nosliwrelyt]

Am I degassing correctly?

I was hoping someone could help me with newbie degassing issues I'm having. I started degassing my 6 Gallon 2012 Riesling Kit with a drill mounted stirrer.... and boy did it foam up...all over my kitchen. I stirred for a total of about 30 minutes, reversing directions until the foam was at a minimum. I then filled my test jar about 1/3 of the way up, put a stopper in the end with my thumb over it and shook it. There was enough pressure to make the "puff" of air expected when the wine wasn't degassed properly. I made sure the wine was as close to 75deg (it was 71deg) as I could get it. My drill battery died, so I called it quits for the night and put the air lock back on. Thinking there has to be a better way to degas, I did some searching on the forums and found vacuum degassing was a popular topic. I went out and picked up a MityVac Brake Bleeder from the auto parts store. The kit came with a number of different fittings and I was able to use the cone shaped fitting in the top of my stopper. I pulled a vacuum to about 20inHg and the bubbles kept coming, but not the foam I saw when stirring. I've been maintaining about 20inHg if I see it drops below 15inHg, I'll pump it back down to 20inHg. How do I know when my wine is fully degassed?! No matter how much I pump, there always seems to be bubbles. Please Help!

 

[btom2004]

Just keep at it until there are no more bubbles raising.

 

[RickC]

The bubbles will eventually slow considerably but your hands may be worn out and you may have blisters. It may take several hours. After using a brake bleeder for 2-3 kits I broke down and bought a vac pump. Well worth the $.

 

[btom2004]

I always say if you get hurt doing something, then youre doing it wrong. Just pump it firmly don't go crazy and you shouldn't get any blisters. Ose two hands at the same time for extra strength. I also say why join a gym, making wine give you more of a workout.

 

[millwright01]

Once the very small bubbles have stopped it is degassed. I pump mine up to 20 and if it still has 10+ in 15 minutes, it is done. I read that somewhere here but I couldn't find the thread to link to it.

 

[olusteebus]

Get a carboy stopper with a quarter inch hole or make one. Insert a quarter inch double ended barb (plastic from a big box hardware store - plumbing and attach your hose to that . You can then run it up to 20 and rest until it goes down.

Also, The bubbles will continue but they become much bigger which are not gas bubbles.

here is instructions on converting a 12 volt tire inflator into a vacuum pump. I have done this to Harbor Freight pumps (around 9 bucks) and it works fine. You will have to buy a ac to dc converter. Walmart carries them.

I still prefer my harbor freight brake bleeder though which is like a mityvac but not as sturdy.

 

[nosliwrelyt]

Thanks for all of the help everyone! I'm more confident now after hearing some responses that my wine is fully degassed. I ended up pumping it down to 20" for a couple days and it only dropped to to 15" overnight. Thanks again!

 

[Boatboy24]

I ended up pumping it down to 20" for a couple days and it only dropped to to 15" overnight. Thanks again!

Yep, that puppy is done.

 

[TahunaJR]

So, if I read all of this correctly... Get a 1 hole carboy stopper, hook that up by a tube to a HF hand brake bleeder and pump it down to 20. Leave it under pressure over night until it gets back to 15. Continue this until no more tiny bubbles. Sound close????

 

[Boatboy24]

Overnight isn't necessary. If I get it to 20 or more and can come back an hour later, seeing that it's still above 15, I'm done. I'll sometimes repeat for another 30-60 minutes, just to be sure.

 

[TahunaJR]

I went to my local hardware big store bringing along a carboy bung with a hole and a piece of th HF brake feeder tubing.

With little ti choose from, I ended up purchasing a brass 1/2" to 3/8" barbed connector for $1.93. The 1/2" end fit perfectly in the carboy bung. The 3/8" end had to be convinced (with some hot water soaking) to fit on the 1/4" tubing. But all is snug as a bug in a rug.

The other end of the tube is connected to the HF hand brake bleeder. I am all set for degassing at some point this weekend (once my hydrometer tells me to).

As usual, great info from all!

 

[TahunaJR]

So, I put my WE White Zin into the last stage a week or so ago. SG was good, put the f-pack and other ingredients in after degassing with my HF hand brake bleeder. Checked the wine today and it is clearing very well.

Well, I have been questioning the degassing since I could only get the gauge up to 10. Big bubbles but didn't seem that it took long enough.

So, I hooked up the vacu vin to it and sure enough there sure seemed like a lot of degassing needed to still be done. Got big bubbles for 30+ minutes. Once activity slowed down, i kept using the vacu vin until no more big bubbles.

So, I will check again tomorrow. Bad news is this also caused the sediment to float and the wine is cloudy again.

Will I need to add more clarifier or will everything settle again? (Back in the day we didn't degas, we just waited it out! I'm still learning...)

Joe

 

[1tonmama]

My guess is you can let it settle on its own (without disturbing the lees anymore of course). Once it clears in a month or so, rack it off of the lees and let it age.

At least that's my plan. I have a WE cab sauv kit that's been clearing for. About 2 weeks now. I suspect that it hasn't been degassed enough. Regardless I'm planning to let it sit till probably around Easter weekend for the first rack.